Robert Louis Stevenson's Impact on British Literature

875 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is stevensons purpose for writing jekyll and hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson ranks in the upper echelons of writers in British literature. He is one of the most popular writers of the nineteenth century. Stevenson had a great range of skill in producing works in the form of poetry, plays, short stories, essays and novels. A variety of aspects of his very own life and personal experiences were implemented into his literary works. The romance novel is that of which he is best became known for. His works are still studied and observed in today’s society. While he is not regarded as “the best” writer in British history, his work still demands respect and deserves appreciation. Robert Louis Stevenson was a talented literary artist that had a significant impact on British literature.

Born on the thirteenth day of November, 1850, young Robert Louis Stevenson was the only son of middle class parents (Poem Hunter). He was birthed in great Edinburgh, Scotland, to parents Thomas Stevenson and Isabella Balfour. His father belonged to a family with a long line of engineers who had built many deep-sea lighthouses along Scotland’s rugged coastline. His mother came from a family of lawyers and church ministers (The RLS Website). Though he was born strong and healthy, Stevenson’s health quickly faltered due to being stricken with constant respiratory illnesses that later in his life developed into an unfortunate case of tuberculosis that transformed him into a state of being “skeletally thin and frail” for a large portion of his lifetime (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Throughout his childhood, Stevenson’s chronic health problems made it difficult for him to live a normal life as an active adolescent, thus, he was confined to bed for most of his childhood (Poem Hunter). While being...

... middle of paper ...

...od, Stevenson associated himself with the bottom feeders of Edinburgh’s lower society (Encyclopedia of World Biography). The relationship between the aspect of these two societies that contrasted with one another had a deeper influence on young Stevenson and strengthened his interest in the “duality of human nature”. This later on in his life provided the theme on which Stevenson based his famed novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ( Poem Hunter).

Works Cited

"Robert Louis Stevenson" Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 6

Apr. 2012

The RLS Website. www.robert-louis-stevenson.org. 20 Mar. 2012

"Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)." Biography of Robert Louis

Stevenson. Grade Saver LLC, 1999-2012. Web. 03 Apr. 2012.

"Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson." PoemHunter.com. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

Show More
Related

  • Influence of Science and Religion on "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sense of conflict being created through disapproval portrays duality that the Victorians had at the period; it is almost as if they were in a dilemma and confusion in deciding which element of sanity to maintain. Stevenson wrote the story to articulate his idea of the duality of human nature, sharing the mixture good and evil that lies within every human being. In the novel Mr Hyde represents the evil part of a person and of Dr Jekyll.

    Read More

  • Marxist Theory and Class Relations in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within the text of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson portrays a complex power struggle between Dr. Jekyll, a respected individual within Victorian London society, and Mr. Hyde a villainous man tempted with criminal urges, fighting to take total control of their shared body. While Dr. Jekyll is shown to be well-liked by his colleagues, Mr. Hyde is openly disliked by the grand majority of those who encounter him, terrified of his frightful nature and cruel actions. Throughout Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson portrays the wealthy side of London, including Mr. Utterson and Dr. Jekyll, as respected and well-liked, while showing the impoverish side as either non-existent or cruel.

    Read More

  • Stevenson's Use of Literary Techniques to Portray Evil in Jekyll and Hyde

    3971 Words  | 8 Pages

    Stevenson’s most prominent character in the story is the mysterious Mr Hyde. Edward Hyde is introduced from the very first chapter when he tramples a young girl in the street, which brings the reader’s attention straight to his character. The reader will instantly know that this person is a very important part of this book and that he plays a key role in the story. This role is the one of a respectable old man named Dr Jekyll’s evil side or a ‘doppelganger’. This links in with the idea of duality. Dr Jekyll is described as being ‘handsome’, ‘well-made’ and ‘smooth-faced’. On the other hand, Mr Hyde is described as being ‘hardly human’, ‘pale and dwarfish’, giving of an impression of deformity and ‘so ugly that it brought out the sweat on (Mr Enfield) like running’! These words all go together to conjure up an image in the mind of an animal, beast or monster. During the novel...

    Read More

  • External Influences on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Writings

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson was a familiar title to me and prior to reading it I believed I was well versed about the story. I knew that Dr. Jekyll was an intelligent man who experimented with the idea of creating a more powerful version of him that would release

    Read More

  • The Significance of Edward Hyde's Character in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    1992 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886. It concerns a lawyer, Gabriel Utterson, who investigates the strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the reclusive Mr. Edward Hyde. This novel represents an ideology in Western culture; the perpetual conflict between humanity’s virtuosity and immorality. It is interpreted as an accurate guidebook to the Victorian era’s belief of the duality of human nature. This essay will explore Mr. Edward Hyde and whether Stevenson intended for him to be a mere character in the novel or something of wider significance.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

    2877 Words  | 6 Pages

    Analysis of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. In an attempt to consider the duality tale, one narrative inevitably finds its way to the top of the heap as the supreme archetype: Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Immense disagreement permeates the pages of literary criticism relevant to the meaning of the story. Yet, for all of the wrangling focused on the psychology, morality, spirituality, and sociality of the story, it has remained, since 1886, a novella that according to the Reverend W. J. Dawson, gives Stevenson “a place apart, and high above all contemporaries, as an interpreter of the deepest things of the soul” (qtd.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Fixed Identity In Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    Robert Louis Stevenson’s thrilling novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ends with the statement from Dr. Jekyll explaining why he chose to experiment with changing his own identity. Jekyll reflects on the idea that he was born to be rich, respected, and good, with “every guarantee of an honourable and distinguished future” (Stevenson 75). Dr. Jekyll admits his struggle with living up to these expectations of having to carry his head high, as he has had to conceal his pleasures to do so. His account for creating Hyde is so that he can experience living the evil parts of himself, the parts that his culture taught him to hide. This theme of a society built around fixed identity is present

    Read More

  • Society Pressure in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    1997 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ian Era was an era of progress and judgment. Stevenson tries to show the harshness of society during this time. It just shows that what other people think of another can affect the way someone lives. “Of course, Stevenson wishes in his life and in Jekyll and Hyde that society were less hypocritical about pleasures natural and healthy. But the companionable pleasure in Jekyll and Hyde function less by implicit contrast with outre desires than as emblems of promise tragically unfulfilled.” (Veeder 105) Even though Stevenson wished that society was not so judgmental, it sadly still is. Society has changed dramatically since the Victorian Era in Britain, but it is still a long ways away from truly accepting an individual for who they are, and what they have accomplished.

