As writers of moral narratives, Jane Austen and Samuel Johnson demonstrate the value of reason and contentment over imagination and ambition. Johnson's influence on Austen as an author of moral purposes becomes clear when comparing their two works, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia and Persuasion respectively. In his allegorical tale, Rasselas, Johnson uses the encounters to show how the prince's "hunger for imagination which incessantly preys on life" is the cause of his dissatisfaction. In Austen's Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliot's vanity, ambition, and refusal to give up all the trappings of his position in society ends up with him having to rent the family estate, Kellynch. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Johnson and Austen both set out to create a morality tale, but they differ in how they create the tale. Interestingly, Johnson uses fantastical allegory to convey a moral with surprisingly resonant realism. Austen follows a more believable path, creating a world that reflects the culture of her time. Both authors use their narratives not only to portray their characters as reformed, but also to convey a moral to the reading audience. In Persuasion, Sir Walter Elliot is a vain and stubborn baronet who values ​​position through birth over position through advancement. Austen emphasizes his vanity on several occasions, including in the first lines of the novel: "Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, Somersetshire, was a man who, for his amusement, never picked up any book except the Baronetage... there if any other leaf were helpless, he could read his own story with an interest that never failed” (Austen 3 Other details that convince the reader of Sir Walter's vanity include a description of his dressing room full of mirrors and his preference to only be seen with attractive people. Introducing the reader to the ridiculous Baron in the first chapter sets a moral precedent through which to show other characters and situations. This provides the reader with a specific portrait of an “insensitive” character, who perhaps later on will reform. His character, satirized as ridiculous, serves as a juxtaposition to the more sensitive and modest characters in Persuasion. By the end of the first chapter, it becomes apparent that Sir Walter's attempts to maintain an appearance appropriate to his desired class position have resulted to devastating debts. Austen includes a satirical rationalization for this debt by stating, “It had not been possible for him to spend less: he had done nothing but what Sir Walter Elliot was imperiously called upon to do…” (Austen 10). Lady Russell and Anne Elliot, the sensitive character of the novel, attempt to find the least painful methods by which Sir Walter's situation can be improved. Their suggestions that he eliminate some extravagance from his lush lifestyle are met with contempt by the narrow-minded Sir Walter: “'What! Every convenience of life has been eliminated! Travel, London, servants, horses, table: contractions and restrictions everywhere! No longer live with the decency of even a private gentleman! No, he would rather leave Kellynch Hall at once, than remain there in such shameful conditions” (Austen 14). The decision to leave Kellynch, the family estate, and move to Bath could have been avoided if Sir Walter had been more receptive and less dissatisfied with the prospect of a change of lifestyle. Sir Walter is representative of the withered aristocracy of the timesAusten. This decay is caused by industrialism, a system in which position by birth becomes less valuable. Members of the older aristocracy, whose positions were secured from birth, are subject to the reality that they may have to live within their assigned means instead of living in an unrealistically infinite and extravagant economic fantasy. Through Sir Walter's dilemma, Austen shows the importance of being content with what is truly possible and not maintaining the appearances of a false position that becomes impossible to maintain. Samuel Johnson's moral fable, Rasselas, also demonstrates the damage that ambition and imagination can do to the mind. Just as Austen's Persuasion is a reflection of the culture and concerns of the time, Johnson's tale is to some extent a reflection of his current emotional state. Written quickly as his mother lay on her deathbed, Johnson hoped that the funds Rasselas earned would pay for his funeral and pay off his debts. Johnson's grim situation is reflected in Rasselas's sober tone. Not one to be evaded, he addresses the reader with a warning and an invitation to listen to his tale: “You who listen credulously to the whispers of imagination and eagerly pursue the ghosts of hope; who expect age to fulfill the promises of youth, and the deficiencies of the present to be supplied by tomorrow – listen to the story of Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia” (Johnson 2680). Johnson portrays a prince dissatisfied with the utopian land around him, in which "all the diversities of the world were brought together, the blessings of nature were reaped, and its evils extracted and excluded" (Johnson 2681). The prince believes that if he could make his own individual “life choice,” he could be content rather than simply satisfied with the life he has been given. He longs to see other lives and longs to leave his home, Happy Valley. Despite the reproaches of his companions, Prince Rasselas refuses to believe anything except that “…if I could choose life, I should be able to fill every day with pleasure” (Johnson 2696). Unlike the other inhabitants of Happy Valley, the prince is dissatisfied with the perpetual state of comfort offered by the valley. In fact, he found more pleasure in imagining scenarios of difficulty and struggle: “His main amusement was to imagine the world he had never seen; place yourself in different conditions; being entangled in imaginary difficulties and engaged in wild adventures; but his benevolence has always put an end to his designs for the relief of distress, the detection of frauds, the defeat of oppression, and the spread of happiness” (Johnson 2685). For the prince, Happy Valley becomes a sort of hellish paradise. Essentially, these images are representative of the diametric opposite of his current state, showing that “the grass is always greener” for Rasselas. Rasselas travels to explore what life choices other people have made and to find out if they are happy. Every individual Rasselas meets seems happy upon first meeting, but further examination shows this happiness to be false. Textual details, including Johnson's rhetoric and his depiction of prosperity and loneliness, assert that the desire for complete happiness can never be completely satiated. In writing about his particular encounter with a hermit, Johnson seems to identify imagination with mental illness, arguing that it fosters madness: "All the power of imagination over reason is a degree of madness... it is not pronounced madness but when it becomes ungovernable, and apparently influences language” (Rasselas 2733). Just as Sir Walter's ridiculous, extravagant and ambitious spending habits were not seen as a reason for.