The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, originally titled The Prince of Abissinia: A Tale, though often abbreviated to Rasselas, is an apologue about bliss and ignorance by Samuel Johnson. The book's original working title was "The Choice of Life". The book was first published in April 1759 in England. Early readers considered "Rasselas" to be a work of philosophical and practical importance and critics often remark on the difficulty of classifying it as a novel. Origin and influences. At the age of fifty, Johnson wrote the piece in only one week  to help pay the costs of his mother's funeral, intending to complete it on 22 January 1759 (the eve of his mother's death). Johnson is believed to have received a total of £75 for the copyright. Though this is still popular belief, Wharton and Mayerson's book, ""Samuel Johnson and the Theme of Hope"," explains how James Boswell, the author of Johnson's biography, was "entirely wrong in supposing that "Rasselas" was written soon after his mother's death". It wasn't a way of "defraying" the expenses of the funeral. In fact, Johnson wrote "Rasselas" instead  of going to see his mother while she was still alive. It was written in anticipation of her funeral. Edward Tomarken writes in his book, "Johnson, Rasselas, and the Choice of Criticism", that this belief was not questioned until 1927 as “...the tradition of the gloomy, funereal tone of the choice of life motif in Rasselas remained unopposed: the question of whether or not the genesis of Rasselas involved a literal funeral was not considered important. Moreover, the assumption of a gloomy genesis served to keep religion in the background, for any theological difficulty could be attributed to the fact  that the author was mourning the death of his mother". Following in the footsteps of Voltaire's "Zadig" and Montesquieu's "Persian Letters", Johnson was influenced by the vogue for exotic locations including Ethiopia. He had translated "A Voyage to Abyssinia" by Jerónimo Lobo in 1735 and used it as the basis for his "philosophical romance". Ten years before he wrote "Rasselas" he published "The Vanity of Human Wishes" in which he describes the inevitable defeat of worldly ambition. Although many have argued that the book "Rasselas" had nothing to do with Abyssinia, and that Samuel Johnson chose Abyssinia as  a locale for no other reason than wanting to write an anti-orientalist fantasy, some have begun to argue that the book has a deep tie to Ethiopian thought due to Johnson's translation of "A Voyage to Abyssinia" and his lifelong interest in its Christianity. Other scholars have argued that Johnson was influenced, at least in part, by other texts, including works by Herodotus and "Paradise Lost". According to Wendy L. Belcher, when Johnson sent his manuscript to the publisher he titled the work "The History of – - – - Prince of Abissinia," which suggests that he had still not decided on  the name of his protagonist. It is Belcher's argument that "Johnson coined the name 'Rasselas' for its symbolic meaning, not its phonetic relation to the Catholic prince 'Ras Sela Christos.' Since 'ras' means 'prince' and 'sela' means 'portrait', Johnson may have invented the term 'portrait of a prince' as an evocative name for his main character." Content. Rasselas, the fourth son of the King of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia), is shut up in a beautiful valley called The Happy Valley, "till the order of succession should call him to the throne". Rasselas enlists the help of an artist who  is also known as an engineer to help with his escape from the Valley by plunging out through the air, though they are unsuccessful in this attempt. Rasselas grows weary of the factitious entertainments of the place and, after much brooding, escapes with his sister Nekayah, her attendant Pekuah and his poet-friend Imlac by digging under the wall of the valley. They are to see the world and search for happiness in places such as Cairo and Suez. After a sojourn in Egypt, where they encounter various classes of society and undergo a few adventures, they perceive the futility  of their search and return to Abyssinia after none of their hopes for happiness are achieved. The story is primarily episodic. According to Borges, "Johnson wrote this book in such a slow, musical style ... in which all the sentences are perfectly balanced. There is not a single sentence that ends abruptly, and we find a monotonous, but very agile, music, and this is what Johnson wrote while he was thinking about the death of his mother, whom he loved so much". Critical interpretations. Irvin Ehrenpreis sees an aged Johnson reflecting on lost youth in the character of Rasselas who is  exiled from Happy Valley. "Rasselas" has also been viewed as a reflection of Johnson's melancholia projected on to the wider world, particularly at the time of