Vathek
Encyclopedia
Vathek is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford
. It was composed in French
beginning in 1782, and then translated into English
by Reverend Samuel Henley
in which form it was first published in 1786 without Beckford's name as An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript, claiming to be translated directly from Arabic. The first French edition was published in December 1786 (postdated 1787). In the twentieth century some editions include The Episodes of Vathek, three related tales intended by Beckford to be so incorporated, but omitted from the original edition and published separately long after his death.
al (see Orientalism
), which was inspired by Antoine Galland
's translation of The Arabian Nights
(itself re-translated, into English, in 1708). Beckford was also influenced by similar works from the French writer Voltaire
. His originality lay in combining the popular Oriental elements with the Gothic stylings of Horace Walpole
's The Castle of Otranto
(1764). The result stands alongside Walpole's novel and Mary Shelley
's Frankenstein
(1818) in the first rank of early Gothic fiction.
at Christmas 1781,” and that it took him two days and a night, or three days and two nights. He gives two accounts of how long it took him.
Vathek was written during a time when part of European culture was influenced by Orientalism
. It is an Arabian tale because of the oriental setting and characters and the depiction of oriental cultures, societies, and myth. Vathek is also a Gothic novel with its emphasis on the supernatural, ghosts, and spirits, as well as the terror it tries to induce in the reader.
The title character is inspired by Al-Wathiq
ibn Mutasim (Arabic
الواثق), an Abbasid
caliph
who reigned in 842-847 (227-232 AH in the Islamic calendar
) who had a great thirst for knowledge and became a great patron to scholars and artists. During his reign, a number of revolts broke out. He took an active role in quelling them. He died of fever on August 10, 847.
The narrative of Vathek uses a third person, omniscient, semi-intrusive narrator
. While the narrator is not omniscient in the sense of knowing what the characters feel (he hardly talks about the feelings of the characters), he is omniscient in the sense that he knows what is happening everywhere; and while it may not be intrusive to the point of telling the reader how to feel, it is certainly intrusive in the way it takes the reader from place to place, the most obvious instance being on page 87 when, after a narrative focusing around Gulchenrouz, the narrator tells us, "But let us return to the Caliph, and her who ruled over his heart". The narrative is often made up of lists that chronicle the events one after the other, without emphasis on character development. Characters and events are introduced forcefully at times. One such example is the introduction of Vathek's brother and successor Motavakel, based on Al-Mutawakkil
ʻAlā Allāh Jaʻfar ibn al-Muʻtasim (Arabic
المتوكل على الله جعفر بن المعتصم') (March 821
– December 861
), who reigned in Samarra
from 847
until 861
. Up to the point when he is introduced in the novel as the leader of a rebel army, the reader is not even aware of Vathek's having a brother. The reader is also never exposed to Motavakel’s character, except as Carathis mentions him. The novel, while it may lend itself to be divided into chapters, is one complete manuscript without pause.
Vathek (a fictionalized version of the historical Al-Wathiq
), who renounces Islam
and engages with his mother, Carathis, in a series of licentious and deplorable activities designed to gain him supernatural
powers. At the end of the novel, instead of attaining these powers, Vathek descends into a hell
ruled by the demon Eblis where he is doomed to wander endlessly and speechlessly.
Vathek, the ninth Caliph of the Abassides, ascended to the throne at an early age. He is a majestic figure, terrible in anger (one glance of his flashing eye can make “the wretch on whom it was fixed instantly [fall] backwards and sometimes [expire]”), and addicted to the pleasures of the flesh. He is intensely thirsty for knowledge and often invites scholars to converse with him. If he fails to convince the scholar of his points of view, he attempts a bribe; if this does not work, he sends the scholar to prison. In order to better study astronomy, he builds an observation tower with 1,500 steps.
A hideous stranger arrives in town, claiming to be a merchant from India selling precious goods. Vathek buys glowing swords with letters on them from the merchant, and invites the merchant to dinner. When the merchant does not respond to Vathek's questions, Vathek looks at him with his "evil eye," but this has no effect, so Vathek imprisons him. The next day, he discovers that the merchant has escaped and his prison guards are dead. The people begin to call Vathek crazy. His mother, Carathis, tells him that the merchant was “the one talked about in the prophecy”, and Vathek admits that he should have treated the stranger kindly.
Vathek wants to decipher the messages on his new sabers, offers a reward to anyone who can help him, and punishes those who fail. After several scholars fail, one elderly man succeeds: the swords say "We were made where everything is well made; we are the least of the wonders of a place where all is wonderful and deserving, the sight of the first potentate on earth." But the next morning, the message has changed: the sword now says “Woe to the rash mortal who seeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant, and to undertake that which surpasses his power”. The old man flees before Vathek can punish him. However, Vathek realizes that the writing on the swords really did change.
