Rasselas, the fourth son of the King of Abyssinia, is shut up in a beautiful valley called The Happy Valley, "till the order of succession should call him to the throne". Rasselas enlists the help of an artist, also known as an engineer, to help with his escape from the Valley by plunging themselves out through the air, though is unsuccessful in this attempt. He grows weary of the factitious entertainments of the place, and after much brooding escapes by digging under the wall of the valley in order to see the world and search for happiness.