Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Samuel Johnson is known for his contributions to English literature. He was not only an author of prose, but also a poet, literary critic, biographer, and essayist. Johnson was a lexicographer and published A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. Other known works of his include his magazine The Rambler, his poem The Vanity of Human Wishes, Preface to the Plays of William Shakespeare, and Lives of the Poets. His effect on English literature as well as on English society was documented in James Boswell’s The Life of Samuel Johnson. Johnson influenced a great many writers, including Jane Austen.
Another important work of Samuel Johnson was his series of essays titled The Idler which was published in the London weekly the Universal Chronicle between 1758 and 1760. out of 103 total, Johnson wrote 91 essays of the series. The other writers contributing to the essay series The Idler were Thomas Warton, Bennet Langton, and Joshua Reynolds.
In addition, Johnson also wrote an apologue titled The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia which was published in April 1759. Johnson began working on this work with the title “The Choice of Life,” which then was changed to “The Prince of Abissinia: A Tale”, and was finally printed by the title The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia. It is the only novel written by Johnson.
An Apologue or Apolog is a short fable or allegorical story with exaggerated details to offer a moral doctrine pleasantly. An apologue is a tool of rhetorical argument used to convince or persuade. An apologue differs from a fable in that the moral supersedes the narrative in terms of importance. Unlike the parable, the apologue utilizes metaphorical truth. Apologues use allegory to make observations and state truths about real people, places, or events. Another important example of apologue is Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
Samuel Johnson translated Jeronimo Lobo's travel work, A Voyage to Abyssinia which chronicled the Roman Catholic Church's attempt to subject Abyssinia to the doctrines of the Church. Johnson knew that the royalty in Abyssinia was often given the title of "ras", or chief and thus he chose the final title. Abissinia is known as Ethiopia in current times.
In his poem, The Vanity of Human Wishes, Johnson suggested that earthly human desires are vane and waste, and the only good wish a human can hold is closeness to God. Similarly, in this novel, Johnson purports that Happiness is elusive. He expresses the impossibility of finding happiness in life on earth and asks the reader to look to God for ultimate satisfaction. It is an allegory and the happy valley resembles The Garden of Eden. Although Eden and Adam unknowingly tasted the apple from the Tree of Knowledge and then were evicted. Rasselas on the other hand, decides to leave the happy valley. In addition, Johnson also engaged the myth of the Fall of Icarus in this novel.
Characters of The History of Rasselas:
Rasselas the main character of the novel is the prince, the only son of the emperor of Abissinia. Rasselas has been confined in a happy valley with all possible amenities and entertainment until he is ready and mature enough to rule. The Emperor remains busy with the royal business while his children remain in Happy Valley. Nekayah is the princess, and sister of Rasselas. The Master is one of the teachers of Rasselas who comes to know that Rasselas wishes to abandon Happy Valley. He tries to dissuade him to do so. The Bassa is a Turkish-appointed viceroy and the highest title of honor in the Ottoman Empire. He is a corrupt and despotic administrator. The Engineer is an artist who knows mechanics well and tries to help Rasselas with his escape from the Valley by plunging out through the air but his machine fails. Imlac is a poet and philosopher who befriends Rasselas and his sister and helps them during their exploration of happiness by maintaining that they remain rational, thoughtful, and perspicacious. Pekuah is Nekayah’s maidservant who accompanies her. The Arab is the chieftain of robbers who abduct Pekuah in the hope of ransom money. The Arab is chivalrous and treats Pekuah with respect. The Astronomer is a learned researcher who enjoys solitude to such an extent that he goes mad.
Summary of The History of Rasselas:
The story begins in the Happy Valley of Abissinia where Rasselas and his sister are kept in seclusion by the decree of the Emperor. The Happy Valley is a beautiful place with all possible amenities and ways of entertainment. However, Rasselas and his sister Nekayah are not allowed to leave Happy Valley until Rasselas gets mature enough to be the ruler. While the emperor expects his children to be happy, they are not happy at all. Rasselas gets bored of the pattern of tedious pampered life of Happy Valley and starts wandering in the jungles, trying to get a way out. Some of the sages of the empire visit the valley to teach Rasselas and Nekayah regularly. One of them, the Master, realizes that Rasselas is disturbed and tries to reason with him and convince him that remaining in Happy Valley is in his best interest. But Rasselas is determined to find a way out as he belies that despite all the physical pleasures and amenities in the Happy Valley, he is not happy and he must explore ways to become happy. Rasselas enlists the help of an artist who is also known as The Engineer to help with his escape from the Valley by plunging out through the air, though they are unsuccessful in this attempt. This failure further saddens Rasselas.
