R.L. Stevenson
Born in 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh where his father was a well-respected lighthouse engineer. Stevenson almost followed his father’s example, studying engineering at Edinburgh University, but at twenty-one decided to become a writer.
His early works consist of essays and travel writing, his first book, An Inward Voyage (1878), describes a canoe trip to Belgium and France. Despite his success with this style of writing and having been a writer of fiction since his teens, it was not until 1877 that his first work, a short story, was published.
In 1882, Stevenson began to publish longer fiction and Treasure Island was serialised at this time. Kidnapped (1886) followed with critical success but it was The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) which was to bring Stevenson fame on both sides of the Atlantic. Kidnapped, a fast paced adventure …show more content…
This novel challenges the reader to take evidence from the multiple narrative accounts and try to piece together the contradictory versions of events. Similar to Jekyll and Hyde, James and Henry too cannot co-exist. However, there is the suggestion of a more radical idea: that good and evil are not necessarily in opposition and may exist simultaneously within one person. The notion of Henry representing good and James evil does not sit entirely comfortably. We are given no evidence to prove that either brother should be described in this way. The ‘evil’ characteristics of James, as detailed by one of the narrators, MacKellar, can be narrowed down to such activities as drinking, playing cards and seducing the local women. To MacKellar’s Calvinist way of thinking, such exploits are those of the devil. Yet, filtered through our own moral perspectives, James’s actions can be seen as youthful extravagances. They do not signal absolute evil, as MacKellar seems to
Born in 1850, Robert Louis Stevenson grew up in Edinburgh where his father was a well-respected lighthouse engineer. Stevenson almost followed his father’s example, studying engineering at Edinburgh University, but at twenty-one decided to become a writer.
His early works consist of essays and travel writing, his first book, An Inward Voyage (1878), describes a canoe trip to Belgium and France. Despite his success with this style of writing and having been a writer of fiction since his teens, it was not until 1877 that his first work, a short story, was published.
In 1882, Stevenson began to publish longer fiction and Treasure Island was serialised at this time. Kidnapped (1886) followed with critical success but it was The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) which was to bring Stevenson fame on both sides of the Atlantic. Kidnapped, a fast paced adventure …show more content…
This novel challenges the reader to take evidence from the multiple narrative accounts and try to piece together the contradictory versions of events. Similar to Jekyll and Hyde, James and Henry too cannot co-exist. However, there is the suggestion of a more radical idea: that good and evil are not necessarily in opposition and may exist simultaneously within one person. The notion of Henry representing good and James evil does not sit entirely comfortably. We are given no evidence to prove that either brother should be described in this way. The ‘evil’ characteristics of James, as detailed by one of the narrators, MacKellar, can be narrowed down to such activities as drinking, playing cards and seducing the local women. To MacKellar’s Calvinist way of thinking, such exploits are those of the devil. Yet, filtered through our own moral perspectives, James’s actions can be seen as youthful extravagances. They do not signal absolute evil, as MacKellar seems to