SETTING :
In the 18th century English literature, the East was the fashion. Rasselas' setting is in the East where an Eastern prince Rasselas and his sister travel from Abissinia to Egypt, and where Imlac sees the world of Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Persia and Arabia -- the bed of Islam.
Like many others of his time, the writer borrowed from the Arabian Nights. The Arabian Nights was a source of inspiration for Johnson's novel Rasselas.
Rasselas depicts images of some Eastern civilizations, and portrays the natural beauty and luxury of the East. It opens with the description of the royal palace in the Happy Valley. Also the novel is mentioned the Egyptian generosity and the luxury of the palace where the Bassa (Basha) of Egypt lives.
Such description recalls the luxurious scenes of the palaces of the Muslim Abbasid Caliphs including Haroun Al-Rashid in the Arabian Nights. In addition there is the reference to the various civilizations of the East.
COMMENTS:
Chapter 1:
p. 2 & 3 :
The Happy Valley is very wide and full of fruits which supply its inhabitants with the necessaries of life. The king visits this valley once a year. This is ironic because the king doesn't give his sons any company and teach them to be a king. They live in kind of prison. Everything they want is present. There is many kinds of arts, such as musician, dancers…etc, showing their best.
Chapter 2 :
P. 4 :
The title is ironic while the Happy Valley is very happy. The writer shows that the physical comforts are not all the things needed by all people. Some people have other demands. They only know the happiness. They have all the skillful people to entertain them, such as musicians, singers, dancers …etc.
They can go around to the beautiful forest and sleep. They are told that the life outside the valley is bad and full of deceivers. They used to listen every day to songs which praising the Happy Valley. They feel boring of this repetition all of the day.
Chapter 3 :
P. 7 & 8 :
Line 1: The old instructor imagines that Rasselas makes himself having a disease in his mind.
"The old man ………. unhappy"
Rasselas tells the old man that he is not happy and doesn't like the happiness because he lives in a happy place. He retired from pleasure in that place. He knows now what misery is. He doesn't have any interest in what he has. He feels that he is lonely because he is miserable. The old man tells him that he is the first one who complains about misery in The Happy Valley, and he wishes to convince him that his complaints have no real reason. The old man says that he has no work to do and there is no danger to be afraid of. He asks him, how are you unhappy if you want nothing?.
The prince answers that he wants nothing, and that he doesn't know what he wants is the reason why he complains. He says that sleeping will not hide him from himself.
P. 8 :
'The old man …. to happiness "
The old man is surprised and shocked by the ideas of the young man. He doesn't know what to say, but he is unwilling to be silent, so he tells him that if he sees the miseries of the world, he will happy of his present condition. Here, the prince has something to desire which is seeing the miseries of the world.
Chapter 4 :
P.12
From these lines, we know that Rasselas decided to escape from the valley in order to find the desirable happiness.
Chapter 6 :
P. 13 :
There are many professors who work to please all the people in the valley. Here Johnson is praising the science in his propaganda novel.
Chapter 8 :
P. 18 :
Rasselas asks Imlac to tell him about his history. He starts by using a proverb " the life… away". He says that the scholar knows how to think, to talk, to read, to learn, to listen to ask and answer his questions. Johnson, here, gives the readers a massage which is a poet should be a scholar but a scholar shouldn't be a poet.
P.20 :
Johnson repeats the same thing.
(From page 20 to page 27, the lines talk about the characteristic of a good poet)
P .20 : " I repent…….thee"
Rasselas is very respectable and a good student.
P .20 : "with this hope…… knowledge"
Knowledge is the most important thing in the 18th century. He has a teacher to teach him.
Chapter 9 :
P. 24 : "Having resided…….. their possessions"
Johnson talks about Persia. He is praising it. We can see how the Europeans think of us (the Arabs).They think that we are their slaves.
Chapter 10 :
P:27 "But the knowledge…….. grace of harmony"
Johnson gives us a scientific study about how should the poet be a knowledgeable and scholar in order to be a good poet.
The knowledge of nature is important to the poet in order to estimate the happiness or the miserable life.
The poet is a man of Knowledge and learning. He should know the nature and how to think, to write, to read and to reflect the ideas of his age.
Chapter 11 :
P .28 : "From Persia…… of the globe"
Imlac talks to the prince about his travels and the foreigners in Palestine.