Rasselas and his companions escape the pleasures of the "happy valley" in order to make their "choice of life." By witnessing the misfortunes and miseries of others they come to understand the nature of happiness, and value it more highly. Their travels and enquiries raise important practical and philosophical questions concerning many aspects of the human condition, including the business of a poet, the stability of reason, the immortality of the soul, and how to find contentment. Johnson's adaptation of the popular oriental tale displays his usual wit and perceptiveness; skeptical and probing, his tale nevertheless suggests that wisdom and self-knowledge need not be entirely beyond reach.
Prefacio a Shakespeare
Samuel Johnson
bookPrefacio a Shakespeare
Samuel Johnson
bookThe Works of Samuel Johnson: Parlimentary Debates I : A Literary Insight into 18th-Century Parliamentary Discourse
Samuel Johnson
bookThe Works of Samuel Johnson: Parlimentary Debates II : The Art of Political Discourse in 18th-Century Britain
Samuel Johnson
bookThe Works of Samuel Johnson: Reviews, Political Tracts, and Lives of Eminent Persons : Insightful Commentary and Historical Context
Samuel Johnson
bookRasselas, Prince d'Abyssinie
Samuel Johnson
bookPoetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett : With Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes
Samuel Johnson, Thomas Parnell, Thomas Gray, T. Smollett
bookPreface to Shakespeare
Samuel Johnson
bookPreface to a Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson
bookLives of the English Poets : Waller, Milton, Cowley
Samuel Johnson
bookA Grammar of the English Tongue
Samuel Johnson
audiobookbookJourney to the Western Islands of Scotland
Samuel Johnson
book
Roxana - The Fortunate Mistress
Daniel Defoe
audiobookbookOhio
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audiobookbookDream of the Red Chamber
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audiobookThe Shimmering State : A Novel
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audiobookbookThe Fallout
Rebecca Thornton, Rebecca Courtney
audiobookIsland Queen : A Novel
Vanessa Riley
audiobookThe Orchard : A Novel
David Hopen
audiobookKingdomtide
Rye Curtis
audiobookLady Sunshine : A Novel
Amy Mason Doan
audiobookLove and Treasure
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audiobookThe Possessed
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audiobookbookKiss Carlo
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audiobookbook