    Read More

  • What Is The Concept Of Dualism In The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    The late eighteen hundreds was a time of abundant scientific discoveries, medical advances, and drug outbreaks (Wolf). Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson united all three happenings into a single novel. Stevenson grasped the fear of the Victorian people and the unfamiliar concepts and findings of scientific advances to create the novel as a horror (Wolf). Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the first authors to truly explore and inquire in the concept of the duality of man and how it affects us and our society Wolf. Stevenson’s mystery evolving into science fiction novel, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, fully elaborated on the deep dark side a person could conceal: “Poor old Harry Jekyll, if ever I read Satan’s signature upon a face, it is that of [Mr. Hyde] your new friend” (Stevenson 30). Wishing to rid the world of evil is a complex concept which in the end has shown to miscarry (Wolf).

    Read More

  • The Life and Writings of Robert Louis Stevenson

    2652 Words  | 6 Pages

    Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850 in Scotland. Being the only son of a famous civil engineer, Stevenson was expected to continue the family tradition, but this was against his wishes for his life. At an early age, he exhibited a yearning to write, and although he could not read until he was seven or eight, he composed stories and dedicated them to his parents and nurse. Stevenson was not brought up by the most caring parents, and received most of his adolescent guidance from his nurse. Throughout his child, the nurse cared for him and instilled in him the Christian beliefs that undoubtedly shaped his novels. The nurse would read to him from the bible during his periods of bed rest, as he was a sickly child, and these daily readings instilled in him a love for storytelling. Although he was a sickly child, he managed to receive a decent education through some schooling, private tutoring and at the efforts of his nurse and was able to enroll in Edinburgh University when he was 17.

    Read More

  • The Dual Nature of Man: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    607 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, Stevenson shows duality of human nature through society. During the Victorian era, there were two classes, trashy and wealthy. Dr. Jekyll comes from a wealthy family, so he is expected to be a proper gentleman. He wants to be taken seriously as a scientist, but also indulge in his darker passions.“...I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality/ of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in/ the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said/ to be either, it was only because I was radically both..."(125).

    Read More

  • How Does Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Explain The Human Condition

    1610 Words  | 4 Pages

    Stevenson’s effective use of truth to comment on the human condition is one reason why his story

    Read More

  • Examples Of Dualism In Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    The focal point of Stevenson’s novella is the division of human nature. In the story, Henry Jekyll is a wealthy upperclassman, known for his benevolence and charitable deeds. However, the man admired and embraced by society harbors a secret known only by himself: a second identity that indulges in acts of immorality and sin. In his moral state, the scientist discovers “the thorough and primitive duality of man” (Stephenson 48) and that, of the two

    Read More

  • Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde By Robert Louis Stevenson

    122 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Victorian era was a time of unprecedented technological advancements, with people being scientific, but superstitious. They held fears that technological advancements would corrupt their civilization as they knew it and create monstrous beings. Stevenson in his novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde creates a link between good and evil and the notion of this being contained within a single body. During this period in history, Victorian England attempted to assert its western civilization over many parts of the world, leading people to be intrigued by allegedly savage cultures. By examining the superficial existence of the upper middle class of the day, Stevenson highlights the hypocrisy of the social strata at the time. He explores the dichotomy

    Read More

  • How Is Robert Stevenson Sickly Responsible

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    One day, in September of 1876, Robert met a lady that captured his attention, this lady was Fanny Osborn. Fanny was thirty six, and although she was married (but separated) with two children, she and Stevenson pursued a relationship. After two years Fanny divorced her husband to be with Stevenson ( encyclopedia Britannica). Although Robert was focused on his relationship, he also was working on his first book. An Inland Voyage , a book that came from a canoe trip through the Belgium and French canals ( encyclopedia of the world ) , was published in 1878 (bio.com). Around the same time that Stevenson published his first book, he also published his first collection of essays entitled Viginibus Presque ( encyclo Britannica). In 1880, after a four year relationship with Fanny, Stevenson was married. Once married, the happy couple took a three week honeymoon to California. The enjoyable vacation, to an abandoned gold mine, sparked the idea for another book titled The Silverado Squatters ( bio.com). After the honeymoon, the new couple decided to move their new family to Switzerland to help with Roberts health problems (encyclo Britannica). Following the Stevenson's move, in 1882, Robert his first book of short fictions titled New Arabian Nights (bio.com). Shortly after moving to Switzerland an epidemic erupted so Robert moved his family to England. Living in England was enjoyable for a period but after several years the climate caused Robert's health to decline. In August of 1887 the family yet again moved, this time to New York ( encyclopedia Britannica). Upon arriving in New York, Stevenson found himself to famous with several publishers and editors (encyclopedia Britannica). With his new found fame, Stevenson published several other books in the 1880's. Some of Roberts pieces where The Treasure of Franchard, published in 1883, and Treasure Island

    Read More

More about Robert Louis Stevenson's Impact on British Literature

Open Document