Gotham's Classic Literature Expert

Peter Pan edited by Anne Hiebert Alton (2011)

(sorry to interrupt joke post but) this is true!

Children not clapping did happen too, (and some were even expected to have hissed, which was later written into the 1928 playscript and 1911 novel). But my all time favourite anecdote about it is from Pauline Chase (who played Peter)'s intro to Peter Pan's Post Bag 1909:

Children love to clap their hands at the play because then they feel that they are really part of it, and you can see them holding their hands poised ready to seize an opportunity. Their great chance is when I ask them to clap their hands if they believe in fairies, and so save Tink's life. But they are very wrathful if any one claps who has the reputation of being a cynic, and once there was quite an uproar in the front row of the dress circle because of a girl who clapped. Those about her pulled down her arms angrily. "How dare you clap," they cried, "when you know you don't believe in fairies!" There was one dreadfully hard-hearted little boy who came to the theatre not to clap. That was his object for coming, and he came round "behind" to tell me so in the middle of the play. His teeth were firm set. "I won't clap," he said doggedly; "I'm not going to clap." And when the time came he didn't clap; above the clapping of all the others I could hear him shouting from a box, "Peter, I'm not clapping."

Divorce was basically impossible for Helen in this era, what Mr. Hargrave is proposing is a revenge affair, since her husband is cheating on her. He's saying he'll keep it on the down low and they won't run off together:

“There need be no disgrace, no misery or sacrifice in any quarter,” persisted he. “I do not ask you to leave your home or defy the world’s opinion.”

the canon always sees men as universal observers and geniuses who undertake social studies, but when it comes to women, they are reduced to being mere subjective chroniclers of interiority, supposedly recording their personal romantic fantasies.

many novels contain a romantic thread. among other things, Wuthering Heights opens with one. but most of the book is about revenge, cruelty, trauma, inheritance, generational damage etc. and yet, because it was written by a woman, only the love story is treated as significant.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, a book written by an author who got imprisoned for sodomy, is getting a visual adaptation where the two characters with clear homoromantic undertones are turned into brothers.

Dracula, a book about a group of friends that explore the themes of antagonism and Victorian anxieties, is getting a visual adaptation where the count falls in love with one of his rape victims.

Wuthering Heights, a book that beats the reader over the head with a bat about how the POC protagonist wants to be privileged and white, is getting a visual adaptation with a white person as the protagonist and a POC as the one he envies.

The Odyssey, a book about a man from Ancient Greece trying to get home from war, is getting a visual adaptation coated in a "Hollywood" aesthetic that rejects accurate armour and casting.

The young indigenous woman stares at the menu, starting to sweat, trying to figure out what the hell a "shaking caramel oat milk macchiato" was.

"May I please have a coffee?" was all she asked.

"Of course! What kind would you like?" The cashier went on to list a bunch of words she had never heard stringed together in a sentence. Miercoles.

She was getting dizzy from the options when she heard the door ring, signaling the entry of another customer. Chuta, now there was a bloody line behind her.

"Ah... uh... que- what do you recommend?"

The cashier huffed, their customer-service disposition never faltering despite the annoyance the shaman could sense growing within them. "Well, there are some spectacular options on our seasonal summer menu! We have lavender watermelon refreshers, white mocha cold brew, wildflower frappes, and whipped oreo affogato."

She didn't hear the word "coffee" once in that entire spiel. The sign read cafe, and the establishment certainly smelled like coffee... so why couldn't she seem to get one here? She notices she's starting to get distressed over a simple coffee order, and wonders if she should just cut her losses and go home. There was someone waiting behind her after all.

And promptly walked straight into her shoulder.

"Whoa"

The book nearly slipped from his grasp. He caught it at the last second and took a step back.