Female gender roles in Peter and Wendy from a Feminist perspective

Abstract: This study is a literary analysis of J. M. Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, which focuses on how Wendy and her mother are described and what actions and behaviors are applied to them. A clear gender difference is presented, where the female characters move in the domestic realms. The analytical approach is based upon Deborah Madsen’s description of socialist feminism as well as psychoanalytic feminism and Carol Gilligan’s idea of morality of responsibility complemented by Ann Alston’s description of family in the early twentieth century. Using these theories my study shows that the patriarchal gender norms of society are evident in every part of the novel.