The Development of Romantic Ideation and J. M. Barrie's Image of the Lost Boy

Abstract

Romantic ideation has unique characteristics in terms of its development, representations of self and others, and its relationship to creativity. The roots of romantic ideation are in preoperational thought as that system of representation is used by the child to understand his early affective relationship with his mother and father. One outcome of this experience for males is a conflicted understanding of self and lowered self-esteem with a corresponding idealized image of romantically loved individuals. J.M. Barrie's development as an author and playwright is examined in the context of his need to reject a negative representation of self and his compensatory use of preoperational thought to create Peter Pan, a romantic image of a lost boy.

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