Vathek - Description

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 Fonthill 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.