Vathek then develops an insatiable thirst and often goes to a place near a high mountain to drink from one of four fountains there, kneeling at the edge of the fountain to drink. One day he hears a voice telling him to “not assimilate thyself to a dog”. It was the voice of the merchant who had sold him the swords, Giaour. Giaour cures his thirst with a potion and the two men return to Samarah. Vathek returns to immersing himself in the pleasures of the flesh, and begins to fear that Giaour, who is now popular at Court, will seduce one of his wives. Some mornings later, Carathis reads a message in the stars foretelling a great evil to befall Vathek and his vizir Morakanabad; she advises him to ask Giaour about the drugs he used in the potion. When Vathek confronts him, Giaour only laughs, so Vathek gets angry and kicks him. Giaour is transformed into a ball and Vathek compels everyone in the palace to kick it, even the resistant Carathis and Morakanabad. Then Vathek has the whole town kick the ball-shaped merchant into a remote valley. Vathek stays in the area and eventually hears Giaour's voice telling him that if he will worship Giaour and the jinns of the earth, and renounce the teachings of Islam, he will bring Vathek to “the palace of the subterrain fire” (22) where Soliman Ben Daoud controls the talismans that rule over the world.
Vathek agrees, and proceeds with the ritual that Giaour demands: to sacrifice fifty of the city's children. In return, Vathek will receive a key of great power. Vathek holds a "competition" among the children of the nobles of Samarah, declaring that the winners will receive "endless favors." As the children approach Vathek for the competition, he throws them inside an ebony portal to be sacrificed. Once this is finished, Giaour makes the portal disappear. The Samaran citizens see Vathek alone and accuse him of having sacrificed their children to Giaour, and form a mob to kill Vathek. Carathis pleads with Morakanabad to help save Vathek's life; the vizier complies, and calms the crowd down.
Vathek wonders when his reward will come, and Carathis says that he must fulfill his end of the pact and sacrifice to the Jinn of the earth. Carathis helps him prepare the sacrifice: she and her son climb to the top of the tower and mix oils to create an explosion of light. The people, presuming that the tower is on fire, rush up the stairs to save Vathek from being burnt to death. Instead, Carathis sacrifices them to the Jinn. Carathis performs another ritual and learns that for Vathek to claim his reward, he must go to Istakhar.
Vathek goes away with his wives and servants, leaving the city in the care of Morakanabad and Carathis. A week after he leaves, his caravan is attacked by carnivorous animals. The soldiers panic and accidentally set the area on fire; Vathek and his wives must flee. Still, they continue on their way. They reach steep mountains where the Islamic dwarves dwell. They invite Vathek to rest with them, possibly in the hopes of converting him back to Islam. Vathek sees a message his mother left for him: “Beware of old doctors and their puny messengers of but one cubit high: distrust their pious frauds; and, instead of eating their melons, impale on a spit the bearers of them. Should thou be so fool as to visit them, the portal to the subterranean place will shut in thy face” (53). Vathek becomes angry and claims that he has followed Giaour’s instructions long enough. He stays with the dwarves, meets their Emir, named Fakreddin, and Emir's beautiful daughter Nouronihar.
Vathek wants to marry her, but she is already promised to her effeminate cousin Gulchenrouz, whom she loves and who loves her back. Vathek thinks she should be with a "real" man and arranges for Babalouk to kidnap Gulchenrouz. The Emir, finding of the attempted seduction, asks Vathek to kill him, as he has seen “the prophet’s vice-regent violate the laws of hospitality." But Nouronihar prevents Vathek from killing her father and Gulchenrouz escapes. The Emir and his servants then meet and they develop a plan to safeguard Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz, by drugging them and place them in a hidden valley by a lake where Vathek cannot find them. The plan succeeds temporarily - the two are drugged, brought to the valley, and convinced on their awakening that they have died and are in purgatory. Nouronihar, however, grows curious about her surroundings and ascends to find out what lies beyond the valley. There she meets Vathek, who is mourning for her supposed death. Both realize that her 'death' has been a sham. Vathek then orders Nouronihar to marry him, she abandons Gulchenrouz, and the Emir abandons hope.
Meanwhile, in Samarah, Carathis can discover no news of her son from reading the stars. She conjures the spirits of a graveyard to perform a spell that makes her appear in front of Vathek, who is bathing with Nouronihar. She tells him he is wasting his time with Nouronihar and has broken one of the rules of Giaour's contract. She asks him to drown Nouronihar, but Vathek refuses, because he intends to make her his Queen. Carathis then decides to sacrifice Gulchenrouz, but before she can catch him, Gulchenrouz jumps into the arms of a Genie who protects him. That night, Carathis hears that Motavakel, Vathek's brother, is planning to lead a revolt against Morakanabad. Carathis tells Vathek that he has distinguished himself by breaking the laws of hospitality by ‘seducing’ the Emir’s daughter after sharing his bread, and that if he can commit one more crime along the way he shall enter Soliman’s gates triumphant.
