The Image of the Orient in Samuel Johnson's Rasselas (1759)

Abstract

This paper aims to study Samuel Johnson's Rasselas: Prince of Abyssina (1759) and how Johnson portrays the Orient.  By employing the narrator and other characters like Imlac, Rasselas, and Pekuah, Johnson presents a negative image of the Arabs and the Muslims, emphasizing that they are inferiors, whereas the Westerners are superior.  Johnson builds his attitude upon the concepts, stereotypes and vocabulary established by the English writers in the Christian tradition.  According to Johnson, the Arabs are "sons of Ishmael": they are infidels, murderous, and terrorists, waging war against the civilized nations. Moreover, the social system is patriarchal in the Muslim and Arab life and their system of governments is unstable, despotic and cruel.  In fact, Johnson has never been to any Arab or Muslim country.  All he knows is merely based upon his very limited knowledge about the Arabs as a second hand from Western translations.

Key Words: Johnson, Rasselas, Orient, Arabs, Muslims, English Novel.