I mentioned a few days ago that I’m reading Peter Pan to my kids. This is one strange children’s book. I managed to skip over the scene where Hook disembowels one of his pirate mates because the guy had the misfortune to jostle him. Tonight, however, I read the following line aloud before I quite comprehended what I was reading: “…and Peter standing on guard. After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy.”
Luckily, the kids were close enough to sleep, and this book already has fostered enough new words on them, that neither child piped up with, “What’s an orgy, Mommy?” In Barrie’s defense, I wondered if the word carried the same, uh, sexualized connotations in 1907 that it does today. Anyone have an OED to hand?
Dictionary.com says this: orgy:
- A revel involving unrestrained indulgence, especially sexual activity.
- Uncontrolled or immoderate indulgence in an activity: an orgy of spending.
- A secret rite in the cults of ancient Greek or Roman deities, typically involving frenzied singing, dancing, drinking, and sexual activity.
Word History: The word orgy has become connected in the minds of many of us with unrestrained sexual activity, but its origins are much less licentious. We can trace the word as far back as the Indo-European root *werg-, meaning “to do,” also the source of our word work. Greek orgia, “secret rites, worship,” comes from *worg-, one form of this root. The Greek word was used with reference to the rites practiced in the worship of various deities, such as Orpheus and Dionysus. The word in Greek did not denote sexual activity, although this was a part of some rites. The rites of Dionysus, for example, included only music, dancing, drinking, and the eating of animal sacrifices. Having passed through Latin and Old French into English, the word orgy is first recorded in English with reference to the secret rites of the Greek and Roman religions in 1589. It is interesting to note that the word is first recorded with its modern sense in 18th-century English and perhaps in 17th-century French. Whether this speaks to a greater licentiousness in society or not must be left to the historian, but certainly the religious nature of the word has gone into eclipse.
I routinely have an orgy with first tomatoes and then grapes. Also with unspun alpaca fiber.
I think I need to go back and re-read Peter Pan.
I couldn’t find anything other than what you found. I did find a few more references from classic literature. Nothing that would give us a clue about other meanings.
all i know is that fairies know how to party.
but there’s this tidbit i found online, after surfing etymologies, where i found an entry about “orgy” that actually mentioned the word’s mention in Peter Pan. this is referring to themes found in Peter Pan:
“Some commentators also see a sexual theme. Wendy’s flirtatious (by contemporary standards) kissing of Peter, his desire for a girl close to his own age to be his “mother”, his conflicting feelings for Wendy and Tinkerbell (each representing different female archetypes), and the symbolism of his fight with Captain Hook (traditionally played by the same actor as Wendy’s father), all suggest a Freudian interpretation with sexual implications.
what do you think?
chelsea needs to weigh in here…
I think that’s a decent analysis, Ash. Wendy is quite the seductress. My boy now puts on this falsetto British accent and says, “Ohhhhhh, Pe-ta.” Of course, mimicking Wendy’s most oft spoken sentence.
Oh, sweet!
I *KNEW* there was a reason I liked that book so much…
(Artie Johnson, German Soldier, peeking through the bushes says)
Veeeeeery INteresting.
Speaking of orgies, I was reading that Colin Firth has a new movie that will be NC-17 due to an orgy scene.
One of my most favorite book series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, starting with Anne of Green Gables, uses the word orgy to describe the excitement over Anne’s newborn child later in the series.
This was written by an author who brought the child into being via stork.
I’m assuming that the word just didn’t hold the same graphic image in the minds of readers in the early 1900’s.
EM, the great thing about your blog is that we actually learn something here! Teaching while blogging, you have found your niche.
When I was in high school (1940’s) orgy was taken to mean drinking, eating and conviviality to excess. Somehow the word got plundered, like “gay.” The old days were best (not really, but it sounds good).
Fitten…. why did you whitewash Hook disemboweling an associate? I know two children for whom THAT would have been their favorite part.
His villainy loses potency when you edit it out. He becomes a Disney version of his real self…. a fate worse than death for any real VILLAIN.
