Response to Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back

In P.L. Travers’s Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins holds a fearful amount of power. In Mary Poppins Comes Back, this power is augmented.

The essence of Mary’s power over children and adults comes from the fact that she not only has more intelligence than the average human, but is also aware of it. In the case of adults, she uses her superiority to manipulate them into caving to her needs and desires. Her power is not only limited to her mental ability, her physical powers grant her the ability to take power over adults in social situations. For example, when Miss Andrews arrives and insults Mary, she shrinks Miss Andrews down and locks her in her own bird cage as a means of grounding her.

While adults are unaware of Mary’s power over them, children, in this case Michael and Jane, are fully aware that Mary holds control. They learn to stop questioning her and listen to what she says; whenever she tells them to put on their gloves, they know to comply. They also quickly become aware of her superhuman capabilities and similarly learn not to question it despite her denial. When Jane becomes trapped in the Royal Doulton bowl and escapes when Mary rescues her, Mary denies any unnatural situation ever occurring. However, upon seeing her shawl in the bowl, Jane confirms that the suspected events did indeed occur. Similarly, when Mary comes down from a kite at the start of Mary Poppins Comes Back and denies ever doing so, Jane and Michael see the kite caught on to her clothes and once again confirm their suspicions. In a way, Mary is aware of the fact that the kids know her denial is always false; she and the children have an implicit understanding between each other. Not making this understanding explicit allows Mary to continue to exercise her power without questions.

Mary also holds power over children and adults like because of her ephemeral nature. Due to the fact that she left the Banks family once and states that she will leave them again, Jane and Michael know not to take her for granted and do whatever they can to make her stay for longer granting her more power. Similarly, Mr. and Mrs. Banks become dependent on her presence but understand that she can leave at anytime forcing them to give in to her desires.

The stories that Travers has about the babies provides an answer to the question of what goes on in babies heads. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what happens in the real world. John and Barbara’s story and Annabel’s stories are heartbreaking; they build relationships with the Starling and have intellectual banter but proceed to forget it all, despite believing that they will be the first child to remember. Even knowing the fact that they will forget, both the Starling and the audience feel slightly persuaded by the babies. Reading these two chapters make me question the thoughts I had as an infant - without knowing any language, how did I even think? What did I think?