Vathek continues on his journey, reaches Rocnabad, and degrades and humiliates its citizens for his own pleasure.
A Genie asks Mohammed for permission to try to save Vathek from his eternal damnation. He takes the form of a shepherd who plays the flute to make men realize their sins. The shepherd asks Vathek if he is done sinning, warns Vathek about Eblis, ruler of Hell, and asks Vathek to return home, destroy his tower, disown Carathis, and preach Islam. Vathek's pride wins out, and he tells the shepherd that he will continue on his quest for power, and values his mother more than life itself or God's mercy. Vathek's servants desert him; Nouronihar becomes immensely prideful.
Finally, Vathek reaches Istakhar, where he finds more swords with writing on them, which says "Thou hast violated the conditions of my parchment, and deserve to be sent back, but in favor to thy companion, and as the meed for what thou hast done to obtain it, Eblis permitted that the portal of this place will receive thee” (108). Giaour opens the gates with a golden key, and Vathek and Nouronihar step through into a place of gold where Genies of both sexes dance lasciviously. Giaour leads them to Eblis, who tells them that they may enjoy whatever his empire holds. Vathek asks to be taken to the talismans that govern the world. There, Soliman tells Vathek that he had once been a great king, but was seduced by a Jinn and received the power to make everyone in the world do his bidding. But because of this, he is destined to suffer in hell for all eternity. Vathek asks Giaour to release him, saying he will relinquish all he was offered, but Giaour refuses. He tells Vathek to enjoy his omnipotence while it lasts, for in a few days he will be tormented.
Vathek and Nouronihar become increasingly discontented with the palace of flames. Vathek orders an Ifreet to fetch Carathis from the castle. When she arrives, he warns her of what happens to those who enter Eblis' domain, but Carathis takes the talismans of earthly power from Soliman regardless. She gathers the Jinns and tries to overthrow one of the Solimans, but Eblis decrees "It is time." Carathis, Vathek, Nouronihar, and the other denizens of hell lose "the most precious gift granted by heaven - HOPE" (119). They begin to feel eternal remorse for their crimes.
“Such was, and should be, the punishment of unrestrained passion and atrocious deeds! Such shall be the chastisement of that blind curiosity, which would transgress those bounds the wisdom the Creator has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be – humble and ignorant.”
Vathek: Ninth Caliph of the Abassides, who ascended to the throne at an early age. His figure was pleasing and majestic, but when angry, his eyes became so terrible that “the wretch on whom it was fixed instantly fell backwards and sometimes expired” (1). He was addicted to women and pleasures of the flesh, so he ordered five palaces to be built: the five palaces of the senses. Although he was an eccentric man, learned in the ways of science, physics, and astrology, he loved his people. His main greed, however, was thirst for knowledge. He wanted to know everything. This is what led him on the road to damnation.
Giaour: His name means blasphemer and infidel. He claims to be an Indian merchant, but in actuality he is a Jinn who works for the arch-demon Eblis. He guides Vathek and gives him instructions on how to reach the palace of fire.
Emir Fakreddin: Vathek’s host during his travels. He offers Vathek a place to stay and rest. He is deeply religious. Vathek betrays his hospitality by seducing his daughter.
Nouronihar: The Emir’s daughter, a beautiful girl who is promised to Gulchenrouz, but is forced to marry Vathek and join him in his road to damnation.
Gulchenrouz: A beautiful young man with feminine features. He is the Emir’s nephew. Due to his innocence, he is rescued from Carathis's hands and is allowed to live in eternal youth in a palace above the clouds.
(Jinn) are fiery spirits. The Jinn pre-existed in middle eastern folklore before Islam, and were incorporated into the religion. The djinn are creatures who lived on earth before man; they were made up of 'smokeless fire'.
A eunuch
is a castrated man; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past.
Khalif (Caliph in Vathek) (from Arabic
خلافة khilāfa) is the head of state in a Caliphate
, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah
, or global Islamic nation. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word خليفة Khalīfah which means "successor" or "representative." The early leaders of the Muslim nation following Muhammad's (570–632) death were called "Khalifat ar-rasul Allah," meaning political successor.
