Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia
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4.3 • 23 Ratings
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Publisher Description
Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia (or Ethiopia), grows dissatisfied with the unceasing pleasures of his utopian home in the Happy Valley. According to Ethiopian tradition, the children of royalty were confined to an edenic valley, secluded from the harsh realities of the outside world. Rather than being seen as a paradise by Rasselas, Happy Valley is instead considered to be a prison, harboring boredom and tediousness. So, accompanied by his teacher, his sister, and her lady-in-waiting, Rasselas escapes his idyllic homeland to experience the outside world and search out the way of life most likely to lead to lasting happiness.
Customer Reviews
Charming and sometimes humorous discourse on the goals of life
I enjoyed this little "choice of life" meditation. Sometimes a bit long-winded, but usually did not stretch hour patience too far. The story is of a brother and sister who grew up protected, and travel into the world to find out more, and decide how they will spend their lives. Some of it is really dated of course: the suggestions ex cathedra about marriage and so on are not very interesting anymore! But sometimes the characters push back against platitudes in interesting ting ways. The astronomer who has come to believe that he rules the cosmos with his mind is a really amazing character! Fun, amusing, and open hearted.
The best psychology around
Johnson had the human condition pegged some 258 years ago. There is no perfect sublunary existence for any of us, and dissatisfaction with some aspect of our life is the permanent condition of each and every human being. This outlook isn’t at all depressing. It’s actually consolatory to know that we are all dissatisfied with someone or something. I will try to get my own children to read this as young adults so they have reasonable expectations for life. E.g. marriage, finance, etc