J. M. Barrie originally created the Peter Pan character to entertain the sons of his friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davis. Allegedly basing the flying boy that never grew up on a deceased brother who passed away in childhood and on the Davis boys he had come to love as his own, he would name the character after Davis's son Peter and also after the Greek god Pan, a mythical figure associated with nature. Before writing the play, Barrie introduced Peter Pan to the world in his novel The Little White Bird in 1902. The play was created and staged in 1904 to great success, eventually being put into novel form as well with Peter and Wendy in 1911.

Like with most works of art, the exact reason as to why Barrie wrote the play is not clear. The story of Peter Pan obviously had great significance for him not just because of his relationship with the Davis boys, but because of his own love for the simple joys of childhood. However, this insight was tempered by a knowledge of the callousness and selfishness of childhood as well, hence the darker edges to Peter's character. This presentation of childhood as both cruel and magical is the heart of the play, and perhaps the desire to express these complicated and unsentimental notions was part of Barrie's drive to dramatize Peter Pan's adventures.