This week we discussed “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, a narrative written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850. He was an only child to his middle class parents. His father was a lighthouse builder, and his mother was a harbor engineer, so Stevenson kept the trend in the family when he enrolled at Edinburgh University and studied engineering. It did not take long for him to realize that following in his family’s footsteps was not his dream in life, so he decided to take his own path, and visit other countries to see young writers and painters. These visits are what helped him figure out that his true passion was not actually engineering, but writing.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s first book “An Island Voyage” was published in 1878, along with three others, before he met his future wife Fanny Osbourne. Osbourne was American, and was previously married when she had her two children. Stevenson and Osbourne tied the knot in 1880 and in 1888, the family set sail to the Pacific Islands. They made a stop at the Hawaiin Islands, before settling in the Samoan Islands. Here, they built a house, and Robert was able to focus more on his writing. His journey throughout the pacific influenced many of his novels including: “Island Nights’ Entertainments”, “The Ebb-Tide”, and “In the South Seas.”
Robert Louis Stevenson passed away from a stroke in 1894, while still living in Samoa. After her husband’s death, Fanny moved back to America until her death in 1914. The two were buried next to each other in Samoa.
English 2323-020 
After reading your post, I found it interesting how Stevenson wanted to be an engineer before deciding to become a poet. You can really tell just by that decision he really loved writing as he wanted to do that over something that would make him more money. I always find it fun to learn about the life of a writer so I can see how their experiences may have affected there writing. Just from “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” I would not be able to tell that his trip in the Pacific thoroughly inspired his work, though you said his journey inspired a lot of his other stories. His life of traveling throughout the Pacific sounds interesting which probably explains why his writing style is interesting too.
Overall, it was a good post!
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