| The stuffiest, most pretentious and frivolous pseudo-psychoanalysis of imaginary characters thou ever didst see… [I'm a college student, what do you expect?] |
| In his book and play Peter Pan, Barrie created one of the most colorful rivalries in literature: the eternally youthful, hedonistic Peter Pan versus the aged, slightly paranoid rationalist Captain Hook. Using Myers-Briggs personality type descriptions, (see http://www.geocities.com/ptypes if you don’t know what I’m talking about and actually care to know...) one can analyze the differences in how the tension of this relationship plays out, as portrayed in different incarnations of the tale: These work out surprisingly well! Barrie's book and the play: Peter Pan: Self-confident hedonist with narcissistic tendencies Hook: Idiosyncratic rationalist with schizotypal tendencies The Disney version: Peter Pan: Adventurous hedonist with a little bit of antisocial tendencies Hook: Inventive rationalist with compensatory-narcissistic tendencies The anime version: Peter Pan: Mercurial hedonist with a tiny bit of borderline tendencies Hook: Aggressive rationalist with sadistic tendencies It is also worthwhile (if you’re as weird as me that is) to check out the disorders associated with each. It makes for pretty interesting reading… Know any rationalists and hedonists in your own daily life? Let them meet up and watch the dynamics unfold… What’s your p-type? I took a test which said I was a rationalist. No wonder I often sympathize with Hook. |
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