Iblīs (Eblis in Vathek) (Arabic إبليس) or Shayṭān (or, Shaitan) (plural: شياطين Shayatin), is name given to the primary devil
in Islam. He appears more often referred in the Qur'an
as the Shayṭān, a general purpose term used to refer to all of the evil spirits in alliance with Iblīs, but which is often used to refer to just Iblīs. Iblīs was a Jinn, a creature made of 'smokeless fire' by God (like humans are made of 'clay'). In an outburst rooted in envy, Iblīs disobeyed Allah
and was expelled from the grace of Allah. He was later sent to earth along with Adam
and Eve
after having lured them into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, although in this role he is always referred to as ash-shayṭān.
Bilqis (Balkis in Vathek) ; ) was the woman who ruled the ancient kingdom of Sheba
and is referred to in Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible
, the New Testament
, and the Qur'an
. She is mentioned (unnamed) in the Bible
in the Books of Kings
and Book of Chronicles as a great queen who seeks out Solomon
to learn if the tales of his wisdom are true. She is also mentioned in Jewish legends as a queen with a great love for learning, in African tales as “the queen of Egypt
and Ethiopia
”, and in the Qur’an as Balkis, a great queen of a nation that worshiped the sun who later converted to Salomon’s god. The Roman historian Josephus
calls her Nicaule. She is thought to have been born on January 5, sometime in the 10th century BC
.
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Byron also calls Vathek "England's wealthiest son." Other Romantic poets
wrote works with a Middle-Eastern setting inspired by Vathek, included Robert Southey
's Thalaba the Destroyer
(1801) and Thomas Moore
's
Lalla-Rookh
(1817).
H. P. Lovecraft
also cited Vathek as the inspiration for his never-finished novel Azathoth
. Vathek is also believed to have been a model for Lovecraft's completed novel The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
.
American Fantasy author Clark Ashton Smith
wrote "The Third Episode of Vathek", the completion of a fragment by Beckford that was entitled "The Story of the Princess Zulkaïs and the Prince Kalilah".
Critic Brian Stableford
has praised Vathek as a "feverish and gleefully perverse
decadent
/Arabian fantasy".
; Beckford's use of the name is derived from John Milton
's Paradise Lost
(see Fallen angel
).
Chapter 7 of Roberto Bolaño
's Distant Star also mentions it.
H.G. Wells alludes to it in Tono-Bungay
William Thomas Beckford
William Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
. It was composed in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
beginning in 1782, and then translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Reverend Samuel Henley
Samuel Henley
Samuel Henley D.D. was an English clergyman, school teacher and college principal, antiquarian, and man of letters.-Life:Born in England, he began his career when he was recruited as a professor of moral philosophy for William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia. He arrived in 1770...
in which form it was first published in 1786 without Beckford's name as An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript, claiming to be translated directly from Arabic. The first French edition was published in December 1786 (postdated 1787). In the twentieth century some editions include The Episodes of Vathek, three related tales intended by Beckford to be so incorporated, but omitted from the original edition and published separately long after his death.
Plot introduction
Vathek capitalised on the 18th (and early 19th) century obsession with all things OrientOrient
The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
al (see Orientalism
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
), which was inspired by Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland
Antoine Galland was a French orientalist and archaeologist, most famous as the first European translator of The Thousand and One Nights...
's translation of The Arabian Nights
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age...
(itself re-translated, into English, in 1708). Beckford was also influenced by similar works from the French writer Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
. His originality lay in combining the popular Oriental elements with the Gothic stylings of Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
's The Castle of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in the later 18th century and early 19th century...
(1764). The result stands alongside Walpole's novel and Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
(1818) in the first rank of early Gothic fiction.
Description
William Beckford wrote Vathek in French in 1782, when he was 21. He often stated that Vathek was written as an emotional response to “the events that happened at FonthillFonthill Gifford
Fonthill Gifford is a village in Wiltshire, England. Its population has dwindled from 493 in the 1801 Census to 120 in the 2001 Census.The current Church of England parish church of All Saints was built in 1864–66 to designs by the Gothic Revival architect T.H. Wyatt...
at Christmas 1781,” and that it took him two days and a night, or three days and two nights. He gives two accounts of how long it took him.
Vathek was written during a time when part of European culture was influenced by Orientalism
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
. It is an Arabian tale because of the oriental setting and characters and the depiction of oriental cultures, societies, and myth. Vathek is also a Gothic novel with its emphasis on the supernatural, ghosts, and spirits, as well as the terror it tries to induce in the reader.
The title character is inspired by Al-Wathiq
Al-Wathiq
Al-Wathiq ibn Mutasim was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until 847 AD .-Biography:...
ibn Mutasim (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
الواثق), an Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
who reigned in 842-847 (227-232 AH in the Islamic calendar
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
) who had a great thirst for knowledge and became a great patron to scholars and artists. During his reign, a number of revolts broke out. He took an active role in quelling them. He died of fever on August 10, 847.
