Introduction to Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

Information about Robert Louis Stevenson[1]

            Robert Louis Stevenson, born in 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland, was a sickly child. His father was a designer of lighthouses, and he wanted his only son to study engineering.  However, when Stevenson entered Edinburgh University, he chose to study literature.  After graduation Stevenson was forced to split his time between the French Riviera and southern England because the warmer climates helped his deteriorating health, now known to have been caused by tuberculosis. His travels in France led to his first book, An Inland Voyage (1878), the story of a canoe trip on the country’s many canals. While in France, he fell in love with Fanny Osbourne, a married American.

            In 1879, Stevenson undertook an extremely risky voyage to California, where Fanny was divorcing her husband. The dreadful transatlantic crossing to New York and the cross-country train trip to the West Coast nearly killed him. The strain was so hard on his health that when he reached California and finally married Fanny, he was barely able to stand. His doctor told Fanny that her new husband could live for only a few months.

            Fortunately, the doctor was wrong. The couple returned to Scotland. It was there that

Stevenson began to write his first great success, Treasure Island (1883), the thrilling story of a

swashbuckling pirate named Long John Silver.  The writer’s deteriorating health prompted the

couple to move to the south of France, where Stevenson completed A Child’s Garden of Verses

(1885). At his next home, in southern England, Stevenson wrote Kidnapped. Nonetheless, financial

worries were never far away. One night Stevenson had a nightmare so strange that he decided to use it as the basis for a novel. This novel, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), became one of Stevenson’s most popular creations and helped to ease his financial strain. 

            In 1888, an American publisher asked Stevenson to write a travel book about the South Pacific. The couple jumped at the chance to escape to the tropics. They chartered a yacht and sailed from San Francisco to the Marquesas Islands, Tahiti, and Hawaii. The author’s health improved in the tropical sun, and in 1890 the Stevensons decided to settle in Samoa.

            On his estate in Samoa, Stevenson finished David Balfour (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped, as well as several books about nature and life in the South Seas. His descriptions of his exotic and romantic lifestyle captivated readers. During his years in Samoa, legends grew up about Stevenson that led to his reputation of being one of the most beloved storytellers of his time.  

            Stevenson died in Samoa on December 3, 1894, at the age of forty-four. At the time of his death, he was working with friends in Scotland to prepare an edition of his complete works.

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[1]  "Study Guide for The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Glencoe Literature Library. McGraw Hill Education. Web. 1 Jan 2013. <http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/strangecase.html>.