13
votes
Accepted
Did Stevenson really claim to have been inspired by brownies?
Yep.
Stevenson writes in his A Chapter on Dreams, which you can see a book scan at that link, and a text version at Project Gutenburg:
Well, as regards the dreamer, I can answer that, for he is no ...
- 19.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Where is the start of Treasure Island set?
TL;DR: The opening chapters of Treasure Island make it clear that the "Admiral Benbow" must be within a few miles of Lynmouth in Devon.
Stevenson wrote a detailed account of the writing of ...
- 40.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Was Stevenson's Treasure Island influenced by Poe?
Stevenson's admission of the earlier stories and authors he'd plagiarised borrowed ideas from comes in My First Book - his little-known preface to Treasure Island, first published in McClure's ...
- 64.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Who was Long John Silver based on?
William Ernest Henley. Per Andrzej Diniejko, in William Ernest Henley: A Biographical Sketch:
Robert Louis Stevenson modelled the most famous pirate in literature — Treasure Island's Long John ...
- 2,012
7
votes
Accepted
How can "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" be read as a commentary on Scotland?
TL;DR: The “double being” of Jekyll and Hyde is a floating signifier, so a Scottish interpretation of the novella could be made. But no-one has done so yet! Wikipedia and James Campbell are mistaken ...
- 40.9k
5
votes
Accepted
How many members of Captain Flint's crew are known?
Billy Bones (first mate)
Confirmed from his own mouth:
"I was first mate, I was, old Flint's first mate, and I'm the on'y one as knows the place. He gave it me at Savannah, when he lay a-dying, ...
- 64.3k
5
votes
What's the evidence for "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" being secretly set in Edinburgh?
Dr Eugene Chantrelle
Dr Eugene Chantrelle was a close friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, and also Edinburgh based. Robert had this to write about his friend:
THE SCOTSMAN
Stevenson wrote: “I should ...
- 186
5
votes
Does R L Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde have a hidden anti-science agenda?
TL;DR: Stevenson didn’t intend to put an anti-science agenda into Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and I don’t see how to make a convincing case for finding it there.
Introduction
The question ...
- 40.9k
5
votes
Accepted
How could the current bear the coracle southward, if the current was northwards earlier?
As far as I can tell, it does seem that you've uncovered an inconsistency or mis-writing on Stevenson's part. Let's analyse the whole journey carefully, using a map of Treasure Island for reference:
...
- 64.3k
2
votes
How many members of Captain Flint's crew are known?
Allardyce, he was the skeletor compass. And Darby McGraw.
- 31
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