Lamb 1

Dylan Lamb

Professor Kareem

TA Suzannah Beiner (DIS1C)

ENGL 10B

25 February 2022

Word Count 1770

The City of Cairo in Rassellas

“What,” said the Prince of Abyssinia, “makes the difference between man and all the rest

of the animal creation? (NAEL C: 737). This question of the difference between man and the

animalistic outlines a central concern of the parable in Rassellas as it interrogates how cities alter

their surrounding environment and their inhabitants. The choice of life is arguably the most

significant difference between man and animal and is revaluated in various parts of the narrative.

Cairo becomes the epitome of multitudinous choices of life as represented by the urban

environment in Rassellas. The city’s symbolic portrayal emphasizes the pervasive identity of

cities across time to demonstrate universal truths about urbanity. In Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas,

the Prince of Abyssinia’s discontentment explores the dichotomy between empirical and

experiential knowledge by exposing the misguided vanity of city dwellers to criticize the

falseness of urban life. Furthermore, Imlac’s insistence on acting out roles to fulfill the desire of

others and the various roles played by others suggests that the correct choice of life is elusive to

most city dwellers, even those who possess empirical knowledge.

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Nevertheless, the pervasive extent of human suffering as a universal condition permeates

throughout the parable regardless of geographical location; as Imlac says, “Human life is

everywhere a state in which much is to be endured and little to be enjoyed” (NAEL C: 751). This

common state of hardship implies that human suffering is a universal condition that shares

similarities regardless of setting. Despite Imlac’s warnings, the Prince persists in his obsession

with finding true happiness in various environments. Moreover, the city of Cairo represents all of

the aspects of urban life to the Prince because he has no previous knowledge of it upon arrival.

Imlac and the Prince’s journey into the city explore the complexities of societal structures based

upon Commerce and social hierarchies. Money and Envy are associated with the city because it

is an environment of appearances based upon wealth and status.

From Imlac’s first mention of Cairo in Chapter Twelve, it is made clear that the urban

environment attracts seekers of all sorts from a variety of places. Imlac says, “I found in Cairo a

mixture of all nations: some brought thither by the love of knowledge, some by the hope of gain;

many by the desire of living after their own manner without observation, and of lying hid in the

obscurity of multitudes; for in a city populous as Cairo it is possible to obtain at the same time

the gratifications of society and the secrecy of solitude” (NAEL C: 751). While everyone may

have their separate reasoning for coming to Cairo, or perhaps more broadly any city, “desire” is

the primary motivation that underlies the premise of this observation. Another implication from

Imlac’s statement is that “secrecy” and anonymity while enjoying the “gratifications of society”

are fundamental components of city life, but further complicate the ethical values of seekers.

Upon their arrival to the city of Cairo in Chapter Sixteen as strangers, Imlac declares,

“...you will see all the conditions of humanity, and enable yourself at leisure to make your choice
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of life” (NAEL C: 756). However, it is soon revealed that none of the city dwellers are truly

happy and that most of their lives are based upon appearances and the pursuit of pleasure in the

form of diversions. The Prince is momentarily deluded by the appearance of happiness in the

city, when the narrator observes, “For some time he thought choice needless, because all

appeared to him really happy” (NAEL C: 757). The false appearance of happiness becomes a

central focus of the depiction of urban life in Rassellas, which is motivated primarily by the

aversion to actually making the choice of life. Because there are so many options to choose from

in an urban setting, it is easier to distract oneself with the diversions of pleasure, or in the words

of the narrator, “...to fill up the vacancies of attention, and lessen the tediousness of time”

(NAEL C: 735). The Prince and his court are strangers to the workings of the city but quickly

learn the “language” of Commerce as a means of fitting into a hierarchical society.

Later in Chapter Sixteen, the feeling of “Envy” is associated with social structures based

upon financial means because while they are in the upper classes of Cairo, the Prince becomes

aware of this emotion among the falseness of crowds. The Prince says, “I am unsatisfied with

those pleasures which I seem most to court. I live in the crowds of jollity, not so much to enjoy

company as to shun myself, and am only loud and merry to conceal my sadness” (NAEL C:

757). Again, there is an insistence on acting to conceal one’s emotions when in the presence of

others, and its consequences reinforce the dilemma of urban life among the privileged classes

that value wealth and appearance at the expense of individual introspection. Imlac replies, “Envy

is commonly reciprocal….there was not one who did not dread the moment when solitude should

deliver him to the tyranny of reflection” (NAEL C: 757). The avoidance of solitude, which is

motivated by the “tyranny of reflection” is how Envy occurs among crowds because they are
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inevitably desirous of what other people have and what they lack by comparison. Imlac says,

“Very few live by choice. Every man is placed in the present condition by causes which acted

without his foresight, and with which he did not always willingly co-operate, and therefore you

will rarely meet one who does not think the lot of his neighbour better than his own” (NAEL C:

758). Because so few live by choice in the urban environment, Envy is commonplace, and the

forced coercion of roles within a hierarchical society based upon Commerce becomes

burdensome even for those who possess wealth.