One day, a man named Imlac visits Happy Valley and reads a poem written by him to Rasselas and Nekayah. Rasselas gets impressed by him and befriends him. Imlac informs that he is a poet-philosopher who has roamed around the world. Rasselas expresses his desire to explore the world to find happiness. Imlac suggests that the pursuit of happiness is futile because happiness is nowhere. Yet, Rasselas insists that he will explore the world himself. Imlac promises to help him in his endeavor. Finally, Rasselas and Imlac find a way to leave Happy Valley without being noticed. However, just when they are preparing to leave, Nekayah confronts them and says that she has been following them for long. She insists that they must take her too along with them. Rasselas is overjoyed by this as he loves his sister but Nekayah insists that her maid Pekuah will also accompany them. They leave Happy Valley and after traveling for days, they reach cities that are no more in their empire. They reach Cairo where Rasselas buys a home. They are very rich and all the elites of Cairo befriend them. Rasselas decides to explore ways of happiness so that he may make the proper choice of life that he should lead. He starts experimenting with different lifestyles. First, he befriends a wealthy young man and starts spending time with him. Soon he notices that the excessiveness of the young man is distasteful and leaves him. He then meets a philosopher who suggests that one should get rid of all types of emotions. But Rasselas notices that the philosopher himself is unable to do so. Rasselas also observes the difficulties for those in power and a hermit who does not actually relish his solitude anymore. Nekayah too continues to explore happiness and then they discuss their findings. Rasselas says that rich men are paranoid and caught up in plots and betrayals. Nekayah too says that she observed tensions within families and that parents cannot even trust their children. Nekayah wonders whether marriage is better than celibacy, and why parents and children come into such conflict.
Imlac encourages the siblings to go out and visit the pyramids, the great old monuments, and the ruins. Rasselas objects that look at ancient things are of no use. But Imlac says that the past is crucial to understanding the present, and one can never truly understand men without looking at their works. The next day, Rasselas, Nekayah, Pekuah, and Imlac visit the pyramids. Pekuah is fearful of the ghosts and spirits of the dead and thus, she denies going in. Rasselas, Nekayah, and Imlac enter the pyramid where Imlac informs them why the Pyramids were made. As they come out, they come to notice that Pekuah has been abducted by Arabian marauders Turkish horsemen tried to pursue the Arabian robbers but they couldn’t rescue Pekuah. Nekayah is too disturbed about the loss of Pekuah and wishes her to return at any cost. Rasselas employs private investigators and appeals to the government, but they get no information about Pekuah. Nekayah declares that as she has lost Pekuah, she has no wish to engage with the world anymore and she will now lead a life of celibacy and solitude. Rasselas tries to console her and says that she should wait for at least a year and he will do everything to bring Pekuah back. Nekayah agrees to that.
Seven months after her abduction, Rasselas and Nekayah come to know the whereabouts of Pekuah. They pay the ransom money as demanded and soon Pekuah is returned to them. Pekuah reveals that she was abducted by the chieftain of Arabs who treated her well and never used her ill. She says that the chieftain was only interested in ransom money and released her as soon as he got the money. She informs that the Arab taught her astronomy.
Rasselas too gets interested in exotic learning and decides that he will spend his life learning various arts. Imlac appreciates him but cautions him by telling the story of his friend. He says that one of his friends was very intelligent and decided all his time to study and research in solitude. He became an astronomer and gathered knowledge about the sky. One day, Imlac visited him and got impressed by his work. Imlac felt that after achieving so much knowledge, the astronomer must be the happiest man in the world. However, he was startled when he came to know that the astronomer was too much worried. He asked the reason for the astronomer’s worries. The astronomer said that he is tired of his cumbersome task and wishes someone else to take it. Imlac asked about the task and the astronomer said that he is in charge of the seasons, the rains, the thunders, and the winds. Imlac understood that because of solitude, the astronomer has trapped himself in illusions. He listened to him politely and promised that he will help him with the task. After listening to this, Rasselas becomes serious but Nekayah and Pekuah start giggling at the madness of the astronomer. Imlac gets irritated by their laughs and reprimands them and says that they should not mock mental illness, as it is very common and the result of prolonged withdrawal from the world.
Nekayah and Pekuah accept their mistake and express their desire to meet the astronomer. Imlac agrees to take them to meet the astronomer but he insists that they should not hurt his ego. Pekuah suggests that since he has so much knowledge about the sky, they will join him as his students so that Pekuah may continue her studies of skies that she began while being a captor of the Arab. Imlac agrees to that and takes Nekayah and Pekuah to the secluded place of the astronomer and tells him that these girl students are willing to share his responsibilities if he is ready to teach them as his students. The astronomer agrees.
After some time, the astronomer improves in social relations and soon he confirms that he has got rid of his illusions. After that, Nekayah and Pekuah return to Rasselas at home. On a rainy day, they discuss their future plans. All agree that it is futile to search for happiness. Pekuah declares that she wishes to join a monastery and lead a life of celibacy and seclusion. Nekayah says that she wishes to continue her studies in astronomy and plans to open a college for women. Rasselas declares that he will try to establish a small kingdom of his own. As the rain stops, the three realize that their plans are futile and improbable. Thus, they decide to return to Abissinia and lead their life as nature deems fit.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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