
The Proper Pirate
Robert Louis Stevenson's Quest for Identity
Jefferson A. Singer(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 3. November 2016
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-19-932854-3 (ISBN)
Description
Exploring the life and times of author Robert Louis Stevenson, The Proper Pirate takes readers on a psychological journey from the writer's clerical and constricted upbringing to a life of imagination and wonder culminating in the South Seas island of Samoa. Drawing on contemporary theories of identity development, Jefferson A. Singer traces how Stevenson overcame Victorian dualities of piety versus passion in both his personal life and artistic works, gradually edging toward a more Modernist and complicated moral vision.
This first full-length psychobiographical study of Stevenson follows the trajectory of his life, all while highlighting how key memories and conflicts within his personality shaped the narrative structure and themes of some of his most celebrated works, including: Treasure Island, (The) Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Child's Garden of Verses, and Kidnapped. Stevenson's relationships to his parents, his wife Fanny, and circle of intimate friends also play a prominent role in this investigation of his emerging identity and artistic body of work.
Drawing on Stevenson's own treasure trove of personal correspondence, memoirs, essays, novels, stories and poems, as well as historical documents, biographies, and critical studies, Singer utilizes his background as a clinical psychologist and researcher in personality science to provide new and informative insights into the great writer's psychological development. In doing so, he helps to unlock the mystery of how a sickly youth confined to the "land of the counterpane" grew up to become the author of some of the world's most beloved and enduring works of adventure and fantasy.
This first full-length psychobiographical study of Stevenson follows the trajectory of his life, all while highlighting how key memories and conflicts within his personality shaped the narrative structure and themes of some of his most celebrated works, including: Treasure Island, (The) Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Child's Garden of Verses, and Kidnapped. Stevenson's relationships to his parents, his wife Fanny, and circle of intimate friends also play a prominent role in this investigation of his emerging identity and artistic body of work.
Drawing on Stevenson's own treasure trove of personal correspondence, memoirs, essays, novels, stories and poems, as well as historical documents, biographies, and critical studies, Singer utilizes his background as a clinical psychologist and researcher in personality science to provide new and informative insights into the great writer's psychological development. In doing so, he helps to unlock the mystery of how a sickly youth confined to the "land of the counterpane" grew up to become the author of some of the world's most beloved and enduring works of adventure and fantasy.
Reviews / Votes
If like me you grew up reading some of Stevensons works, and a tale such as The Bottle Imp -- with its surprising and unsettling ending -- stays in your mind long after you read it, this book offers a good frame for reflecting on the author of these stories, in a soldily psychological way. * Miriam Lorenzen, PsyStudents *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-932854-3 (9780199328543)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2016
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€13.99
Available for download

E-Book
09/2016
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€17.99
Available for download
Person
Jefferson A. Singer is the Dean of the College and Faulk Foundation Professor of Psychology at Connecticut College. He is the author of 5 books and many articles, chapters, and reviews in the fields of personality, memory, and clinical psychology. Singer was the recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award, and a Social Science Research Council Award, both for research on autobiographical memory conducted in the United Kingdom. He was the 2010 recipient of the Henry Murray Award for the Study of Narrative Lives from Division 8 (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) of the American Psychological Association.
Author
Faulk Foundation Professor, Department of PsychologyFaulk Foundation Professor, Department of Psychology, Connecticut College
Content
Chapter 1 - Jehovah Tsidkenu Chapter 2 - Trapped in the House of Eld Chapter 3 - The Bohemian Finds a Wife and Purpose Chapter 4 - Disobedience Dreamed by a Loyal Son Chapter 5 - Et Ego in Arcadia Vixi Chapter 6 - The Gothic Gnome and the Worm of Conscience Chapt. 7 - The Generative Turn: The Deepening of Stevenson's Societal Identity Chapter 8 - My Heart Sings - First Travels in the South Seas Chapter 9 - The Good Work Done