Robert Louis Stevenson

1) His Biography:

Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer, was born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh. His timeless classics Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are among his best-known works. Stevenson, who was raised by devout middle-class parents, was an only child. He had a challenging upbringing and was frequently bedridden owing to serious health issues. When Stevenson was a young boy, his nurse Allison Cunningham, who frequently read the Pilgrim’s Progress and the Old Testament to him, had a significant impact on him.

Stevenson was instructed to study science at Edinburgh University in order to become a civil engineer, following in his father’s footsteps. On the contrary, Stevenson had little interest in studying science; he preferred to devote a lot of time to learning about French literature, Scottish history, and the writings of Darwin and Spencer. He was compelled by his love of books to inform his father of his burgeoning literary interests and his desire to pursue education and a career as a writer. His father was extremely distressed by the news and eventually suggested that Robert study for the bar exam so he would have a decent career to fall back on if his literary goals didn’t pan out.

Both Stevenson’s life and writings were profoundly inspired by his home city of Edinburgh. He saw the city from two perspectives. The first was the traditional, respectable, and holy town, while the second represented the more bohemian side of Edinburgh, complete with brothels, sketchy individuals, and shady dealings. Stevenson gained a great lot of insight into the conflicting aspects of human nature through these observations, which ultimately served as the inspiration for his book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Stevenson’s doctor urged him to travel overseas and take a long break from writing in 1873 because of his serious chest ailment and nervous weariness. Stevenson wrote a number of pieces while in South France for six months. After arriving back in Edinburgh, he continued to write short stories, book reviews, and articles. Stevenson’s name gradually began to appear in important periodicals like The Fortnightly Review. Stevenson met Fanny Vandergrift Osbourne, an American woman ten years his senior, around this time. In order to distance herself from her husband, Osbourne travelled to Europe. Despite this, Stevenson continued to see Osbourne, and after she got divorced, he followed her to San Francisco where the two got married in 1880.

Beginning in the latter half of the 1870s, Stevenson enjoyed enormous literary success. An Inland Voyage and Treasure Island were both published by him between 1878 and 1883. Both Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were published in 1886. Stevenson purchased Vailima, a 300-acre estate in the hills of Apia, Samoa, in 1889. He resided there for the remainder of his life. His most important works were produced in the Vailima. The Beach of Falesa, The Ebb Tide, The Wrecker and Catriona, The Bottle Imp, The Isle of Voices, and The Waif Woman are a few of these. On December 3, 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and passed away at the age of 44.

2) Main Works:

An Inland Voyage:

The book tells the story of his canoe expedition down the Oise River from Antwerp to northern France.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes:

In addition to focusing on the voice and character of the narrator, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879) also continues the introspective theme of Inland Voyage.

Treasure Island:

Stevenson’s 12-year-old stepson requested a map, and Stevenson created a pirate adventure narrative to go with it. This story was serialised in the boys’ magazine Young Folks from October 1881 to January 1882, and it served as the inspiration for Treasure Island. Stevenson’s writing career officially began when Treasure Island was published as a book in 1883, giving him his first taste of global acclaim. The book was Stevenson’s first novel that spanned a full volume, as well as the first of his works to be designated as “for children”. It was one of the most well-known and extensively read works of the era by the end of the 1880s.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’:

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which would go on to become another timeless classic, was published in 1886. It was an instant hit and contributed to Stevenson’s reputation-building. As it delivers a startling and horrifying investigation of numerous opposing qualities hiding within a single individual, the work is unmistakably classified as “adult”. The novel gained widespread popularity and served as an inspiration for numerous theatre performances and more than 100 films.

3) Main Themes:

The Search for Heroic Role Models:

Treasure Island is both an adventure story and the tale of one boy’s maturation. Jim is a shy young boy at the beginning of the book, but by the end he has dramatically grown up. He has taken control of a ship, outwitted pirates, and helped countless people. Jim has grown up psychologically even if not chronologically. Jim must experiment with many masculine role models, just like any maturing boy. Since he dies early in the book and doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on Jim’s inner life before that, Jim’s father does not seem to be a particularly important role model. In fact, Jim seldom ever brings up his father in his story.

As an alternative, we can anticipate Jim to look up to a local authority figure. Dr. Livesey, for instance, is well respected in the neighbourhood and stands for the civilised, sane world. When Jim discovers the map, he immediately considers Livesey when he is unsure about what to do with it. Thus, it appears at first that Jim regards Livesey as a role model. Like the doctor, Squire Trelawney is a representation of external authority. Both guys are honourable people, but Jim is not enthralled or motivated by them. Simply put, they are too upstanding and staid.

But as soon as the pirates show up, Jim starts observing them closely in terms of their behaviour, attitudes, and appearance. He gives Silver a level of focus and intensity that he does not give to any other character. Soon, Jim starts acting in ways that Silver does. When he slips into the pirates’ boat in Chapter XIII, he does so fearlessly and spontaneously. In Chapter XXII, he even betrays his own captain, essentially staging his own revolt. He kills the pirate Israel Hands and takes over as captain of the ship after sailing a pirate’s boat out to the ship that is anchored. When Silver says that Jim reminds him of what it was like when he was a youngster, he is implying that Jim can grow up to be like him.