his mother's death. And some have interpreted the work as an expression of Johnson's Christian beliefs, arguing that the work expresses the impossibility of finding happiness in life on earth, and asks the reader to look to God for ultimate satisfaction. Hester Piozzi saw in part Johnson in the character of Imlac who is rejected in his courtship by a class-conscious social superior. Thomas Keymer sees beyond the conventional "roman  à clef" interpretations to call it a work that reflects the wider geo-political world in the year of publication (1759): the year in which "Britain became master of the world". Rasselas is seen to express hostility to the rising imperialism of his day and to reject stereotypical "orientalist" viewpoints that justified colonialism. Johnson himself was regarded as a prophet who opposed imperialism, who described the Anglo-French war for America as a dispute between two thieves over the proceeds of a robbery. Orientalist interpretations. Johnson follow a tradition of “academic studies of orientalism in the 18th century…[where] west  of the oriental studies which mainly focused on the Turkish language, culture, institutions and Islam.” This tradition of study shows up in Rasselas through the use of Imlac who has traveled to the West and seen its advancements. This led to philosophical comparison between the West and the East in the story. Through this Johnson implies that the West is superior to the East using Imlac as a mouthpiece. This negative portrayal of the East is done in the beginning of the story with the description of the Happy Valley. This description details how this place is meant to be  a paradise or utopia, but also alluded to the idea of a prison. This setting coupled with the western idea of happiness seen in Rasselas brings out a portrayal of Arab and Muslim culture as being oppressive. However this is really a result of Johnson’s portrayal of the east using English ideas. Comparison to "Candide". While the story is thematically similar to "Candide" by Voltaire, also published early in 1759 – both concern young men travelling in the company of honoured teachers, encountering and examining human suffering in an attempt to determine the root of happiness – their root concerns are  distinctly different. Voltaire was very directly satirising the widely read philosophical work by Gottfried Leibniz, particularly the "Théodicée", in which Leibniz asserts that the world, no matter how we may perceive it, is necessarily the "best of all possible worlds". In contrast the question Rasselas confronts most directly is whether or not humanity is essentially capable of attaining happiness. Rasselas questions his choices in life and what new choices to make in order to achieve this happiness. Writing as a devout Christian, Johnson makes through his characters no blanket attacks on the viability of a religious response to this question , as Voltaire does, and while the story is in places light and humorous, it is not a piece of satire, as is "Candide". Borges thought "Candide" "a much more brilliant book" than "Rasselas", yet the latter was more convincing in its rejection of human happiness: Legacy. Johnson was a staunch opponent of slavery, revered by abolitionists, and Rasselas became a name adopted by emancipated slaves. Editions. The first American edition was published in 1768. The title page of this edition carried a quotation, inserted by the publisher Robert Bell, from La Rochefoucauld: "The labour or Exercise of the Body, freeth  Man from the Pains of the Mind; and this constitutes the Happiness of the Poor". It was used by Philip Rusher in 1804 as the text of choice for a first use of his unsuccessful, paper-saving Patent Type with no descenders. Continuations. "Rasselas" was a jumping-off point for at least two continuations by other authors: Radio adaptation. A radio adaptation of "Rasselas" by Jonathan Holloway was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 24 May 2015, with Ashley Zhangazha as Rasselas, Jeff Rawle as Samuel Johnson and Lucian Msamati as the poet Imlac. Cynthia Erivo made her BBC radio  drama debut as Princess Nekayah. The drama was recorded at Dr Johnson's House, 17 Gough Square, in the City of London, where he wrote "Rasselas" in 1759. Sound design was by David Chilton, and the drama was introduced by Celine Luppo McDaid, Curator of Dr Johnson's House. It was produced and directed by Amber Barnfather. Cultural allusions. "Rasselas" is mentioned numerous times in later notable literature: Locations. The community of Rasselas, Pennsylvania, located in Elk County, was named after Rasselas Wilcox Brown, whose father, Isaac Brown Jr., was fond of Johnson's story. A Vale (or Valley) named  after Rasselas is located in Tasmania within the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park Latitude (DMS): 42° 34' 60 S Longitude (DMS): 146° 19' 60 E.