As the short story is Older Than Radio and most twists in Stevenson's work are now widely known, all spoilers are unmarked on this page.
Olalla is one of the short stories written by Robert Louis Stevenson, published in 1885.
Taking place in Spain, a nameless Scottish soldier is advised by his doctor to take up temporary residence with a once-noble local family — a mother, a son and a daughter — while recovering from his war wounds, but under the condition that he remain a stranger to them.
During his stay, he starts to befriend the mother and son (despite them being "slothful" and "stupid"), but never once meets the daughter. When he finally meets her, he falls immediately in love with her only to be told to leave the home at once for his own safety. Before long, he comes to realize why he has to...
Olalla urges you to leave these tropes:
- Ambiguous Disorder: Felipe is implied to have signs of savant mannerisms, as well as troubling behavior.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Felipe exhibits his cruelty to wild animals within the property, even killing them with his own hands.
- Bloodlust: As soon as she sees the soldier's bleeding arm, the mother goes into a frenzy and tries to bite him.
- Cannibal Clan: A rare posh instance of this trope — the family is implied have suffered from bad breeding, causing them to develop some odd habits.
- Death Equals Redemption: Olalla expresses her belief that, with her damaged family line completely destroyed, they can finally be redeemed.
- Face Death with Dignity: Olalla, knowing her family is to be exterminated by the locals, chooses to accept it rather than run away with the soldier.
- First-Person Perspective: The story is told from the experience of the Scottish soldier.
- Gothic Literature: Olalla contains many of the trademarks of Gothic fiction, from old families fallen from nobility to the isolated town established near the mountains.
- Identical Grandson: After meeting Olalla, the soldier couldn't help noticing her resemblance to the portrait of a woman in his room.
- Impoverished Patrician: The family the soldier stays with are drained in finances.
- Inbred and Evil: The soldier discovers that the family's isolation has resulted in extensive inbreeding, leaving them all with the same set of recessive traits, most notably flaming red hair, in addition to leaving the son, Felipe, and the unnamed mother, intellectually disabled. The protagonist nevertheless falls in love with the family's beautiful daughter, Olalla, and is pursuing a romance with her when he receives a cut on his hand that prompts the mother to attack him and try to eat him. Olalla sends him away after that, informing him that her family is too damaged for him to become a part of.
- It's Not You, It's Me: Justified, where Olalla is concerned. Though she wanted to leave with the soldier, she fears her family's "impure" blood would continue if she had children with him.
- It Runs in the Family: Olalla's family has become intellectually disabled and a little insane throughout generations of inbreeding.
- Love at First Sight: As soon as he sees Olalla for the first time, the soldier falls immediately and desperately in love with her. Unfortunately...
- Old, Dark House: The house is noticeably dark and a little eerie for the new guest.
- Pregnancy Makes You Crazy: Implied to be what happens to the women in the family, which Olalla fears slipping into if she hooked up with the soldier.
- Royal Inbreeding: Olalla's family is implied to have done this for generations, thus why their genetics are a bit messed up.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Olalla and her mother share the same red hair and deeper voices, and the soldier notices Olalla sharing the same hair color as the woman in the portrait.
- Torches and Pitchforks: The soldier hears the locals in the highlands intend on burning down the hacienda Olalla's family lives in.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Olalla
