Markheim

"Markheim" is a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally prepared for the Pall Mall Gazette in 1884, but published in 1885 in The Broken Shaft: Tales of Mid-Ocean as part of Unwin's Christmas Annual. The story was later published in Stevenson's collection The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables (1887).

Plot summary

The story opens in an antique store. Markheim wishes to buy a Christmas present for a woman he will soon marry. The dealer presents him with a mirror but Markheim takes fright at his own reflection, claiming that no man wants to see what a mirror shows him. Markheim seems strangely reluctant to end the transaction, but when the dealer insists that Markheim must buy or leave, Markheim consents to stop tarrying and review more goods. The dealer turns his back to replace the mirror, and Markheim pulls out a knife and stabs him to death.

Markheim spends some minutes recovering his nerve, when he hears someone moving about upstairs, though he knows the servant has taken the day off and no one should be there. He reassures himself that the outer door is locked, then searches the dead body for keys and goes to the upper rooms where the dealer lived to look for money. As he searches, he hears footsteps on the stairs, and a man opens the door and asks, "Did you call me?"

Markheim (opera)

Markheim is an opera in one act by composer Carlisle Floyd. The work uses an English language libretto by the composer, after the story of the same name by Robert Louis Stevenson. The opera was premiered by the New Orleans Opera on March 31, 1966, under the baton of Knud Andersson, and directed by the composer. The original cast was led by Norman Treigle (to whom the opera was dedicated) in the title role, with Alan Crofoot as Josiah Creach, Audrey Schuh as Tess, and William Diard as the Stranger. A recording of the original cast was released on the Video Artists International record label, in 1995.

In 1974, the University of Washington mounted a student production of the opera helmed by conductor Samuel Krachmalnick which was filmed and broadcast nationally on PBS. It won three Emmy Awards.

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