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Vathek - William Beckford

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Vathek - William Beckford

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One of the strangest and most unforgettable novels of the eighteenth century, Vathek (1786) is a masterpiece of bizarre invention and wild Gothic fantasy that has inspired writers from Byron to Lovecraft: an extravaganza of the sensuous and grotesque meant to conjure "the luxuriant imagery and wild incidents of an Arabian tale."

Vathek is a licentious and corrupt caliph of the Abassides, hungry for knowledge and power. When a mysterious Giaour offers him boundless treasure and omnipotent rule, he is willing to sacrifice his religion, the lives of innocent children, and his soul--making an extraordinary underworld journey to the throne of the devil, Eblis.

The story of Vathek's fate is part moral fable, part magical fantasy, and part grotesque comedy, that defies neat classification.

Given that Melville obtained a copy of Vathek around the time he was composing Moby-Dick, some have supposed an influence. Parallels between Vathek and Ahab, and between Fedallah and the Giaour, tempt a reinterpretation in which the latter is an undercover agent of God working to fulfill the destruction of the former.

Vathek:

Supplemental:

Extracts:

  • "It may well be imagined, therefore, how well adapted is this mysterious and subterranean Hall of Eblis to the clandestine proceedings of gamblers, especially as the hammocks not only hang thickly, but many of them swing very low, within two feet of the floor, thus forming innumerable little canvas glens, grottoes, nooks, corners, and crannies, where a good deal of wickedness may be practiced by the wary with considerable impunity." (White-Jacket, 73)
  • "The distance next his glance pursues, / A land of Eblis burned with fire" (Clarel, 2.10)
  • "Who inhabiteth the Mountain / That it shines in lurid light... / Like Kaf the peak of Eblis— / Kaf, the evil height?" ("Look-Out Mountain")
  • "They call to mind Abel and Cain— / Ormuzd involved with Ahriman / In deadly lock. Were those gods gone?" (Clarel, 3.5)

This meetup is part of a series on The Crescent and the Cross.

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