Interior V. Exterior in Samuel Johnson's The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia

The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson is the first “oriental” novel we read that does not focus on the physical descriptions of characters. We’re aware of what the Abissinian palace looks like, the way nature is illustrated, and even get descriptions of the different cities mentioned; however, the physical descriptions of characters is omitted. This was so fascinating to me, especially because this is a story written by an English author for an English audience, whose setting and characters are “oriental” or "different." I was expecting there to be focus on skin color, descriptions of dark eyes, and an overall attention to the “body” and erotics. Instead, we learn about the interiority of characters, their stories, feelings and intellectuality. The exteriority of characters is given little to no attention .

The first chapter of Rasselas is entirely devoted to the illustration of the royal family’s residence. It was “a spacious valley in the kingdom…surrounded on every side by mountains” and “From the mountains on every side, rivulets descended that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility” (43). This valley was “wide and fruitful” and “all the diversities of the world were brought together here” (44). The opening of this chapter only briefly introduces Rasselas and his siblings as royalty, also indicating that Rasselas is “confined” (43). The bulk of the story’s beginning simply acquaints us with the Nile, the palace, and the valley upon which the palace sits. The rest of the story highlights the vastness of cities visited, the greatness of pyramids, the beauty or dread of nature, etc.

As the second chapter’s title indicates, readers will be introduced to “The discontent of Rasselas in the happy valley” (45). When we first “meet” Rasselas, we learn that he is displeased with his life in Abissinia (45). We are instantly introduced to the interiority of prince Rasselas, his musings and observations of nature; yet we still have no inkling as to what he looks like. Our first meeting of Rasselas is entirely different from when we are first introduced to Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko. Oroonoko’s “Face was not of that brown, rusty Black which most of that Nation are, but a perfect Ebony, or polish’d Jett. His eyes were the most awful that cou’d be seen, and very piercing; the White of ‘em being like Snow, as were his Teeth. His Nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat” (Behn 13). The focus here is on the exterior qualities of Oroonoko, similar to Lady Mary’s descriptions of the Turkish women in The Turkish Embassy Letters.  Both Behn and Lady Mary seem to offer readers an ethnicity judgment, whereas Johnson is interested in the emotions of his characters. Behn and Lady Mary are interested in how their characters physically appear, whereas Johnson is interested in the physical confinement of his character and his desire to explore the “outside” world. His account of the interior musings of Rasselas in chapter 2 portrays this interest (Johnson 46-47).

When we first meet Imlac, for example, we learn about his travels, his moral views (including his disdain towards his father’s obsession with money), and his passion for poetry. When we read about the history of Imlac, we read about his experience with nature’s majesty and sublimity, which inspire his “poetical powers;” we learn about his encounters with the poets of Persia and his views on Truth and happiness (63, 65). There is no focus on his outward appearance; rather, we are introduced to his life experiences, and thus, his wisdom.

            Even when we are introduced to our first female character, Nekayah, Rasselas’s sister, we learn that she too is “equally weary of confinement” and “not less desirous of knowing what is done or suffered in the world” (72). We are not given a typical, sexualized description of the oriental woman as we were used to in Lady Mary’s Embassy Letters. Instead, Nekayah is an intellectual woman, who converses (or rather, debates) with men on topics like family, marriage, friendship, and happiness (88-98).  Aside from the few rare moments where “dress” is mentioned through the novel (in Pekuah’s narration, for example, pg. 111) in order to illustrate rank, the actual physical descriptions of characters is lacking.

Johnson chose an oriental setting as a backdrop for philosophical dialogue. This is a story about people who live far from England, and yet an English audience is forced to consider the interiority of these humans and not their outward differences. Is this Johnson’s way of humanizing people, who in the past were colonialized, objectified, sexualized and stripped of interiority?

I am also interested in the cover of our edition of Rasselas. It is a photograph of F. Holland Day by London photographer, Frederick H. Evans in 1901.  Day, another photographer, posed for Evans wearing an “Arab” costume he had purchased from his trip to Algeria. Interestingly enough, Evans was also a bookseller. I am interested in the editor choosing this particular photograph. I have two thoughts on the editor’s choice, and both contrasting. First, the photograph forces us to view the physical appearance of the subject, which is a different view from what Johnson’s writing offers (a view on interiority not exteriority). Second, the photograph nonetheless encapsulates Johnson’s choosing of an oriental setting as a backdrop for English philosophical thought. The photograph is of an English man in “oriental” clothing. I have no idea how to reconcile these two notions, but both still leave me confused of the editor’s choice.  

Link to information on Evans's photos of Day: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/f-holland-day-in-algerian-costume-4596