J. M Barrie’s Peter Pan tells the story of a boy who decides to never grow up and runs off with the fairies to the magical realm of Neverland. One day, he returns to London in search of his shadow and invites the Darling children, Wendy, Michael, and John, to come back with him to Neverland. There, they encounter the dastardly Captain Hook and finally succeed in defeating him. Peter then returns the children home.

The tale began as the stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (1904), before being written into a novel, originally titled Peter and Wendy (1911). The immensely popular story inspired artwork, sculptures, and several film adaptations, indicating that the tale continues to resonate in modern times.

Given his eternal youth, Peter Pan equates with the Puer Aeternus archetype as identified by Marie Louise von Franz. This study of the symbolism of Peter Pan explores not only the challenges of Puer psychology but also the difficulties of the correlating negative Senex archetype, epitomised by Peter’s nemesis, Captain Hook.