SH+P5+2014++Robert+Louis+Stevenson’s+1885+tale+“Markheim”

 **Aim: Karly Moyers**

In “Markheim”, Robert Louis Stevenson analyzes the idea of doppelgangers by focusing on a man who suddenly resorts to the murder of a stranger. Stevenson writes, “ The features of the visitor began to undergo a wonderful and lovely change: they brightened and softened with a tender triumph, and, even as they brightened, faded and dislimned. But Markheim did not pause to watch or understand the transformation” (1885). Markheim, the man in question, slays the “dealer” of the establishment then continues on through his house in the mindset of robbing the now deceased dealer. However, he soon finds that he is not alone. He ventures upstairs and comes across a creature Markheim compares to being the devil. The two converse casually at first but soon begin to discuss good vs evil, causing Markheim to question his actions. He suddenly admits his mistake of murdering the innocent dealer, thus causing the man to mysteriously disappear. Markheim then swings open the door, lays eyes on the maid of the house, and admits to the murder. The most bewildering aspect of this story is the “creature” suddenly disappearing into thin air after convincing the man of his faults. This brings up the idea of doppelgangers and the supernatural. There is a very apparent implication that the devil figure is actually only a figment of Markheim’s imagination, simply another layer of his personality. Robert Stevenson inexplicitly implies his doppelganger theory, as it is not extremely apparent. The figure could be looked at as an extremely metaphysical experience, but the way it suddenly disappears as soon as another human is present could also be evidence that it is simply Markheim’s double. Also, Markheims sudden realization of his mistakes just by talking to someone he has seemingly never met shows the possibility of a deeper meaning. Stevenson wrote this story to subtly hint at how being attentive to other aspects and perspectives of one’s personality can help them understand and judge their own reasoning.

Stevenson, Robert L. "Markheim." //Markheim / Robert Louis Stevenson //. EBooks@Adelaide, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.
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 * Audience: Hannah Stevens **

The short story, "Markheim", was directed towards young adults because it teaches them about the good and evil. The primary audience of the story is the young adults because he directed the story to that audience. The secondary audience is people who read horror or mysterious because it becomes mysterious when the figure shows up and he thinks that it is the devil. Robert Louis Stevenson assumed that his audience would know what the figure meant and that if you do something horrible in your life it could come back to haunt you later. This is a weakness because if the story became popular in a different audience than they might not understand what Robert Louis Stevenson meant. It is a weakness because when you just assume things, you are not always right. If you just assuming that one specific audience and the wrong group of people read it, then it can mess up the meaning of the whole story. Then people will get the wrong idea about the story and what it is about if it is not liked by the targeted audience.

Stevenson, Robert L. "Markheim." //Markheim / Robert Louis Stevenson //. EBooks@Adelaide, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.
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** Historical: Alex Zhao **

History was made from “Markheim” because it is an excellent example of a story that contains new writing tactics for the era; this is demonstrated by the main character’s idea of spontaneously murdering individual and then seeing and conversing with a mysterious shadow figure that are both comparable to many components of new mystery/murder novels during the 1800s. Robert Louis Stevenson writes, “ From these fear-stricken rovings, Markheim’s eyes returned to the body of his victim, where it lay both humped and sprawling, incredibly small and strangely meaner than in life. There it must lie; there was none to work the cunning hinges or direct the miracle of locomotion — there it must lie till it was found. Then would this dead flesh lift up a cry that would ring over England, and fill the world with the echoes of pursuit” (27). Specifically, this is the moment in the short story in which Markheim first realizes the error of his mistake to murder the salesman. The reader now develops the picture that Markheim is suddenly a murderer without an alibi, and it is conflicting on whether or not to root for his innocence or guilt. This is another interesting tactic to use in the late 1800s history of mystery/murder stories because it creates a sense of the inability to control a situation and allows the reader to interact with the story with the tug-and-war over Markheim’s ability/inability to understand the situation he had caused ("Realism"). Furthermore, while it is hard to distinguish his innocence or guilt, it is also hard to understand why Markheim chose to stab the salesman, but the reader starts to understand that the character may be hinting at a mental illness of some sort for the irrational behavior which, later on in the story, rationally explains the shadow figure that Markheim claims to see. Stevensons' character, Markheim, states to himself, “Perhaps there was a film upon his sight, but the outlines of the new comer seemed to change and waver like those of the idols in the wavering candle-light of the shop; and at times he thought he knew him [the shadow figure/visitor]; and at times he thought he bore a likeness to himself; and always, like a lump of living terror, there lay in his bosom the conviction that this thing was not of the earth and not of God” (Stevenson 43). The mystery and vague description of the figure becomes another added element in the history of the mystery/murder stories of the late 1800s as it was widely popular and used in mysteries often because of the simplicity of writing a character that was merely for the purpose of adding to the mystery and a sense of the unknown to the plot ("Realism"). Stevensons’ writing style in “Markheim” clearly demonstrates a purposeful blur of what is right and what is wrong, but it also adds in a taste of his own twist to the recycled plot which contributes to the unique history of writing to the story’s genre during the time.

Stevenson, Robert L. "Markheim." //Bartleby.com - Great Books// // Online //. Batleby.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.
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"Realism (late 1800s-early 1900s)." //Scholastic //. Ed. Donna Campbell. Scholastic, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.

<span style="background-color: #fcfff6; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">**Cultural** ** : Daniel Marrufo **

Robert Louis Stevenson uses the idea of good vs evil to show how man can change his ways. When he told the apparition or the devil that he would not kill the maid, he showed that he could go against his ways and become a different man. This showed the people of the United Kingdom that a man who was set in his ways could change if he was presented with a greater evil. <span style="background-color: #fcfff6; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘If I be condemned to evil acts,’ he said, ‘there is still one door of freedom open — I can cease from action. If my life be an ill thing, I can lay it down .” ( <span style="background-color: #fcfff6; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">1885). By turning away from what he could be he showed that he could become what he wanted to be. While the devil or apparition can be interpreted as his subconscious this shows that deep down Markheim does not want to be a murder because his mind is trying to use his own guilt against him. Stevenson uses this as way to influence and show the people that what they do is not permanent and that they can become is whatever they want to be. By changing what he was he became a new man that followed a new path and this changed the cultural impact of the people of London. He no longer was the murder criminal that was looking for things to steal but a man who was ready to accept imprisonment for his crimes. Stevenson used this a way to try to influence the united kingdom and show them that anything is possible.

<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.0980392); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Stevenson, Robert L. "Markheim." //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Markheim / Robert Louis Stevenson //<span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.0980392); font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. EBooks@Adelaide, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014.
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