In J. M. Barrie’s final, published version of Peter Pan (1928), the characterization of Hook is vague because of the censorship of plays at that time. Thus, a dramaturgic reading of Hook based on pantomime is mandatory with a survey of the novel, Pe...
In J. M. Barrie’s final, published version of Peter Pan (1928), the characterization of Hook is vague because of the censorship of plays at that time. Thus, a dramaturgic reading of Hook based on pantomime is mandatory with a survey of the novel, Peter and Wendy (1911), a silent film scenario (1921), and “Captain Hook at Eton” speech (1927). This process evolved the characterization of Hook, washing out its comic part of the original manuscript.
Hook became a graduate of Eton and Barrie finally grafted the vestiges of Charles II and Macbeth onto Hook making him a loser of the self-mobilization process for success. This paper aims to investigate the final characterization of Hook by Barrie and provide a guideline for realistic acting of this tragic hero, which is significantly different from that of Peter, a stock character of Harlequin in commedia dell’arte.