Robert Louis Stevenson, The Isle of Voices

Julie Gay (Université de Poitiers)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1893

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

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“The Isle of Voices” is a short-story and, more specifically, a tale Stevenson had intended to publish in “a volume of

Märchen

” (

Letters

4: 168) entitled

Island Nights’ Entertainments

, the “centre-piece” (

Letters

4: 168) of which was to be another tale in the same vein, “The Bottle Imp”. Both tales are likely to have been inspired by Stevenson’s five-month stay in Hawaii in 1889 and subsequently written upon his return to Vailima, his Samoan home and the place where he eventually settled with his family. Although Stevenson does not seem to have regarded “The Isle of Voices” as highly as “The Bottle Imp”, he was convinced it would fit very well within the collection: “Of course, [‘The Isle of Voices’ and ‘The Waif-Woman’ (see note 1] are not up to the…

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2152 words

Citation: Gay, Julie. "The Isle of Voices". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 May 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39030, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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