The narrative of Vathek uses a third person, omniscient, semi-intrusive narrator
Point of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
. While the narrator is not omniscient in the sense of knowing what the characters feel (he hardly talks about the feelings of the characters), he is omniscient in the sense that he knows what is happening everywhere; and while it may not be intrusive to the point of telling the reader how to feel, it is certainly intrusive in the way it takes the reader from place to place, the most obvious instance being on page 87 when, after a narrative focusing around Gulchenrouz, the narrator tells us, "But let us return to the Caliph, and her who ruled over his heart". The narrative is often made up of lists that chronicle the events one after the other, without emphasis on character development. Characters and events are introduced forcefully at times. One such example is the introduction of Vathek's brother and successor Motavakel, based on Al-Mutawakkil
Al-Mutawakkil
Al-Mutawakkil ʻAlā Allāh Jaʻfar ibn al-Muʻtasim was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861...
ʻAlā Allāh Jaʻfar ibn al-Muʻtasim (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
المتوكل على الله جعفر بن المعتصم') (March 821
821
Year 821 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Tang Mu Zong becomes emperor of China.* First recorded session of the Parliament of Croatia- Byzantine Empire :...
– December 861
861
Year 861 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Carloman revolts against his father Louis the German.* Michael III and Bardas invade Bulgaria....
), who reigned in Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
from 847
847
Year 847 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Bari is captured by the Saracens....
until 861
861
Year 861 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Carloman revolts against his father Louis the German.* Michael III and Bardas invade Bulgaria....
. Up to the point when he is introduced in the novel as the leader of a rebel army, the reader is not even aware of Vathek's having a brother. The reader is also never exposed to Motavakel’s character, except as Carathis mentions him. The novel, while it may lend itself to be divided into chapters, is one complete manuscript without pause.
Plot summary
The novel chronicles the fall from power of the CaliphCaliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
Vathek (a fictionalized version of the historical Al-Wathiq
Al-Wathiq
Al-Wathiq ibn Mutasim was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until 847 AD .-Biography:...
), who renounces Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and engages with his mother, Carathis, in a series of licentious and deplorable activities designed to gain him supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
powers. At the end of the novel, instead of attaining these powers, Vathek descends into a hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
ruled by the demon Eblis where he is doomed to wander endlessly and speechlessly.
Vathek, the ninth Caliph of the Abassides, ascended to the throne at an early age. He is a majestic figure, terrible in anger (one glance of his flashing eye can make “the wretch on whom it was fixed instantly [fall] backwards and sometimes [expire]”), and addicted to the pleasures of the flesh. He is intensely thirsty for knowledge and often invites scholars to converse with him. If he fails to convince the scholar of his points of view, he attempts a bribe; if this does not work, he sends the scholar to prison. In order to better study astronomy, he builds an observation tower with 1,500 steps.
A hideous stranger arrives in town, claiming to be a merchant from India selling precious goods. Vathek buys glowing swords with letters on them from the merchant, and invites the merchant to dinner. When the merchant does not respond to Vathek's questions, Vathek looks at him with his "evil eye," but this has no effect, so Vathek imprisons him. The next day, he discovers that the merchant has escaped and his prison guards are dead. The people begin to call Vathek crazy. His mother, Carathis, tells him that the merchant was “the one talked about in the prophecy”, and Vathek admits that he should have treated the stranger kindly.
Vathek wants to decipher the messages on his new sabers, offers a reward to anyone who can help him, and punishes those who fail. After several scholars fail, one elderly man succeeds: the swords say "We were made where everything is well made; we are the least of the wonders of a place where all is wonderful and deserving, the sight of the first potentate on earth." But the next morning, the message has changed: the sword now says “Woe to the rash mortal who seeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant, and to undertake that which surpasses his power”. The old man flees before Vathek can punish him. However, Vathek realizes that the writing on the swords really did change.
Vathek then develops an insatiable thirst and often goes to a place near a high mountain to drink from one of four fountains there, kneeling at the edge of the fountain to drink. One day he hears a voice telling him to “not assimilate thyself to a dog”. It was the voice of the merchant who had sold him the swords, Giaour. Giaour cures his thirst with a potion and the two men return to Samarah. Vathek returns to immersing himself in the pleasures of the flesh, and begins to fear that Giaour, who is now popular at Court, will seduce one of his wives. Some mornings later, Carathis reads a message in the stars foretelling a great evil to befall Vathek and his vizir Morakanabad; she advises him to ask Giaour about the drugs he used in the potion. When Vathek confronts him, Giaour only laughs, so Vathek gets angry and kicks him. Giaour is transformed into a ball and Vathek compels everyone in the palace to kick it, even the resistant Carathis and Morakanabad. Then Vathek has the whole town kick the ball-shaped merchant into a remote valley. Vathek stays in the area and eventually hears Giaour's voice telling him that if he will worship Giaour and the jinns of the earth, and renounce the teachings of Islam, he will bring Vathek to “the palace of the subterrain fire” (22) where Soliman Ben Daoud controls the talismans that rule over the world.
