Key Facts
full title ·
Kidnapped
author · Robert Louis Stevenson
type of work · Novel
genre · Adventure
language · English (Scots)
time and place written · Scotland, U.K.
date of first publication · 1886
publisher · Cassell
narrator · David Balfour (1st person narration)
climax · The climax occurs when the friendship between David and Alan reaches its greatest point of crisis, and is resolved by David's near-death fainting spell.
protagonist(s) · David Balfour
antagonist · Ebenezer Balfour
setting (time) · 1751
setting (place) · Scotland
point of view · First person narration
falling action · David tricks his uncle Ebenezer, defeating him, and finally comes into his inheritance.
tense · Immediate past; that is, real-time narration
foreshadowing · None
tone · Kidnapped is primarily an adventure novel. It maintains a breathless pace, full of movement and action, as David and Alan flee across Scotland.
themes · Loyalty and friendship; honor; diversity of ethics
motifs · Jacobites vs. Whigs; Highland life vs. Lowland life; inheritance; fleeing
symbols · Alan's silver button; the ship Covenant; Alan's illness after the visit with Cluny Macpherson
