Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894),
Stevenson’s work covered an
impressive array of literary genres including plays, poems, essays, literary
criticism, literary theory, biography, travelogues, romances, adventure
stories, fantasies and short stories.
A collection of eleven stories, a
volume published in 1882 entitled New
Arabian Nights, is seen by some as the starting point for the history of
the English short story. Contemporary critics proclaimed that “ a new and fresh
power had arisen in English literature”
Treasure Island (1883)
heralded the commencement of his popular esteem and launched his career as a
profitable writer, becoming one of the most widely read
books of the period. This and three subsequent
adventures were all first published in magazines for young people, but were
also clearly intended for adult readers.
The Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, (1886), has inspired analysis from a multiplicity of
points-of-view, variously lauding it as a classic case study of good and evil,
an examination of 19th century morals and psychological states, an inquiry into
the essence of personality, personality disorder, and the nature of addiction.
Of the work Stevenson himself said:
"I
send you herewith a Gothic gnome, interesting I think, and he came out of a
deep mine, where he guards the fountain of tears." And elsewhere: "Jekyll is a dreadful thing,
I own, but the only thing I feel dreadful
about is this damned old business of the war in the members. This time it came
out; I hope it will stay in, in future."
Stevenson’s amiable style sets up an
engaging personal rapport, sharing with the reader an enthusiasm and sense of
wonder that remains today as rationale for the approbation of generations of
admiring devotees worldwide.
Stevenson’s best known works include
Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1886) and Kidnapped (1886).