Vathek agrees, and proceeds with the ritual that Giaour demands: to sacrifice fifty of the city's children. In return, Vathek will receive a key of great power. Vathek holds a "competition" among the children of the nobles of Samarah, declaring that the winners will receive "endless favors." As the children approach Vathek for the competition, he throws them inside an ebony portal to be sacrificed. Once this is finished, Giaour makes the portal disappear. The Samaran citizens see Vathek alone and accuse him of having sacrificed their children to Giaour, and form a mob to kill Vathek. Carathis pleads with Morakanabad to help save Vathek's life; the vizier complies, and calms the crowd down.
Vathek wonders when his reward will come, and Carathis says that he must fulfill his end of the pact and sacrifice to the Jinn of the earth. Carathis helps him prepare the sacrifice: she and her son climb to the top of the tower and mix oils to create an explosion of light. The people, presuming that the tower is on fire, rush up the stairs to save Vathek from being burnt to death. Instead, Carathis sacrifices them to the Jinn. Carathis performs another ritual and learns that for Vathek to claim his reward, he must go to Istakhar.
Vathek goes away with his wives and servants, leaving the city in the care of Morakanabad and Carathis. A week after he leaves, his caravan is attacked by carnivorous animals. The soldiers panic and accidentally set the area on fire; Vathek and his wives must flee. Still, they continue on their way. They reach steep mountains where the Islamic dwarves dwell. They invite Vathek to rest with them, possibly in the hopes of converting him back to Islam. Vathek sees a message his mother left for him: “Beware of old doctors and their puny messengers of but one cubit high: distrust their pious frauds; and, instead of eating their melons, impale on a spit the bearers of them. Should thou be so fool as to visit them, the portal to the subterranean place will shut in thy face” (53). Vathek becomes angry and claims that he has followed Giaour’s instructions long enough. He stays with the dwarves, meets their Emir, named Fakreddin, and Emir's beautiful daughter Nouronihar.
Vathek wants to marry her, but she is already promised to her effeminate cousin Gulchenrouz, whom she loves and who loves her back. Vathek thinks she should be with a "real" man and arranges for Babalouk to kidnap Gulchenrouz. The Emir, finding of the attempted seduction, asks Vathek to kill him, as he has seen “the prophet’s vice-regent violate the laws of hospitality." But Nouronihar prevents Vathek from killing her father and Gulchenrouz escapes. The Emir and his servants then meet and they develop a plan to safeguard Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz, by drugging them and place them in a hidden valley by a lake where Vathek cannot find them. The plan succeeds temporarily - the two are drugged, brought to the valley, and convinced on their awakening that they have died and are in purgatory. Nouronihar, however, grows curious about her surroundings and ascends to find out what lies beyond the valley. There she meets Vathek, who is mourning for her supposed death. Both realize that her 'death' has been a sham. Vathek then orders Nouronihar to marry him, she abandons Gulchenrouz, and the Emir abandons hope.
Meanwhile, in Samarah, Carathis can discover no news of her son from reading the stars. She conjures the spirits of a graveyard to perform a spell that makes her appear in front of Vathek, who is bathing with Nouronihar. She tells him he is wasting his time with Nouronihar and has broken one of the rules of Giaour's contract. She asks him to drown Nouronihar, but Vathek refuses, because he intends to make her his Queen. Carathis then decides to sacrifice Gulchenrouz, but before she can catch him, Gulchenrouz jumps into the arms of a Genie who protects him. That night, Carathis hears that Motavakel, Vathek's brother, is planning to lead a revolt against Morakanabad. Carathis tells Vathek that he has distinguished himself by breaking the laws of hospitality by ‘seducing’ the Emir’s daughter after sharing his bread, and that if he can commit one more crime along the way he shall enter Soliman’s gates triumphant.
Vathek continues on his journey, reaches Rocnabad, and degrades and humiliates its citizens for his own pleasure.
A Genie asks Mohammed for permission to try to save Vathek from his eternal damnation. He takes the form of a shepherd who plays the flute to make men realize their sins. The shepherd asks Vathek if he is done sinning, warns Vathek about Eblis, ruler of Hell, and asks Vathek to return home, destroy his tower, disown Carathis, and preach Islam. Vathek's pride wins out, and he tells the shepherd that he will continue on his quest for power, and values his mother more than life itself or God's mercy. Vathek's servants desert him; Nouronihar becomes immensely prideful.
