J. M. Barrie, The Admirable Crichton

Andrew Nash (University of Reading)
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J.M. Barrie's

The Admirable Crichton

is the work of a son of a Scottish weaver, born in a tiny low-built house a few miles from Glamis Castle, where the writer would later come to entertain members of the Royal family at Princess Margaret's fourth birthday party. For Barrie the English upper classes were an endless source of fascination and humour – the ideal target for his social satire, beneath the veneer of which lies a greater, philosophical exploration of the nature of society, civilisation and the will-to-power.

The idea for the play may have been prompted by Arthur Conan Doyle, who suggested to Barrie that if a king and an able seaman were wrecked together on a desert island for the rest of their lives, the sailor would end as king and the monarch as servant. Some time before the

2206 words

Citation: Nash, Andrew. "The Admirable Crichton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1652, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1652 The Admirable Crichton 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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