Date of Award
Spring 5-7-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Malinda Snow
Second Advisor
Dr. Murray Brown
Third Advisor
Dr. Paul H Schmidt
Abstract
For years, scholars have focused on the serious narrative of Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas and have been unable to reconcile the episodes of ironic humor within the larger serious narrative. By reading Rasselas as an imitation of Ecclesiastes rather than an Oriental tale, critics can begin to identify the humor in Rasselas through the embellishment of the story of Ecclesiastes. The failures of the character Koheleth in Ecclesiastes become the genesis for the failures of Rasselas and his companions; however, the failures of Rasselas and more elaborate and comedic. How Johnson embellishes these failures to create humorous irony in Rasselas becomes clearer for the reader through this new categorization of genre, which can hopefully unite the two opposing views of criticism surrounding this book.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1963015
Recommended Citation
Mason, Mary Katherine, "Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Comedy: Finding the Humor in Rasselas through Ecclesiastes." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2011.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1963015