At the book’s conclusion, the pirates’ impact on Jim’s growth is evident and not necessarily negative. In comparison to the captain, squire, and doctor, Jim exhibits more bravery, charm, and independence. He does not name these men at the end of his story, just as he has not addressed his father, which shows that they have not been significant to his development. Jim, on the other hand, gives a heartfelt tribute to Silver and sends the pirate his best. Jim’s identity, aspirations, and desires have been shaped by Silver more than anybody else.

Survival:

The book Kidnapped is about surviving. At the age of 16, David, an orphan, is left at the mercy of a cruel uncle, who makes an attempt to kill him. However, David’s own vigilance allows him to avoid dying at the top of the tower steps. It is his first survival lesson. He is well-prepared for the numerous times during the remaining chapters of the book that he will have to struggle for survival.

He is taken hostage and put aboard a ship to be taken to America where he would be sold as a slave. The captain of the “Covenant” treats him poorly while there and has murderous intentions toward Alan, his new friend. The two of them successfully devise a plan to defeat Captain Hoseason in order to survive. David must once more battle for his life after escaping the confrontation with the captain as he falls into the water and is forced to swim while not knowing how to.

He makes it to the shore through instinct and pure willpower. It is yet another survival lesson. He encounters Red Fox and unintentionally witnesses Red Fox’s murder after a taxing voyage to Appin. He must run in order to survive because he is thought to have participated in the murder. He teams up with Alan, and the two of them go across the Highlands in peril. The journey might be so difficult and draining that David loses the desire to live, but Alan is always there to shield him. The two of them eventually make it through the difficult voyage and arrive at the Lowlands, where David is able to confront his uncle and reclaim his identity as well as his wealth.

Good vs Evil:

That no one is totally good or completely evil is another recurring concept in kidnapped. On the “Covenant”, David discovers this lesson when he sees that the sailors engaging in illicit activity genuinely care about and are there to defend David. The pattern is evidently repeated in Alan, who opposes the authorities, defends a murderer, and steals and wastes David’s money.

Despite his shortcomings, Alan has a noble personality and a compassionate heart. When Ebenezer ultimately accepts David and gives him two-thirds of the property—a larger portion than anticipated—he demonstrates that even the wicked Ebenezer has some goodness in him. David is portrayed as having both positive and terrible traits. He is generally moral and just, but he also has his shortcomings. David moans about his misery, considers running away from Alan, and even clashes with his companion throughout their journey. Stevenson makes his characters genuine and convincing by giving them a dualistic nature.

“Man is not truly one, but truly two”, claims Jekyll. Stevenson introduces Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as two disparate personalities in order to convey his ideas about human duality. He brilliantly conveys the idea of human duality by using two totally distinct characters with different names and appearances.

The duality of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde serves as an analogy for the good and evil that reside within every man as well as our fight with these opposing aspects of our nature. The struggle between good and evil is internal in the novella. One could contend that evil is stronger than good because Hyde appears to be taking control. Hyde does, however, end up dying, which would imply a flaw or failure in evil. Of course, the key question is whether good and evil can be distinguished from one another or if they are inextricably linked.

The Futility of Desire:

The theme of Riches Island is the fulfilment of desires, and all of the characters are driven by greed in order to get their hands on the treasure. By the time the quest is through, the treasure has satisfied Jim and the captain’s crew’s appetite. Stevenson paints a vivid picture of the men carrying the gold bars to the ship, as though to emphasise their successful completion of the task.

Stevenson, though, also questions if there can be ultimate fulfilment. The pirates’ desires are ineffective, and their objectives are unreachable because the treasure map takes them to a dead end. The empty hole comes to represent the pointlessness of the treasure hunt as well as the loss of one’s soul in the process. It appears as though the pirates are excavating their own grave when they dig in the dirt. Their unreasonable behaviour and greed only produced suffering, loss, and death.

Similar to how Ben is half-crazy and living in a cave despite having the riches for three months. If he is alone on an island, such treasure is of little use to him. The treasure is useless without the framework and laws of a civilization that accords gold a monetary value. The gold does not satisfy Jim himself, as may be seen. Instead of mentioning its worth, he concentrates on the nationality and design of the coins.

He makes no mention of his portion of the gain or of what will happen to the loot once he returns home. Instead of dreams of his riches, the gold coins bring on nightmares. Jim shows no sign of wanting to go back for the last of the hidden silver treasure. Jim does not desire to travel or look for riches indefinitely, in contrast to previous literary adventurers like Huckleberry Finn from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey. He has seen that the aspirations entailed by such lifestyles are fruitless—he can never have a happy existence through avarice and violence.

