ABSTRACT
Robert Louis Stevenson's The Ebb-Tide: A Trio and Quartette could have been designed as a discussion and illustration of shame in literature. Shame features prominently in the novella, and is used to shape characters, impel narrative and mould the language of the text. The affect and its nuances reach back into the childhood and heritage of the writer, and forward through his most iconic novels to his stories of the South Seas, to "The Beach of Falesá" and The Ebb-Tide. This chapter addresses the issue of shame in the last of these narratives, and the way it relates particularly to imperialism. The chapter argues that shame is a significant part of Stevenson's critique of Western imperialism in the Ebb-Tide. After a brief discussion of shame and its significance in Stevenson's life, it will consider Stevenson's presentation in his story of an image of shameful Western imperialism in the Pacific.
