# XXXVI: Pekuah Is Still Remembered. The Progress of Sorrow explained — The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia

> Chapter companion for The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson.

## What happens

Nekayah gradually returns to common cares and pleasures despite her grief over Pekuah's kidnapping. She initially imposes a daily mourning ritual but slowly abandons it, though her love for Pekuah remains undiminished. She asks Imlac to continue searching for Pekuah, and reflects on the misery that can arise from happiness itself.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Inevitability of Suffering

Nekayah's grief and her reflection that happiness itself can be the cause of misery underscore the inescapable nature of suffering in human life.

### Friendship and Community

Nekayah's deep attachment to Pekuah and her reliance on Imlac for support highlight the importance of friendship and communal bonds in coping with loss.

## Character check-ins

### Nekayah

Nekayah struggles with her grief for Pekuah, gradually returning to normal life while still mourning and seeking news of her friend.

### Imlac

Nekayah solicits Imlac to continue inquiring after Pekuah, leaving no art of intelligence untried.

### Pekuah

Pekuah is remembered and mourned by Nekayah, who fears losing anyone she loves again.

## Key lines

> She rejoiced without her own consent at the suspension of her sorrows, and sometimes caught herself with indignation in the act of turning away her mind from the remembrance of her whom yet she resolved never to forget.

Nekayah found herself involuntarily feeling relief when her grief subsided, and was angry at herself for momentarily forgetting Pekuah, even though she was determined to always remember her.

_This illustrates the psychological conflict between the desire to mourn and the natural human tendency to move on._

> Yet what, said she, is to be expected from our pursuit of happiness, when we find the state of life to be such that happiness itself is the cause of misery?

Nekayah questions the value of seeking happiness, since the very things that bring joy can also lead to suffering when they are lost.

_This reflects the theme of the vanity of human wishes and the inevitable suffering that accompanies attachment._

## Links

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