The Retellings and Reinterpretations of Childhood Literature in the Framework of the

Allegorical Novel: The Journey of Growing up

Topic of Research:
The portrayal of loss of innocence and maturing in contemporary retellings of classical
stories/fairytales.

Thesis statement:
Although some critics might disregard the importance of old fairytales in the
contemporary literary space, through careful examination, we are able to provide
evidence that fairytales can evolve together with its readers by morphing into two new
literary (sub)genres: fantasy and retellings.

Intended research:
I am going to look into several childhood stories and fairytales to provide a proper
definition to what childhood represents and how it is depicted in literature throughout
history. Then, I will reach more information about the fantasy genre and how the
paradigm of retellings managed to become a rather popular creative solution to
postmodern literature. We are going to show the way in which these fairytales ''grew
up'', so to say, with their original readers and how the act of retelling changed these
stories' life lessons and values to adapt to a more mature and complex mind of its older
readers.
For this paper I have chosen to interpret two very well-known literary characters
that symbolise the purity of youth and childhood: the Peter Pan figure for boys and the
Unicorn figure for girls. For Peter Pan, we have picked two contemporary retellings:
Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry and The Child Thief by
Gerald Bro. Essentially, we are going to analyse the evolution from boyhood to
manhood through a pair of characters that are foils to each other. We are going to
explore many themes such as: the theme of identity morality, childhood, magical
realism, and gray nuances or the moral ambiguity of the characters.
For the unicorn motif we have picked The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle to
show the journey from girlhood to adulthood and what it entails. For this topic we are to

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analyse many similar themes such as: gender roles, the symbol of the unicorn, growing
up, Jung's anima figure, the theme of growing up and regret.
In the end, for both parts of the paper, not counting the first subtopic, we are
going to talk about the meaning and the necessity of retelling classical stories without an
overall happy ending.

Research Paper Scaffold or the Outline:

Subtopic I. Modern Fairytales: The Fantasy Genre

-The appeal and necessity of fairytales: expressing the in-between realm of

daydreaming and harsh reality (e.g."Songs of Innocence and of Experience" by William
Blake provides an exposure to the harshness of young parentless children in a painfully
lyrical yet beautiful way; or how The Story of the Pied Piper was crafted to hide a
painful historical event).

-Morality expressed through classical childhood tales.

-The art and paradigm of retellings, reinterpreting original tales in modernity and
contemporary literature.

- The rise of the fantasy genre. Provides an effect of escapism from the ordinary busy
urban lifestyle while offering morally ambiguous characters can still teach morality.
Growing up with one's childhood's stories. The journey of a story ''growing up'' with
you/ shaping itself to be enjoyable to a mature audience.

Subtopic II. Expressing Innocence with Children Protagonist:

- J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan Symbol ~ Boyhood and Manhood

-Two Reinterpretations of the original Peter Pan story.

Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook by Christina Henry -(Contemporary,
retelling the story from another perspective; letting go of fantasy means growing up;
Character analysis~Foil Character pair: Jamie (growing up means character
development) and (Morally evil) Peter Pan; The theme of Identity or the "Changeling
issue", Morality;.)

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The Child Thief by Gerald Brom- (Contemporary, magical realism; reinterpreting and
fitting the Peter Pan motif into contemporary; Character analysis~Foil Character pair:
Nick and Peter Pan (Morally Gray nuances); The theme of Identity or the ''Changeling
issue''; the disappearance of magic from contemporary times; reusing Celtic mythology,
Morality).

-Gender roles.

- Faustus Bargain- Fairytale, the motif of the faery child, Peter Pan, as representing the
Mephistopheles.

-The theme of growing up/forced maturity (similarities themes expressed darkly in to

Lord of Flies by William Golding)

-The lack of a happy ending-Pessimistic perspective?

Subtopic III. Expressing Innocence with Animal protagonist:

-The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle~ Girlhood and Womanhood.

-The motif of the Unicorn.

-Character analysis: Lady Amalthea.

-The theme of maturing and regret (Molly).

-The psychoanalytic perspective and Jung's archetypes.

-Gender Roles.

-The lack of a happy ending-Pessimistic perspective?

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