1. THE LIFE OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Brycen Adams, Mackenzie Chaffee, Sarah Haluska

2. Overview Robert Louis Stevenson was born in 1850 in Scotland. He was sickly all throughout his life and traveled to try and overcome it. He went to engineering school, and later studied law, but ultimately decided to be an author. He often used his travels as a base for many of his literary works. He married a lady named Fanny who later encouraged him to make his writing’s more in depth. Stevenson died in Samoa in 1894.

3. Daddy Issues The relationship between Stevenson and his father was a negative one. His father wanted him to become a celebrated engineer, while Stevenson wanted nothing more than to be an author. All the while, his father updated him on any news about the lighthouses. His illness kept him at home until seven, when he first saw a school, yet he was able to make his “stiff” grandfather envy his ability to go against the families disbelief in “imaginative recreation.”

4. Daddy Issues: Quote “Jekyll had more than a father’s interest; Hyde had more than a son’s indifference. To cast my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper.” – Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case In this quote, the idea of a father-son relationship is invoked between Jekyll and Hyde. When brought into context of Stevenson’s life, it shows a reflection of his own experiences.

5. Fanny’s Influence Fanny divorced her husband before Stevenson to be with him. She was the one who convinced him to rewrite ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” because she thought the first on was merely a scary story and told him to make it more philosophical. The influences that Fanny had on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are numerous; rather than following the accounts of a dream that Stevenson had had, it was now much more attentive to details, and contained many references to Victorian era life, as well as served as a strong allegory.

6. Science vs. Religion The times that Stevenson lived in were being changed by the knowledge science brought. Most were familiar were the comfort that religion brought, including his father. His father was loyal to the Church of Scotland and Stevenson saw that the conflicting opinions could be concluded in his book. With Dr. Jekyll to represent religion, and Mr. Hyde to represent science, Stevenson shows Jekyll’s decline and growing sickness, while Hyde begins to take over and grow stronger every day. This follows the transition during the Victorian era from a religious following to that of a more science based society.

7. Understanding Understanding the conflict between Stevenson and his father adds a depth to the conflict between Jekyll and Hyde. Understanding Stevenson’s struggle with science and religion illustrates the differences between the good and evil sides of Jekyll/Hyde, and Fanny’s influence was arguably the most important, as it added significant elements to the text that Stevenson would otherwise have not included. Robert Louis Stevenson’s life played a significant role in his works, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is no exception to this rule.

8. Works Cited Dury, Richard. "Robert Louis Stevenson's Life." Robert Louis Stevenson.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. "Robert Louis Stevenson Biography." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.