46 pages • 1 hour read
Robert Louis StevensonKidnapped
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1886A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Robert Louis Stevenson
Known for his adventure stories and as one of the fathers of classic horror, Robert Louis Stevenson was a late-Victorian author and one of the most well-known writers of popular fiction of his time. Born in 1850 in Edinburgh to a lighthouse engineer and the daughter of a member of the local gentry, Stevenson had a spotty education due to poor health. He was a late reader but an avid storyteller from an early age and took to writing young. Despite wanting his son to join the family business, Stevenson’s father supported the budding author’s work by funding the publication of his writing at the age of 16.
Stevenson’s studies at university further cemented the young writer’s resolve to pursue a career in the arts. On holidays, his father took him throughout Scotland to inspect lighthouses. These trips inspired a love of travel, and travel became an early theme in his work. The health issues that plagued Stevenson as a child followed him throughout his life, leading to many long periods where he would be bedridden. Throughout his twenties, he traveled to France and across Europe for his health. He published his first travel book, An Inland Voyage, in 1878. Much of his early career was dedicated to travel writing covering journeys throughout Europe and to the United States.
In 1881, Stevenson began publishing Treasure Island as a serialized novel. The story would go on to be a massive success, launching the young writer’s career to an international audience. This was followed by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which did very well. Kidnapped was Stevenson’s fourth novel and, like Treasure Island, was originally published as a serial but was quickly printed as a book. Stevenson wrote prolifically until his death at the age of 44 from a stroke.
As a celebrity writer primarily known for his adventure tales, Stevenson’s reputation waxed throughout the 20th century during the heyday of Modernism and Postmodernism. During his lifetime, however, he was well regarded by some of the greatest writers of the day. The late 20th century saw a revival of interest in his work both in popular and academic circles that continues to this day, and as of 2018, he ranked as the 26th most translated author in the world, just behind Charles Dickens.
Historical Context: The Jacobite Rebellion and the Appin Murder
Kidnapped incorporates a number of historical people, events, and conflicts into its setting that would have been familiar to its target audience. Much of its plot centers on the political tension between Whigs and Jacobites, and the murder of Colin Campbell at the novel’s midpoint is based on a real-life event that flowed from the larger political conflicts of the day.
In 1751, Great Britain was still dealing with the fallout of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the Catholic King James II was deposed by his daughter Mary and her Protestant husband, William of Orange. The revolution caused a rift between Protestants who supported Parliament’s right to determine the line of succession and Catholics who supported James’s hereditary claim to the throne (calling themselves Jacobites after the Latin version of his name). There were several attempts by James and his descendants to retake the throne, but most relevant to the novel is the Jacobite Rising of 1745. James’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuart (known popularly as Bonnie Prince Charlie), rallied several Scottish clans to launch a rebellion from the Highlands.
After a brief, disorganized invasion of England, Charles’s forces were beaten at the Battle of Culloden, and he returned to exile in France. The 1745 rising marked the last major attempt by the Stuarts to reclaim the throne. Not only had Charles proved incapable of rallying support in England, but Parliament and King George also came down hard on the Scottish clans that participated in the rebellion, enacting bans on weapons and ceremonial clothing, as highlighted in Kidnapped. The Campbells and aligned clans who supported the crown were elevated in the region.
Alan Breck Stewart, the novel’s principal secondary character, was a historical figure tied to the Jacobite Rising. Foster son to James Stewart, who briefly appears in the novel, Alan was a British soldier who deserted in support of his clan during the 1745 uprising. In 1752, he was accused of assassinating Colin Campbell at Appin in western Scotland. Campbell (called the Red Fox in the novel) was the real-life agent of the crown overseeing the collection of rents and eviction of Stewarts from their properties in an episode known as the Highland Clearances. Though never apprehended, Alan was convicted of the murder in absentia and sentenced to hang if caught. Despite having an alibi, James Stewart was found guilty of aiding and abetting Alan and was executed, protesting his innocence to the end. His remains were left on public display for months.
The trial and execution of James was considered an infamous miscarriage of justice even among contemporaries. The jury and judge overseeing his conviction were from the Campbell clan, which had a historical grudge against the Stewarts. The movement to see James formally pardoned continues among ancestors of the Stewarts to this day. Even though Campbell’s murder took place in 1752, Stevenson moves the event forward a year to coincide with the timeline of his novel.
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