Finally, Vathek reaches Istakhar, where he finds more swords with writing on them, which says "Thou hast violated the conditions of my parchment, and deserve to be sent back, but in favor to thy companion, and as the meed for what thou hast done to obtain it, Eblis permitted that the portal of this place will receive thee” (108). Giaour opens the gates with a golden key, and Vathek and Nouronihar step through into a place of gold where Genies of both sexes dance lasciviously. Giaour leads them to Eblis, who tells them that they may enjoy whatever his empire holds. Vathek asks to be taken to the talismans that govern the world. There, Soliman tells Vathek that he had once been a great king, but was seduced by a Jinn and received the power to make everyone in the world do his bidding. But because of this, he is destined to suffer in hell for all eternity. Vathek asks Giaour to release him, saying he will relinquish all he was offered, but Giaour refuses. He tells Vathek to enjoy his omnipotence while it lasts, for in a few days he will be tormented.
Vathek and Nouronihar become increasingly discontented with the palace of flames. Vathek orders an Ifreet to fetch Carathis from the castle. When she arrives, he warns her of what happens to those who enter Eblis' domain, but Carathis takes the talismans of earthly power from Soliman regardless. She gathers the Jinns and tries to overthrow one of the Solimans, but Eblis decrees "It is time." Carathis, Vathek, Nouronihar, and the other denizens of hell lose "the most precious gift granted by heaven - HOPE" (119). They begin to feel eternal remorse for their crimes.
“Such was, and should be, the punishment of unrestrained passion and atrocious deeds! Such shall be the chastisement of that blind curiosity, which would transgress those bounds the wisdom the Creator has prescribed to human knowledge; and such the dreadful disappointment of that restless ambition, which, aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, perceives not, through its infatuated pride, that the condition of man upon earth is to be – humble and ignorant.”
Characters
Carathis: Vathek’s mother. She is a woman who is well versed in science, astrology, and occult magic. She teaches all of her skills to Vathek, and convinces him to embark on his quest for power which eventually leads to his damnation.Vathek: Ninth Caliph of the Abassides, who ascended to the throne at an early age. His figure was pleasing and majestic, but when angry, his eyes became so terrible that “the wretch on whom it was fixed instantly fell backwards and sometimes expired” (1). He was addicted to women and pleasures of the flesh, so he ordered five palaces to be built: the five palaces of the senses. Although he was an eccentric man, learned in the ways of science, physics, and astrology, he loved his people. His main greed, however, was thirst for knowledge. He wanted to know everything. This is what led him on the road to damnation.
Giaour: His name means blasphemer and infidel. He claims to be an Indian merchant, but in actuality he is a Jinn who works for the arch-demon Eblis. He guides Vathek and gives him instructions on how to reach the palace of fire.
Emir Fakreddin: Vathek’s host during his travels. He offers Vathek a place to stay and rest. He is deeply religious. Vathek betrays his hospitality by seducing his daughter.
Nouronihar: The Emir’s daughter, a beautiful girl who is promised to Gulchenrouz, but is forced to marry Vathek and join him in his road to damnation.
Gulchenrouz: A beautiful young man with feminine features. He is the Emir’s nephew. Due to his innocence, he is rescued from Carathis's hands and is allowed to live in eternal youth in a palace above the clouds.
Themes
In Islamic mythology, the DjinnGenie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
(Jinn) are fiery spirits. The Jinn pre-existed in middle eastern folklore before Islam, and were incorporated into the religion. The djinn are creatures who lived on earth before man; they were made up of 'smokeless fire'.
A eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
is a castrated man; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past.
Khalif (Caliph in Vathek) (from Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
خلافة khilāfa) is the head of state in a Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
, or global Islamic nation. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word خليفة Khalīfah which means "successor" or "representative." The early leaders of the Muslim nation following Muhammad's (570–632) death were called "Khalifat ar-rasul Allah," meaning political successor.
Iblīs (Eblis in Vathek) (Arabic إبليس) or Shayṭān (or, Shaitan) (plural: شياطين Shayatin), is name given to the primary devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
in Islam. He appears more often referred in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
as the Shayṭān, a general purpose term used to refer to all of the evil spirits in alliance with Iblīs, but which is often used to refer to just Iblīs. Iblīs was a Jinn, a creature made of 'smokeless fire' by God (like humans are made of 'clay'). In an outburst rooted in envy, Iblīs disobeyed Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
and was expelled from the grace of Allah. He was later sent to earth along with Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
and Eve
Eve
Eve is the first woman created by God in the Book of Genesis.Eve may also refer to:-People:*Eve , a common given name and surname*Eve , American recording artist and actress-Places:...
after having lured them into eating fruit from the forbidden tree, although in this role he is always referred to as ash-shayṭān.
