The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia (Oxford World's Classics)
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Premium Content Crippling Optimism: Prevailing Providence in Rasselas and Persuasion

By Jessica Rae Waggoner - April 30, 2006

As writers of moral narratives, Jane Austen and Samuel Johnson demonstrate the value of reason and contentedness over imagination and ambition. Johnson’s influence on Austen as an author of moral purpose becomes clear in a comparison of their two works, The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia and Persuasion, respectively. In his allegorical…

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