Abstract
This thesis explores the topic of childhood substance abuse from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century and its representation in Victorian and Edwardian children´s literature. The two primary texts analyzed within this context are Lewis Carroll´s Alice in Wonderland and J. M. Barrie´s Peter Pan. By providing both a historical context, as well as consulting other academic readings of the narratives, this thesis aims to showcase how both Carroll and Barrie, through their characters of Alice and Peter, partake in the discourse regarding the consumption of narcotics among children. The analysis is based on the premise that food, beverages, fairy dust and medicine are metaphors for children´s narcotics, which were a popular measure during the Victorian era used in order to calm crying infants and children. It furthermore analyzes how said consumption of narcotics impacts the protagonists´ behaviors, claiming that it leads to behavioral dysfunction in the form of developing cases of dissociative identity disorder, which ultimately affects their ability to mature. Lastly, it examines the images of childhood that Carroll and Barrie represent through their characters, as well as providing information on the concept of childhood in itself and how Alice and Peter separate themselves from it. Based on a historical theoretical framework, it explains how the image of childhood has changed from the Romantic period to the Victorian and Edwardian eras, as a basis for analyzing Alice and Peters as characters. Though both primary texts are well explored within the academic field, this thesis adds a new perspective by viewing them in relation to the topic of narcotics, thus making a relevant contribution to the academic discourse surrounding children´s literature.