Bilqis (Balkis in Vathek) ; ) was the woman who ruled the ancient kingdom of Sheba
Sheba
Sheba was a kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures and the Qur'an...
and is referred to in Habeshan history, the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. She is mentioned (unnamed) in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in the Books of Kings
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
and Book of Chronicles as a great queen who seeks out Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
to learn if the tales of his wisdom are true. She is also mentioned in Jewish legends as a queen with a great love for learning, in African tales as “the queen of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
”, and in the Qur’an as Balkis, a great queen of a nation that worshiped the sun who later converted to Salomon’s god. The Roman historian Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
calls her Nicaule. She is thought to have been born on January 5, sometime in the 10th century BC
10th century BC
The 10th century BC started the first day of 1000 BC and ended the last day of 901 BC.- Overview :This period followed the Bronze Age collapse in the Near East, and the century saw the Early Iron Age take hold there. The Greek Dark Ages which had come about in 1200 BC continued. The Neo-Assyrian...
.
Literary significance and criticism
George Gordon, Lord Byron cited Vathek as a source for his poem, The Giaour. InChilde Harold's Pilgrimage, Byron also calls Vathek "England's wealthiest son." Other Romantic poets
Romantic poetry
Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
wrote works with a Middle-Eastern setting inspired by Vathek, included Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
's Thalaba the Destroyer
Thalaba the Destroyer
Thalaba the Destroyer is an 1801 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The origins of the poem can be traced to Southey's school boy days, but he did not begin to write the poem until he finished composing Madoc at the age of 25. Thalaba the Destroyer was completed while Southey travelled in...
(1801) and Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
's
Lalla-Rookh
Lalla-Rookh
Lalla Rookh is an Oriental romance by Thomas Moore, published in 1817. The title is taken from the name of the heroine of the frame tale, the daughter of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb...
(1817).
H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
also cited Vathek as the inspiration for his never-finished novel Azathoth
Azathoth (short story)
"Azathoth" is the beginning of a never-completed novel written by American horror fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written in June 1922 and published as a fragment in the journal Leaves in 1938, after Lovecraft's death...
. Vathek is also believed to have been a model for Lovecraft's completed novel The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is a novella by H. P. Lovecraft. It was completed in 1927 and was unpublished in his lifetime. It is both the longest of the stories that comprise his Dream Cycle and the longest to feature protagonist Randolph Carter, and can thus be considered a culminating...
.
American Fantasy author Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith
Clark Ashton Smith was a self-educated American poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. He achieved early local recognition, largely through the enthusiasm of George Sterling, for traditional verse in the vein of Swinburne...
wrote "The Third Episode of Vathek", the completion of a fragment by Beckford that was entitled "The Story of the Princess Zulkaïs and the Prince Kalilah".
Critic Brian Stableford
Brian Stableford
Brian Michael Stableford is a British science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published as by Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped the middle initial and appeared under the name Brian Stableford...
has praised Vathek as a "feverish and gleefully perverse
decadent
Decadent movement
The Decadent movement was a late 19th century artistic and literary movement of Western Europe. It flourished in France, but also had devotees in England and throughout Europe, as well as in the United States.-Overview:...
/Arabian fantasy".
Allusions/references to other works
Eblis, the architect of Vathek's damnation, was modelled on Iblis or AzazelAzazel
Azazel or Azazael or Azâzêl is a term used three times in the Hebrew scriptures, and later in Hebrew mythology as the enigmatic name of a character....
; Beckford's use of the name is derived from John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
(see Fallen angel
Fallen angel
Fallen angel is a concept developed in Jewish mythology from interpretation of the Book of Enoch. The actual term fallen angel is not found in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Christians adopted the concept of fallen angels mainly based on their interpretations of the Book of...
).
Chapter 7 of Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño Ávalos was a Chilean novelist and poet. In 1999 he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel Los detectives salvajes , and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, which was described by board member Marcela Valdes...
's Distant Star also mentions it.
H.G. Wells alludes to it in Tono-Bungay
Sources
- Beckford, William, Vathek: The English Translation by Samuel Henley (1786) and the French Editions of Lausanne and Paris (1787) (postdated)', 1972, Facsimile ed., 3 vols. in 1, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, ISBN 9780820111025.
- Salah S. Ali: Vathek as a Translation of a Lost Tale from the Arabian Nights
- Laurent Châtel, "Utopies paysagères: vues et visions dans les écrits et dans les jardins de William Beckford (1760-1844)", Université Paris III-SOrbonne Nouvelle (2000), 769 p. 2 vols.
- Laurent CHATEL, " Les sources des contes orientaux de William Beckford (Vathek et la "Suite des contes arabes") Epistémé (2005): article online: http://www.etudes-episteme.org/ee/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=81