The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia Summary and Analysis

Rasselas is the fourth son of a powerful emperor in Abissinia. He and his

siblings are confined to the palace and cannot venture to the outside world.
The palace is located in a valley with tall mountains on either side, and there
is no way to leave except for the heavily guarded gate. The valley is
splendidly beautiful, though, and no evil of the world can intrude on the
paradise.

The emperor visits once a year and for eight days the palace is filled with
amusements and delights. Many entertainers want to stay there forever; if
they are allowed, they can never leave again.

The princes and princesses only know a life of leisure and pleasure. Their
days are filled with merriment, and the sages that teach them paint the
outside world as a terrible place full of despair. Few princes ever dispute this
idea, but Rasselas, who is 26, begins to withdraw himself. People notice and
try to combat the "singularity of his humour" (10) with more and more
amusements.

One sage follows him in his perambulations through the rocks and trees, and
hears him sigh about his boredom and dissatisfaction. He thinks men must
have some untapped need that the palace cannot attend. He tries to make up
for his thoughts by being more sociable.

The next day, Rasselas's elderly instructor tries to corner him and talk to him
about his attitude. He asks the prince what he wants, and Rasselas says the
problem is that, indeed, he wants for nothing. All the days are the same, he
has nothing to desire, and he thinks that seeing the miseries of the world will
give him something to yearn for.

After the conversation, Rasselas feels better for a time because he knows he
is young and has time to change his situation. For twenty months, he lives in
his imagination, pleased with his secret store of happiness as he imagines
himself in the real world.

After, though, one daydream reminds them that it is false, he realizes he has
wasted so much time. Life is short, and he has squandered it in ignorance
and idleness. After a time, he decides his regret was also a waste of time and
that he must fix his problem. He thus decides to do whatever he can to
escape from the valley of happiness.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, and he spends ten months in
fruitless searching looking for a way out. He enjoys communing with nature,
however, and his explorations of the valley. His desire to get out
strengthens, but he feels less confident that it will be accomplished.

One of the artists in the valley is a man known for his mechanical powers; he
had made plenty of helpful contraptions for the palace denizens. Rasselas
comes to speak to him one day when the man is building a sailing chariot.
Rasselas is skeptical when he tells him that he intends to fly, but the man
cautions him “nothing…will ever be attempted, if all possible objections must
first be overcome”.

He tells Rasselas that he plans to try out his contraption in one year, and tells
the prince not to reveal his plans. Throughout that year, Rasselas visits him
and watches his progress.

The appointed time arrives and the artist climbs to a promontory and leaps
off. He does not fly, and plummets into the water below, where the wings
keep him aloft. Rasselas pulls him out of the water.

Rasselas grows gloomy again, and his mood is matched by the incessant
rains plaguing the city. As all the children are confined to the palace, they
spend time listening to poetry. Rasselas finds himself captured by the words
of Imlac, and invites him to his quarters to continue to read to him. For his
part, the poet “pitied his ignorance, and loved his curiosity” .Rasselas
eventually orders the poet to tell him his life story and how he ended up in
the happy valley.

Imlac agrees, but disclaims that it will be a long tale. He begins, saying he
was born in Goiama to a wealthy but honest merchant. Although he was very
well off, he still desired to be the wealthiest man in all of Abyssinia. He
wanted his son to continue this goal as well, and sent him to school so he
would learn the ways of commerce. He gave his son ten thousand gold pieces
as a veritable test, saying that if he wasted it he would have to wait until his
father died to get more, and if he increased it he and his father could live and
work together as equals.

Imlac was sent out to the world, and he felt his heart quicken with
excitement. He wanted to travel and satiate his curiosity to know the ways of
the world. He took passage on a ship to Surat. He was intrigued by watching
the ocean for hours, but soon grew tired of this view. At Surat, he joined up
with a caravan, but the men took advantage of him and swindled him
throughout the journey, supposing him rich and ignorant.

Analysis
Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas is his only novel, and one of the works for which
he is most celebrated. The text is barely a novel, however, as its plot is
subordinate to its themes and messages. Scholars refer to it as a parable, or
an essay. In combination with the Rambler, Johnson's series of essays, it
constitutes Johnson's most cogent and worthy thoughts on what constitutes
happiness, the meaning of life, the value of learning, the relative importance
of society vs. solitude, and more. As one, if not the, most keen-witted and
learned intellectuals of the day, Johnson peppers his novel with hundreds of
historical, philosophical, and literary references; while the reader does not
need to be aware of them in order to enjoy the wisdom Johnson imparts
through Rasselas, Nekayah, and Imlac, they do enhance the tale.

Abissinia was present-day Ethiopia, a Christian kingdom. Johnson's

knowledge of the region came from his translation of Jesuit missionary
Jeronimo Lobo's travel work, A Voyage to Abyssinia (1735), 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 may have named his protagonist after an actual
16th-century Ethiopian price named either "Rasselach" or "Ras-seelax." The
confinement of Rasselas and his siblings also has historical precedent, as
Lobo wrote of one kingdom he traveled to where the children of the emperor
were imprisoned until succession. The idea of an Abyssinian paradise made
its way into Milton's writing as well.

