Please provide a summary of R.L. Stevenson's story "Providence and the Guitar"
Answers
Explanation:
The Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer, Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is best known for his evergreen works Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Born to respectable middle class parents, Stevenson was an only child.
Answer:
Leon Berthelini and his wife, Elvira, sing, play the guitar and act. They do it as a living – or at least attempt to make a living. Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story “Providence and the Guitar” tells the tale of the age-old plight of the starving artist. Over the last few years, the importance of artists and their ability to earn money has become somewhat of a fascination for me, so this story came as a nice surprise.
Robert Louis Stevenson: The Complete Shorter Fiction
Leon and Elvira, not knowing where their bed will be from night to night, attempt to find lodging at a small inn. When they are not allowed there, they settle for a park bench. On a park bench nearby, they meet a young gentleman with a small amount of appreciation for art and music; however, he plans to become a banker – but he isn’t one, yet. He accompanies his new-found friends through a turnip field to a house and a domestic dispute – between a painter and his wife. The source of the dispute: money.
No real determinations or rationales are formed as to what artists should or should not do in order to make money. Leon makes the comment: “Art is Art…It is not water-coloured sketches, nor practising the piano. It is a life to be lived.”
As the would-be banker leaves his friends he comments: “They are all mad…all mad – but wonderfully decent.”
I liked the story more than I thought I would. It seemed rather wordy at the beginning; however, as I read on, it became more and more – well – “wonderfully decent”.