Long Way to Happy: The Illusion of Satisfaction in Rasselas Allie Moustris College

Samuel Johnson’s tale, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, tells the story of a young man, Rasselas, who is dissatisfied with his current life in a utopic society. He strives to venture outside the only existence that he has ever known in order to see and understand the trials that people actually endure in the real world. Through the many experiences that he witnesses and also takes part in throughout his journey outside of his seemingly perfect society, he comes to realize that happiness is not something he could just decide to search for. His sister, Nekayah, also joins him on his adventure and they together grapple with the realization that happiness is an ever-changing, fleeting state of being that cannot be grasped or forced. Johnson’s tale seems to emphasize the notion that there is really nothing in like that can guarantee happiness, and the more you search and yearn for it, the farther from it you end up as you waste your life trying to seize something that is too illusive for human control.

Rasselas and his sister, Nekayah are from the Happy Valley, a utopic place where life is devoid of any suffering. It is a place where “all the diversities of the world were brought together, the blessings of nature were...