Stevenson's Pavilion on the Links: Duality and Romance

Introduction to the Story and Its Critical Reception

"The Pavilion on the Links" has received strongly positive critical responses and is considered one of the best short stories that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote. He was widely recognized as a master of the form; as one critic notes, Stevenson was a "master of the short story proper."

The story is, in essence, a tale of intrigue and mystery, as well as a romantic tale. Its plot involves, among other elements, a criminal banker and his daughter, two very different men in love with that daughter, Italian secret societies, fraud, and murder. The often dark and sinister gothic atmosphere adds to the pervasive sense of mystery.

As is the case with many of his other stories and novels, one of Stevenson's central themes is the duality that exists in human nature. Works such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde explore the opposing forces within a single person and the battle between good and evil that runs through human existence. This theme, along with others, is explored in the following analysis of "The Pavilion on the Links."

Plot Summary

This short story was first published in 1886 and is often referred to as a novella rather than a short story. It has been described as a "tale of Sicilian vengeance and English love that is full of haunting mystery and the deadly fear of unknown assassins."

The story begins when the narrator, Frank Cassilis, befriends a strange and troubled young man, R. Northmour of Graden Easter in Scotland, while the two are at college together. This friendship leads to them spending time together at Graden Easter, where they stay in the pavilion adjacent to the mansion house of Graden for four months before Northmour's bad temper forces the narrator to leave.

Cassilis returns to the area nine years later and camps near the pavilion. A series of mysterious events begin to unfold. Noticing lights in the windows, he assumes that Northmour has returned and wants to surprise him. What he discovers, however, is far more unusual. When he enters the house he finds that the rooms have been prepared for guests — deepening the mystery, since Northmour is known to be averse to company.

The mystery is partially resolved when people begin arriving from a schooner anchored in the bay. From a hiding place, the narrator observes an old tall man, a young woman, and Northmour entering the house. When Cassilis greets Northmour, he is attacked by his friend, who wounds him slightly with a knife. This deepens the sense of intrigue and danger. The young woman makes an immediate impression on Cassilis, and he feels intensely attracted to her. They meet when he prevents her from walking into the dangerous quicksand nearby, and he senses instinctively that she is the woman he will marry.

When they meet again, she warns him that his life is in danger — though not from Northmour. She reveals that she is Clara Huddlestone. Her father, Bernard Huddlestone, is a banker who has fraudulently misappropriated a large sum of money and is fleeing both the law and certain creditors who want their money back, and who also want his life. Huddlestone is being pursued by a sinister Italian political society to whom he owes a great deal of money. He turned for help to Northmour, who had been courting Clara at the time. Northmour took them aboard his schooner to hide them in the deserted pavilion, motivated largely by the promise of Clara's hand in marriage.

Cassilis subsequently encounters the Italians pursuing Huddlestone. The danger intensifies when he discovers the footprints of a stranger who has perished in the quicksand near the pavilion; from the hat that remains, it is clear the stranger was one of the Italians, and Cassilis realizes they are all in imminent danger of attack.

The tension continues to mount, complicated by the rivalry and jealousy between Cassilis and Northmour for Clara's affections. The theme of duality, prominent throughout Stevenson's work, is evident in the way Northmour displays contradictory sides of his character: although misanthropic and violent, he proves himself a gentleman by refusing to abandon the others to save his own life. Cassilis and Northmour reconcile in the face of the shared danger, yet the romantic tension persists; Northmour declares that he intends to take Clara as his bride once the danger has passed.

The Italian attack eventually comes. The Italians offer to spare the others' lives in exchange for Bernard Huddlestone; Northmour refuses the compromise. The Italians then set the house on fire. Huddlestone leaves the pavilion first and is shot. Clara, Northmour, and Cassilis escape and reach the camp in the Hemlock Den, where Northmour attacks Cassilis. He then abruptly changes course, helps revive Clara, and departs on his schooner. The last account of him reports that he is killed years later while fighting alongside the Italians.

Duality and Identity

A central theme in many of Stevenson's books and stories is the issue of duality — the opposing tendencies or conflicting personality traits that can exist within the same person. The same individual can be both cruel and kind; good and evil can coexist within one human being. This theme evidently fascinated Stevenson, as demonstrated across his body of work. The most obvious example is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, in which two diametrically opposing forces inhabit a single person. This theme also raises questions about identity: if there are different and conflicting personality traits within the same person, what does this mean for a singular, cohesive sense of self — or is identity more flexible and fluid than commonly assumed?

