Stevenson life e opere

Stevenson's life and works

Stevenson's life

Born in the province of Edinburgh, Stevenson grew up in a world of conventionality and the pursuit of being a good person. As the son of engineers and lawyers, he was strongly addressed by his father to become a lawyer, but he eventually chose to become a writer.

Voyages served as an inspiration for his writings. His wife was an independent and newly divorced American woman with two children. Stevenson suffered from tuberculosis, which led him to travel in search of the right weather for his health.

Works

Short stories

Stevenson was influenced by Poe's theory of the short story, which emphasized the importance of reading a story in one single sitting. This approach ensured that the emotions and impressions would stick firmly in the mind. The shortness of the story requires symbolism and atmosphere to fix the narrative in the reader's memory. In contrast, longer stories could describe reality better but tend to be too lengthy.

• New Arabian Nights: Inspired by the Arabian and Indian tradition, these stories were imported during the 18th century and do not form a fixed corpus.
• Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: A short novel where Stevenson met Henry James, author of "Portrait of a Lady" and a critic and theorist of literature. James wrote on the novel and its role in modernity.
• Treasure Island: Popular with both children and adults, this work manipulates genres.
• The Master of Ballantrae: Focused on Scottish history from 1688, covering the Restoration, Charles II/James II, and the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, leading to the Revolution with William of Orange. Themes of duality and conflict are explored through two brothers, James and Henry, similar to Jekyll and Hyde, culminating in their simultaneous deaths. The characters may have been two, but they shared the same personality.