The Mysterious Island

Born in 1828, Jules Verne was a 19th-century renaissance man, talented in multiple literary genres—plays, novels, and short stories—as well as being something of an inventor, curious about all kinds of new technology and science. Growing up in the port town of Nantes, France, Verne developed a fascination with the sea as a boy, spurred on by the tales of a schoolteacher whose husband had been lost at sea.

At the age of 19, in 1847, Verne was sent away to Paris by his father. While Verne had already developed an interest in writing, his father wanted him to study law and join the family law practice. While in Paris, he fell in love with a young woman whose parents did not approve, marrying her off to another man instead. This event sent Verne into a depression, but it seems to have been the inspiration for many similar young female characters in his later works. Although he was raised in a Catholic home, Verne drifted away from any specific practice of religion but continued to maintain a philosophy of Deism, which is quite evident in his major literary works. Many of his characters profess confident faith in God, practice religious observance of Christian holy days, and have recourse to prayer and the concept of divine providence.

While pursuing his law studies and continuing to write, Verne became friends with two other giants in the French literary scene, Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. Eventually, in 1852, Verne turned down the opportunity to take over his father’s law practice to pursue writing as a full-time career. Verne’s career spanned more than half a century, and his works were popular and well received. Many critics praised his incorporation of so many scientific and naturalistic themes. Though some of his books could rightly be considered science fiction, many works could more accurately be dubbed “science adventure” since his aims were not imagining brand-new technologies or worlds, but imagining what marvelous things could be done with the technology currently available. By the time of his death in 1905, Verne had published scores of novels, short stories, plays, poems, and other literary works that continue to be read and enjoyed to this day.