Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson’s Background     Born November 3, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He was an only son.

Died December 3, 1894.

He was 44 when he died.

Conflict #1- Family Expectations     For generations, Stevenson family had been lighthouse engineers.

Family wanted Robert to become an engineer, too.

Robert wanted to write.

He studied law as a compromise.

Conflict #2- Parental Beliefs   Stevenson rejected his parents’ religion and bourgeois hypocrisy.

Bourgeois: a person of the middle class, such as a merchant, businessman, or salaried worker with a higher status than a farmer or a laborer and a lower status than an aristocrat or a person of great wealth; common, ordinary.

Conflict #2- Parental Beliefs   Stevenson pursued a bohemian lifestyle.

Bohemian: a free and easy, unconventional sort of life adopted by artists, writers, and others.

Conflict #3- Finding Love    Stevenson was plagued by illness his entire life.

At 23, Stevenson developed respiratory illness.

Recovered on French Rivera.

Conflict #3- Finding Love    While in France, fell in love with Fanny Osbourne, an American.

Fanny was married, but separated.

Robert courted her for 2 years, despite his parents’ disapproval.

Conflict #3- Finding Love     Fanny moved back to California.

Robert followed her and they married.

Robert’s family finally accepted the marriage and offered much-need financial help.

Robert and Fanny moved back to Scotland.

Travels Influence Literature  Stevenson traveled to many places, which he wrote about in his literature.

 Places include France, England, Samoa, and the United States.

Travels Influence Literature  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde set in London, England.

 Treasure Island set in Samoa.

 Kidnapped set in the United States.

Conclusion    Robert Louis Stevenson died on December 3, 1894, at the age of 44.

He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, which killed him instantly.

He went to the wine cellar to get a bottle of burgundy, uncorked it in the kitchen, and abruptly cried to his wife, “What’s the matter with me, what is this strangeness, has my face changed?”