The Problem of the Puer Aeternus by Marie-Louise von Franz

In her classic study The Problem of the Puer Aeternus, Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz explores the "eternal youth" archetype—a person who remains psychologically trapped in adolescence well into adulthood. Often popularized today as "Peter Pan Syndrome," von Franz describes this state not as mere laziness, but as a deep-seated resistance to the limits and responsibilities of real life.