This sense of duality and of opposites within human beings appears throughout "The Pavilion on the Links." When Cassilis first sees Clara, he describes her as follows:

"She was extremely pale; but in the light of the lantern her face was so marred by strong and changing shadows, that she might equally well have been as ugly as sin or as beautiful as I afterwards found her to be."

This passage invites interpretation: human nature can be beautiful or ugly, moral or immoral, good or evil. It is very difficult at first glance to determine the true identity and nature of another human being. The passage implies that human nature and human identity are extremely complex, and that there may be entirely different and opposing tendencies within the same individual.

This sense of duality is especially pronounced in the character of Northmour. As Cassilis observes: "My wife and I, a man and a woman, have often agreed to wonder how a person could be, at the same time, so handsome and so repulsive as Northmour." Northmour seems to possess at least two identities — on the one hand gentlemanly and honorable, on the other hand violent and aggressive.

Other critics have observed this pattern across Stevenson's work more broadly. As one commentator notes, Stevenson shows this in lines such as "man is not truly one, but truly two," suggesting that all human beings have a dual nature and that within each person a constant battle rages between two opposing halves. This sense of duality has been described as "the hallmark of Stevenson's body of work — most blatantly expressed in Jekyll and Hyde, but present also in Kidnapped and The Master of Ballantrae."

This view of human nature reveals a deep conflict between good and evil, most clearly embodied in Northmour. At times he appears to lose control entirely and become almost uncontrollably violent for little apparent reason — as when the two friends part company early in the story. It is as though a dark side of his nature constantly strains to break free. The following passage makes this vivid:

"He leaped from his chair and grappled me; I had to fight, without exaggeration, for my life; and it was only with a great effort that I mastered him, for he was near as strong in body as myself, and seemed filled with the devil."

In this moment the inner evil — the other side of Northmour — is laid bare. Like many characters in Stevenson's fiction, he symbolizes the reality of the conflict between good and evil in human nature. Cassilis reflects on this contradiction:

"He had the appearance of a finished gentleman; his face bore every mark of intelligence and courage; but you had only to look at him, even in his most amiable moment, to see that he had the temper of a slaver captain. I never knew a character that was both explosive and revengeful to the same degree."

The duality within Northmour is further illustrated when he discovers that Frank and Clara wish to marry. Despite having entered into an agreement to protect Clara's father in exchange for her hand, he does not abandon them when he learns of their love, and he remains with them in their hour of danger. This shows a remarkable degree of integrity that appears to stand in direct opposition to his more violent and self-serving impulses.

Duality and contrast also appear in other character pairings. Beyond the contrast between Northmour and Cassilis, there is a striking difference between Clara and her father. While Clara is presented as the epitome of beauty, honesty, and integrity, Bernard Huddlestone is portrayed as her opposite — sickly, cowardly, and insincere. Cassilis's reaction to meeting him makes this clear: "I gave him my hand, of course, because I could not help it; but the sympathy I had been prepared to feel for Clara's father was immediately soured by his appearance, and the wheedling, unreal tones in which he spoke." The father is almost the inverse of his forthright and morally upright daughter.

Conclusion

The overview and analysis of "The Pavilion on the Links" brings to light a number of central aspects that can also be applied to many of Stevenson's other works. This is a story that combines mystery, suspense, and romance in a way that foregrounds certain enduring themes. Most prominent among these is the theme of opposites or dualities in human nature. Stevenson is intensely aware of the complexity of the human character and of the contradictory elements and emotions that exist within the human psyche.

At the same time, there is a strong sense of unity in this story. That unity is created, in large part, by the pervasive sense of mystery and wonder that dominates the narrative. In the final analysis, it seems that in this story — as in many of Stevenson's novels and short stories — the author is deeply conscious of the greater mystery and strangeness of life and human experience, and wished, through his fiction, to make readers aware of that fact.

Bibliography

Biography of Robert Louis Stevenson. Web. 12 February 2012.

Harvey, Alexander. Life of Robert Louis Stevenson. Bartleby. Web. 10 February 2012.

"Man Is Not Truly One, but Truly Two." Web. 12 February 2012.

"Stevenson: Prince of Modern Story-Tellers." Web. 13 February 2012.

Stevenson, R. L. The Pavilion on the Links. Web. 12 February 2012. Project Gutenberg.

Steuart, John A. Robert Louis Stevenson: A Critical Biography. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1924. Questia. Web. 10 February 2012.

Torrey, B. "Robert Louis Stevenson: A Review." The Atlantic. Web. 10 February 2012.

Walker, Hugh. The Literature of the Victorian Era. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1910. Questia. Web. 10 February 2012.