The episode with the artist who desires to fly demonstrates Johnson's
engagement with myth as well as contemporary history. The Icarus myth is
the obvious influence, but during Johnson's age and the previous century the
attempt of man to fly was also of presiding interest and concern. A text in
1600 that Johnson was familiar with had information about a flying machine,
and the late 1700s had the first balloon flights. Scientists at the time debated
whether the bat indicated that other mammals once had the ability to fly. As
for the fall into the lake, it is possible that Johnson was making reference to
the craze in the 1730s of high-wire acts, and the tragic death of one
performer.

Although it is difficult to apply the same standards of character development

used in analyzing most novels to this particular one, we can still discuss
Rasselas and Imlac, but must keep in mind that they are not intended to be
realistic. Rasselas is an intelligent but restless young man, frustrated by his
captivity and aware that there must be something else beyond consistent
pleasure and ease. It is his musings that put the events of the novel in
motion, and Imlac acts as the official catalyst, as it is his story and his
agreement to help Rasselas that results in their leaving the happy valley.

Imlac's own story foreshadows that of Rasselas. Imlac is pleased with the
life laid out for him, and desires to travel the world. He encounters
fascinating cultures and people, and spends time plumbing the mysteries of
what brings about happiness. He considers becoming a poet, and tells
Rasselas why this is the highest art. These may or not be Johnson's own
thoughts here: poets must observe and understand everything; they must
focus on the general, not the specific; they must be "acquainted with all the
modes of life" (28) and be the "interpreter and of nature, and the legislator
of mankind" (29). Johnson expressed some ambivalence about the ability of
poetry to incorporate the philosophical. Nevertheless, the famous poet Percy
Bysshe Shelley would later use that same phrase regarding legislation to
describe the role of poets, and Ben Jonson a century and a half before called
poets the "interpreter, and arbiter of nature" in his 1607 Volpone.

Summary

Everywhere Imlac went he saw that poetry was regarded as the highest art,
but he wondered why the ancient poets were the most revered. The
consensus seemed to be that the older poets had mastered nature while
newer poets had mastered art, and that the former “excel in strength and
invention” and the latter “in elegance and refinement”. Imlac wanted to be
one of this “illustrious fraternity” and read a copious amount of poetry.

He focused on nature and life, and observed everything with a fresh eye. As
nothing for poets was useless, his scrutiny was absolute. All ideas could be
useful to understand moral and religious truths. He continued to explain to
the prince that the business of a poet is not to focus on the individual but the
general, and that he must be “acquainted likewise with all modes of life”. He
must go beyond the present and focus on general, transcendental truths.

After this discourse, the prince tells him to stop, as he is now convinced that
it is not possible for anyone to truly be a poet. He asks Imlac to return to
speaking of his travels. Imlac speaks of the superiority of the Europeans, and
the prince asks why they are as such. Imlac says it is because they value
knowledge and shun ignorance. Wistfully, the prince sighs that he wishes he
could travel. He asks about pilgrimages, Imlac explains how sometimes they
are okay, and other times they are false, as one does not need to go on a
long journey to find truth.

The prince asks if the other nations are happier because they are more
knowledgeable. Imlac says the world is an unhappy place but knowledge can
bring a degree of happiness because one's mind has a wider range. In
addition, those societies also have more conveniences developed because of
their learning. Overall, though, while they are slightly happier, "Human life is
everywhere a state in which much is to be endured and little to be enjoyed".

The prince boasts that he would always be happy and that his life would glide
on in ease. He asks Imlac to return to the story of his travels. Imlac assents,
and speaks of moving to Palestine to Asia to Egypt, where in Cairo he
marveled at the diversity of people. He went to Suez and then decided to
return to his native country, where he desired to return to his happy life.

Unfortunately, his father had been dead for fourteen years, his siblings
dispersed, and the court noblemen reluctant to embrace him because of his
"foreign" manners. He tried to ingratiate himself but was rejected by
everyone, including women. His only option was the happy valley, which he
secured entrance to and never left.

Struck, Rasselas begs him to tell him the truth – is he happy there or not?
Imlac confides in him and tells him that no one who has come in to the valley
does not regret it. He may have memories and mental pictures of his earlier
life, but he feels imprisoned and stagnant. He cannot help but pity all those
who clamor to get in.

Eagerly, the prince tells him of his own plan to escape, and asks if Imlac
might not want to come with him and seek freedom together. Imlac warns
that the world outside is not so great, but agrees to go with him. Rasselas
feels immensely relieved knowing that he has a confidante and companion.
Once the rain stops, the two men traverse the grounds of the palace and look
for a way out. After Imlac counsels Rasselas to pay attention to animals, as
they have much to teach humans, they notice rabbits boring holes in the
sides of the mountains and burrowing up obliquely. They realize they can do
the same, and eventually find a small cavern. They bring tools back and
persist in finding a fissure in the rock. After persevering, they are successful
and find they can move far without obstruction.

Around the time they are preparing to leave, Rasselas is startled to see his
sister Nekayah at the cavern. She tells him not to be afraid, that she is not
going to tell. She had merely followed him out of curiosity and discovered his
escape route. She is also stifled by the valley and begs him to let her come
too.