The description of Cairo and the realism of its depiction are irrelevant to what it

symbolizes because it is metaphorical of all urban environments. Hence, Cairo's complete lack of

physical description in the narrative because the idea that it represents is much more critical to

the overarching themes of urbanity in Rasselas. The symbol of Cairo itself as one of the Earth’s

oldest cities emphasizes the timeless nature of human desire and its artifice in the form of cities

as places centralized around Commerce. Imlac states, “Commerce here is honorable. I will act as

a merchant, and you shall live as strangers, who have no other end of travel than curiosity. It will

soon be observed that we are rich; our reputation will procure us access to all whom we shall

desire to know” (NAEL C: 756). Commerce and, subsequently, wealth are portrayed as the most

desirable traits one can possess in the urban environment. Yet, material wealth only seems to

complicate the lives of its possessors and offers few consolations outside of diversion.

Imlac’s “acting” as a merchant in the city reveals the ease with which one can gain favor

among the privileged classes by putting on appearances. The effrontery of perceived wealth and

its access to certain people in the city suggests a superficiality that resonates with how the urbane

is characterized in Rassellas. Furthermore, Imlac’s adaptability of character suggests that by

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appealing to what target audiences value most in different communities, it is possible to gain

their favor by playing certain roles. Imlac reveals his role as an actor earlier in the parable, when

he appears, “…in the more civilized kingdoms as a trader, and among the barbarians of the

mountains as a pilgrim” (NAEL C: 751). The juxtaposition of “trader” and “pilgrim” suggests a

spiritual value that differs from rural to urban areas and Imlac’s intentional roleplaying to gain

favor by altering himself to suit his demographic. Therefore, it can be assumed (at least

according to Rassellas) that what is honorable in cities is Commerce or the ability to trade; and

in rural areas, the capacity for religiosity or someone’s pious virtue. From this perspective, the

dialectic of Commerce and religion are at odds, but perhaps most importantly it is the emphasis

on city and Commerce as a form of virtue that is superior to religion. However, the wisdom of

Imlac dictates many of the Prince’s actions in the narrative, complicating the credibility of

Imlac’s ethos because of his role as an authoritative guide.

Throughout the parable, the Prince’s need for a guide motivates much of his behavior.

One of the guides/teachers associated with urbanity, particularly academic education, is

characterized by the “Wise and Happy Man” of Chapter Eighteen (NAEL C: 759). This chapter

is preoccupied with the exchanging of money to purchase the knowledge of happiness and the

shortcomings of polished rhetoric when faced with mortality. Like many other commodities

found in the city, education is also yet another item to be purchased such as “when Rasselas put a

purse of gold into his hand” to gain access to the sage’s knowledge (NAEL C: 761). Again, the

exchange of gold i.e., commerce, as an attempt to purchase the knowledge of happiness from the

lecturer, emphasizes the urbanization of his character because, as the narrator says, “[H]e had

now learned the power of money” (NAEL C: 761). The Prince’s diversion is always to seek
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teachers to imitate, and much of what motivates his agency in the parable is the constant need to

find new knowledge. Yet, the Prince’s insatiable thirst for the knowledge of happiness is never

fully resolved because he is always finding fault with the teachers' inconsistencies which

undermines the purchasing "power" of money itself.

However, regardless of his ability to purchase the knowledge of the sage, he soon

discovers that all of this empirical knowledge is abandoned when the lecturer’s daughter dies.

The lecturer says, “ What comfort can truth and reason afford me? Of what effect are they now,

but to tell me that my daughter will not be restored? (NAEL C: 760). This abandonment of

reason indicates the “the emptiness of rhetorical sounds, and the inefficacy of polished periods

and studied sentences” when faced with the stark reality of certain death (NAEL C: 760). The

ineffectiveness of abstract thought as a prognosis against the realities of existence emphasizes the

limitations of what wealth can purchase and of the learned man’s convictions that fail to dispel

loss. Furthermore, it reiterates the shortcomings of empirical knowledge compared to

experiential knowledge because of how quickly the lecturer abandons his teachings when faced

with adversity. In this way, the empirical “truth” and “reason” of scholastic knowledge are

rendered ineffective compared to real experience.

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Works Cited

Norton Anthology of English Literature (Restoration & 18th Century). 10th ed., C.