The Lack of Adventure in the Modern Age:

Stevenson uses a number of literary strategies to underline the conclusion of his story of piracy. He makes the argument that the story is firmly associated with the past rather than the present. The fact that Stevenson chose to situate the novel in the eighteenth century emphasises how antiquated the pirate lifestyle is. Additionally, Stevenson has Jim begin his story as a retrospective chronicle that starts after the experience has already ended.

The first sentence informs us that Jim, Squire Trelawney, Smollett, and Livesey have triumphantly survived. The fact that we know they are doomed gives the pirates’ first appearance a gloomy tone. Over the course of the book, the pirates quickly disappear and are frequently connected to demise, illness, and disappearance. In actuality, the pirate’s skeleton discovered close to the treasure location represents the pirates’ coming demise.

However, Stevenson does not celebrate the end of piracy and the purging of criminals. Stevenson creates a sort of elegy to the life of a pirate with Jim’s final, melancholy farewell to the memory of Silver, in which he declares that he won’t embark on any more adventures. Although Stevenson does not lament its passing, he prompts us to consider whether the world would be better off without the charisma, charm, and energy of the pirates. He questions the Victorian notion that the natural leaders of society are captains, doctors, and other responsible professional men. Throughout his life, Stevenson was an outspoken critic of stuffy Victorian professionalism, and his rather sentimental portrayal of extinct pirates serves as a poignant memorial to what he believes the modern world has lost.

Repression:

Undoubtedly, repression contributes to the problems of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Here, there is the same kind of repression as in Victorian Britain: no violence, no strong displays of emotion, and no sexual cravings, at least not in public. Everything is mature and respectable. Jekyll yearns for the life of Hyde more and more as his forbidden urges are suppressed, and Hyde gets stronger. This is demonstrated when Dr. Jekyll returns to being Dr. Hyde after a two-month break and discovers that the drive toward evil has grown stronger.

Friendship and Loyalty:

The plot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is advanced through their friendship. In addition to his natural interest, Utterson feels obliged by his connection with Dr. Jekyll to solve the case of the bad guy. In his quest to discover the mystery’s secrets, he learns important facts. In this way, friendship serves as an enabler as well as a motivator. Dr. Lanyon and Dr. Jekyll have a friendship, although it is unquestionably not as strong as Mr. Utterson’s devotion to Dr. Jekyll. Instead, it’s filled with rivalry, rage, and ultimately an unbridgeable disagreement. We observe that disagreements over ideas can destroy friendships.

Appearances and Reputation:

Dr. Jekyll and Hyde discusses appearances both metaphorically and literally. Despite having many sinister impulses, Dr. Jekyll undoubtedly tries to maintain a respectable facade. In the story, the outside design of each structure serves as a literal reflection of its occupants’ personalities. While Mr. Hyde spends much of his time in the “dingy windowless structure” of Dr. Jekyll’s laboratory, the doctor enjoys a cosy and well-appointed home.

Women and Femininity:

In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the majority of the female characters are weak and docile. The first female that we see is a small girl that Mr. Hyde has run over. Despite the fact that she is “not much worse, more terrified,” she still makes a huge fuss and a lot of people come to her rescue. The story of the Carew murder told by a maid introduces us to the next woman. She faints after seeing the murder, waking up a long time after the perpetrator has fled, leaving her as a passive observer.

4) His Legacy:

Stevenson kept up a consistent letter-writing habit, and his letters—which Sidney Colvin edited in 1899—give us a colourful and enthralling portrait of the man and his life. Colvin, however, left out many of the most intriguing letters and condensed and merged others, which meant that until the full text of every letter was made accessible, many crucial details regarding Stevenson’s inner life were unknown.

Colvin donated Stevenson’s letters to Fanny Sitwell to the Yale University Library with the stipulation that they wouldn’t be read until 1949. Stevenson’s letters to his friend Charles Baxter were donated to what is now the National Library of Scotland. Early canonization of Stevenson hurt his biography; later writers developed a rival portrait of an immoral swaggerer constrained into forced respectability by a jealous wife. The important letters made it possible to paint a picture of a Stevenson who was not the “seraph in chocolate” Henley objected to, nor was he a low-life rake, optimistic escapist, or contented invalid, but rather a sensitive and intelligent writer who had no illusions about life and wryly made the best of a world for which he did not claim to possess the key.

The status of Stevenson’s writing has likewise changed throughout time. The backlash against him began soon after his passing; he was viewed as a polite and imitative essayist or just a children’s book author. The pendulum eventually started to swing the other way, and by the 1950s his reputation had been established among the more discriminating readers as a writer of originality and power whose essays at their best are cogent and perceptive renderings of aspects of the human condition; whose novels are either brilliant adventure stories with subtly moral undertones or innovative and impressive presentations of human action in terms of history, topography, as well as psychology; whose short stories produce some new and effective permutations in the relationship between romance and irony or manage to combine horror and suspense with moral diagnosis; whose poems, though not displaying the highest poetic genius, are frequently skilful, occasionally (in his use of Scots language) moving toward the lyrical.

5) Some Quotes:

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” 

― Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes

“Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“You think those dogs will not be in heaven! I tell you they will be there long before any of us.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

“So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Lay Morals