Robert Louis Stevenson-Short Biography-His Born, Childhood, Education, Career and achievement.

What are the contributions of Robert Louis Stevenson to Arts & Literature? 

R L Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was one of the most influential and popular writers of the 19th century. He is best known for his novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, as well as his poems, essays, and travel writings. In this blog post, we will explore his early life, education, and contribution to literature.

          Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the only child of Thomas Stevenson, a civil engineer and lighthouse designer, and Margaret Isabella Balfour, a minister's daughter. He grew up in a prosperous and cultured family, but he suffered from poor health and frequent bouts of tuberculosis. He spent much of his childhood in bed, reading books and writing stories.

         Stevenson was educated at home until he was eleven, when he enrolled at Edinburgh Academy. He then attended Edinburgh University, where he studied engineering and law, but he had little interest in either profession. He was more drawn to literature and philosophy, and he became involved in the city's literary circles. He befriended writers such as Sidney Colvin, Leslie Stephen, and W.E. Henley, who encouraged his literary ambitions.

        Stevenson decided to pursue a career as a writer, despite his father's disapproval. He published his first book, An Inland Voyage, in 1878, based on his travels by canoe through France and Belgium. He followed it with Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879), a humorous account of his journey with a stubborn donkey named Modestine. He also wrote essays, reviews, and short stories for various magazines and journals.


          In 1876, Stevenson met Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne, an American woman who was separated from her husband and had two children. They fell in love and eloped to California in 1879, where they married in 1880. Stevenson faced many hardships and illnesses during his time in America, but he also wrote some of his best works, such as The Silverado Squatters (1883), a memoir of his stay at an abandoned mining camp in Napa Valley.

           Stevenson returned to Europe with his family in 1880. He settled in Bournemouth, England, where he wrote some of his most famous novels: Treasure Island (1883), a thrilling adventure story about pirates and buried gold; Kidnapped (1886), a historical novel about the Scottish Jacobite rebellion; and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), a psychological thriller about a man who transforms into a murderous alter ego.

           Stevenson's health deteriorated in the late 1880s. He sought a warmer climate and traveled to various places such as France, Switzerland, Italy, and the South Pacific. He finally settled in Samoa in 1890, where he bought a plantation called Vailima. He became involved in the local politics and culture, and wrote several works inspired by his experiences there, such as A Footnote to History (1892), The Beach of Falesa (1892), The Ebb-Tide (1894), and Catriona (1893), a sequel to Kidnapped.

           Stevenson died on December 3, 1894, at the age of 44. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while working on his unfinished novel Weir of Hermiston. He was buried on Mount Vaea, overlooking his beloved Vailima. His epitaph reads:

Under the wide and starry sky

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

Here he lies where he longed to be;

Home is the sailor, home from sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.

           Robert Louis Stevenson is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 19th century, whose works spanned various genres and styles. He is best known for his novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which have captivated generations of readers with their adventure, suspense, and psychological depth. But Stevenson was not only a master of fiction; he was also a prolific and versatile essayist, poet, critic, and travel writer, who explored diverse topics ranging from art and literature to politics and morality. In this blog post, we will examine some of the aspects of Stevenson's contribution to arts and literature, and how his life and experiences shaped his creative vision.

            Though Stevenson studied engineering at Edinburgh University, but soon abandoned it for law, which he also disliked. He suffered from poor health throughout his life, and was often afflicted by tuberculosis, a disease that eventually claimed his life. He travelled extensively in search of a better climate for his lungs, and visited many places in Europe, America, and the Pacific Islands. His travels inspired many of his writings, such as Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, An Inland Voyage, The Silverado Squatters, and In the South Seas.

            Stevenson was influenced by many literary movements and traditions, such as romanticism, realism, gothic, adventure, and children's literature. He admired writers such as Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and William Morris. He also had a keen interest in French literature, especially the works of Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and Guy de Maupassant. He wrote essays on various literary topics, such as style, fiction, romance, biography, and criticism. He also wrote poems on themes such as childhood, nature, love, death, and travel. Some of his notable poems include A Child's Garden of Verses, Underwood, Ballads, and Songs of Travel.

            Stevenson's novels are remarkable for their diversity and originality. He combined elements of different genres and styles to create stories that appealed to both children and adults. He used historical settings and characters to create realistic and vivid scenes of adventure and intrigue. He also explored the darker aspects of human nature and psychology, such as duality, identity, morality, and evil. His novels are rich in symbolism, allegory, irony, and humor. They also reflect his own views on life and society, such as his sympathy for the oppressed and marginalized people (such as pirates in Treasure Island or Jacobites in Kidnapped), his criticism of hypocrisy and corruption (such as in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or The Master of Ballantrae), and his appreciation of friendship and loyalty (such as in Treasure Island or Kidnapped). Stevenson's legacy is immense and enduring. His novels have been adapted into numerous films, plays,

              One of the main influences of Stevenson's travelling was his exposure to different cultures and peoples. He was fascinated by the diversity of human experience and sought to portray it in his stories. He wrote about pirates, adventurers, rebels, outcasts and natives with sympathy and realism. He also learned from the languages, customs, religions and histories of the places he visited and incorporated them into his works. For example, in his novel The Ebb-Tide, he depicted the colonial conflicts and moral dilemmas in the South Pacific islands.

          Another influence of Stevenson's travelling was his search for health and happiness. He suffered from chronic lung problems since childhood and often travelled to warmer climates to ease his condition. He also travelled to escape from the pressures and expectations of his family and society. He sought adventure, romance and freedom in his journeys. He met and married Fanny Osbourne, an American divorcee, in California. He also befriended many artists, writers and intellectuals along the way. He found joy and inspiration in his travels and expressed them in his poems, letters and essays.

           A third influence of Stevenson's travelling was his development of his literary style and themes. He experimented with different genres, forms and techniques in his writing. He wrote novels, short stories, poems, essays, travelogues, biographies and children's books. He used various narrators, perspectives, tones and languages in his works. He explored themes such as identity, morality, loyalty, courage, justice and friendship. He also blended realism and fantasy, adventure and horror, comedy and tragedy in his stories. He created memorable characters, settings and plots that captivated readers of all ages.

          In conclusion, Robert Louis Stevenson was a remarkable writer who was greatly influenced by his travelling. His travelling enriched his knowledge, experience and imagination. His travelling also shaped his personality, values and goals. His travelling made him a cosmopolitan, a rebel and a visionary. His travelling made him one of the most influential writers of the 19th century.

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