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Introduction

Stephen Crane

Even though Stephen Crane attended both Lafayette College and Syracuse University, he never actually earned a degree in his short life. He started off as a journalist and free-lance writer but soon turned to writing his own novels. His most famous work, the Civil War-inspired The Red Badge of Courage, has been read by millions and lauded as one of the great American novels. Although Crane never served in battle himself, he studied extensively and interviewed many war veterans before writing Courage. In 1897, he was shipped to Cuba on a writing assignment and was shipwrecked near Florida. While there, he met his future wife, and together they served as war correspondents in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Crane ultimately used the experience to write Active Service, one of his last novels.

Essential Facts

1. Crane published his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, with money borrowed from his brother. He published it under the pen name Johnston Smith. The bleak story of prostitution did not prove a commercial or critical success at the time.
2. Crane’s wife, Cora Stewart-Taylor, owned a brothel in Jacksonville, Florida, called Hotel de Dream. She was also a writer.
3. Stephen Crane is considered the first naturalistic American writer. As a literary theory, naturalism draws on scientific ideas (such as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution) and applies them to fiction.
4. Crane cited the American press’ ridicule of his first collection of poetry, The Black Rider and Other Lines, as one of the main reasons he moved to England with Cora in 1897.
5. The cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album features a small picture of Stephen Crane, along with many other celebrities.