Samuel Johnson's 'Rasselas': The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending

Samuel Johnson's philosophical novel The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759) deals with "the choice of life." This phrase, which is emphasized several times throughout the novel, is also its shortest conceivable summary. The issue of that choice, however, is not clear. In spite of Johnson's well-turned aphorisms, Rasselas' choice of life remains inconclusive. Worse still, a study of the response to the work throughout its life reveals that the readers of the book have interpreted this inconclusiveness, and the doctrine of the book as a whole, in widely different ways—the implied authorial attitude of the work has proved difficult to discern. These disagreements reveal some tensions in the thematic structure of the novel and in Johnson's system of morals. The status of Johnson's novel as a literary artifact seems to work against its purported moral content. A comprehensive interpretation of The History of Rasselas cannot see it as the seamless product of its author's intention.

Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: 

The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending

http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6TV9M

 

Author(s):

José Angel García Landa (see profile)

Date:

1990

Group(s):

Narrative theory and Narratology

Subject(s):

Samuel Johnson, 18th-century English literature, English literature, Narratology

Item Type:

Article

Tag(s):

English fiction, 18th-century fiction, Closure

Abstract:

Notes:

Written in 1989.

_____. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending." Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 19/20 (1989-1990): 75-99.*

 http://webpages.ull.es/users/rceing/Back.html#Nos.%2019-20,%20NOVIEMBRE%201989/ABRIL%201990

         2004  - DISCONTINUED

         http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=79919

         2014

_____. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending." iPaper at Academia.edu 23 April 2010.*

         https://www.academia.edu/230600/

         2014

_____. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending." Online PDF at Social Science Research Network 26 April 2010.*

         http://ssrn.com/abstract=1594819

         2010

English & Commonwealth Literature eJournal 26 April 2010.*

http://www.ssrn.com/link/English-Commonwealth-Lit.html

2013

Cognition and the Arts eJournal 26 April 2010.*

http://www.ssrn.com/link/Cognition-Arts.html

2013

_____. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending." ResearchGate 5 Dec. 2013.*

         https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49241561

         2013

_____. "Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: The Duplicity of Choice and the Sense of an Ending." Humanities Commons 1 April 2018.*

         https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:18771/

         http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6TV9M

         2018

The Enthusiastick Fit: The Function and Fate of the Poet in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas

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