Robert Louis Stevenson

1
Robert Louis Stevenson
2
Stevensons Background

• Born November 3, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• He was an only son.
• Died December 3, 1894.
• He was 44 when he died.

3
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.

4
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.

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Conflict 2- Parental Beliefs

• Stevenson pursued a bohemian lifestyle.
• Bohemian a free and easy, unconventional sort of
  life adopted by artists, writers, and others.

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Conflict 3- Finding Love

• Stevenson was plagued by illness his entire life.
• At 23, Stevenson developed respiratory illness.
• Recovered on French Rivera.

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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.

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Conflict 3- Finding Love

• Fanny moved back to California.
• Robert followed her and they married.
• Roberts family finally accepted the marriage and
  offered much-need financial help.
• Robert and Fanny moved back to Scotland.

9
Travels Influence Literature

• Stevenson traveled to many places, which he wrote
  about in his literature.
• Places include France, England, Samoa, and the
  United States.

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Travels Influence Literature

• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde set in London, England.
• Treasure Island set in Samoa.
• Kidnapped set in the United States.

11
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, Whats the matter
  with me, what is this strangeness, has my face
  changed?