I even like the “olde” versions of fairy tales….. like when the wolf actually gobbles up Little Red Riding Hood the same way he gobbled her granny up.
Is it going to be up to Fairy Godmother to tell the tales in all their macabre glory and truth?
as a kid I SO wanted to be Wendy…. genteel…. with an anima and animus at war inside of her.
okay, y’all can start talking about orgies again now.
If Fairy Godmother can abstain from her orgiastic lifestyle and is willing to get up and soothe sweaty, be-nightmared, foreheads, she may tell the macabre tales in their glory and truth…
As you know, I like the dark and gory as well. But I also like to sleep.
you obviously failed to de-sensitize them early enough!…… I don’t know if this can be rectified at this late hour.
Let me think on it awhile. I warned you this would happen if you didn’t desensitize them.
perhaps its time for a camping trip in the Montford cemetary.
I’ll bet I can get one of those old crypts open… in case we need “shelter” Bwah-hahahahah
Anony, Sarah kind of was Wendy, wasn’t she? BTW, I’m liking carpet stains.
Nice reference, MF.
Oh Amy, Colin in an orgy scene? Wow. Wow. Trying to catch my breath. Okay. Whew.
yeah, I guess Sarah was kind of Wendy. Interesting parrallel you’ve drawn there.
by the way, no linking to my blog. Only members of the forum would be able to acess it anyway.
Carpetstains is a big joke . If anything I would want you to link up “Madcap Misadventures of Maiden Voyage”…. at least that blog was worth reading (and would be so very educational for the uninitiated…..) but like I said, non-members would be blocked from acess anyway… so don’t waste too much energy.
….and now back to the orgy discussion. SO titilating!
want a laugh?
go to google and google the word :
failure.
don’t put it in quotations, just use the word.
then press the “I feel lucky” button.
Brilliant, Anony. Everyone go google!
Yeah, T., I know about your blog. I’m honored to have access, but I understand that it’s members only. No linkage here, my anonymous friend.
I often wish I was a fairy…
If you think Peter Pan is bad, try Orgy and Bess!
I think there is another influence here beyond the technical merits of the English Language. Keep in mind that many of our most profound artists (literature included) used drugs, more specifically narcotics.
From Edgar Allen Poe to Ray Charles, from “Alice in Wonderland” to “Come on Baby Light my Fire” many artists have sought refuge from their psychological issues in the form of a drug.
Literature is full of authors who used marijuana, opium, lithium, and heroine just to scratch the surface.
I think the orgy reference, while prhaps not intended as a “roman orgy” fits with the explanation given by Ash. I believe that there were repressed sexual feelings that were some what amplified through the use of psychotic drugs.
Oh, and I think it is fair to tell you that I had a crush on Tinkerbell when I was MUCH younger.
I prefer definition #2
Guess Who
Greg, you always sum things up perfectly: repressed sexual feelings somewhat amplified through the use of psychotic drugs. EXACTLY! The turn of the century in a nutshell.
How much younger, Greg? E-spouse still has a crush on The Little Mermaid.
Guess Who, I know who you are, my pretty.
LOL!
psychotic drugs?
do you mean psychoactive? psychotropic?
drugs aren’t psychotic. People are psychotic.
* goes and drinks a vial of medicinal laudanum…. homemade.*
T., you are so ASTUTE. Greg, you have a nemesis: my lifelong friend, T., the woman who introduced me to blogs (and a lot of other stuff along the way).
Wow, I should throw out words like “orgy” more often.
who is T? i can’t keep up.
T=anonymous. Sorry, Ash, I’m letting her decide when and how she reveals herself. There may be Atlanta lurkers from our childhood…come out, come out, wherever you are…
And why doesshe have to be my nemisis? Why can’t she be my “witty sidekick.”
T definetly gets mad props for knowing the clinical drug lingo.
I wondered if the word fairy carried the same, uh, sexualized connotations in 1907 that it does today…
??????????