Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Sire de Malétroit’s Door” and Its Intertexts

“The Sire de Malétroit’s Door” is an early story by Robert Louis Stevenson that has been neglected by literary critics. The present essay makes a case for this tale and its complexity by interpreting it as a rewriting of two other texts. The first is Stevenson’s own short story “A Lodging for the Night.” What Stevenson takes from this story is the situation of a young man exposed to life-threatening danger in the dark streets of a nocturnal town, and a debate between this young man and an old man in whose house he seeks shelter. There is, however, a significant change. In “A Lodging for the Night,” the young man voices cynical views, while the old man upholds honour and morality; in “The Sire de Malétroit’s Door,” these roles are reversed. The second source is Théodore de Banville’s history play Gringoire. What Stevenson takes from this play is the situation of a young man and a young woman unknown to each other who are left alone for a very short time to make up their minds to marry; if they fail to do so, the man will be hanged. Here, too, Stevenson changes his source, rendering the characters and the motives of the young people, who are entirely selfless and noble in Gringoire, more questionable. Compared with “A Lodging for the Night,” “The Sire de Malétroit’s Door” is idealistic; compared with Gringoire, it is sceptical.