Although Robert Louis Stevenson died in Samoa before completing his final novel, Weir of Hermiston, the fragment did appear posthumously. Because he had also written out plans for the balance of the novel, the full story is known. Even in its incomplete form, the novel is judged to be of high quality.
The Weir referenced in the title is the widower Lord Justice-Clerk Adam Weir, Lord Hermiston. Not from the moorland parish, he marries a local woman, Jeannie Rutherford, a colorless but devoted wife who dotes on their only child and dies early. A hard man known for handing down merciless courtroom sentences, Weir proves just as hard on his son Archie.
Archie tells a friend that he does not love his father, explaining, “He has never spoken to me, never smiled upon me; I do not think he has ever touched me.” Archie and Weir disagree on Weir’s courtroom conduct, and Archie publicly insults his father. Incensed, Weir banishes Archie to the village of Hermiston and forbids his study of the law. Archie lives an isolated existence, where his only company is his housekeeper Kirstie Elliott, a distant cousin of Jeannie Weir, who idolizes the boy.
Kirstie’s four nephews—Robert, Gilbert, Clement, and Andrew—are commonly known as the “Four Black Brothers of Cauldstaneslap,” because they had hunted and captured their father’s murderer. Their sister, Christina, and Archie fall in love, a fact they try to keep a secret. Christina is an admirable young woman, a free spirit, made clear in Stevenson’s description: “She was in love with herself, her destiny, the air of the hills, the benediction of the sun.”
When Archie’s supposed friend Frank Innes arrives for a visit, he decides he wants Christina for himself. He manipulates Archie into ending his relationship with her. Stevenson’s plot plans indicate that he intended for Frank to seduce Christina, leading to an argument with Archie in which Archie kills Frank. Archie’s own father hands down a sentence of capital punishment, but he will be rescued from prison by the nephews. They reunite Archie with Christina, and the couple escapes to the United States.
Weir suffers guilt over having sentenced his son to death and dies from the shock of realizing exactly what he had done in the name of pride.
Bibliography
Hammond, J. R. A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion: A Guide to the Novels, Essays and Short Stories. New York: Macmillan, 1984.
Miller, Karl. Introduction to Weir of Hermiston, by Robert Louis Stevenson. New York: Penguin Books, 1996, vii–xxxiv.
Categories: British Literature, Literature, Novel Analysis
Slave Narrative 
Analysis of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier 
Analysis of Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour 
Analysis of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook
You must be logged in to post a comment.