Original artwork, not a still
To die will be an awfully big adventure.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A boy who refuses to grow up meets the one grown-up thing he cannot refuse, and answers with curiosity rather than fear. That is why it is Peter's greatest moment and why the line is quoted far beyond the story. Barrie's later twist, 'To live would be an awfully big adventure', gets quoted as its answer, and it has outlived the theatre as an everyday phrase.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Peter PanShow the scene
In Peter and Wendy, the 1911 novel Barrie made from his 1904 play, the line comes in Chapter VIII, 'The Mermaids' Lagoon'. After a fight with Hook that has left Peter wounded and Wendy exhausted, the two lie stranded on a rock in the lagoon as the tide rises, and the rock will soon be under water. Peter, unable to fly, sends Wendy off on Michael's lost kite, which can carry only one, and is left alone on the rock. Afraid for the first time, he stands up smiling, and as a drum beats inside him it seems to say these words. In the play they are Peter's lines, in Act III.
Sources (3)
- Peter and Wendy - Project GutenbergChapter VIII, The Mermaids' LagoonReference checked
- Peter Pan - WikiquoteQuotes from the novel and playReference checked
- J. M. Barrie - WikiquotePeter Pan play sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
