Vathek

Content Warning: This section references child murder and racist stereotypes.

The first description of Vathek’s life emphasizes the sheer abundance he has access to. That Vathek has added “five wings, or rather other palaces, which he destined for the particular gratification of each of the senses” immediately establishes that Vathek seeks to maximize his pleasure (1). His desire to obtain even more leads him to follow the Stranger’s edicts into damnation. Descriptions often focus on the excess of Vathek’s life—his numerous wives, the amount of food he eats, his constant desire for entertainment, etc. This pursuit of excess not only damns him but alienates those around him.

A sense of opulence—even decadence—in fact saturates the text. The Stranger, the representative of the infernal palace, eats to excess and demands extravagant sacrifices. Carathis’s desires manifest in her excessive collection of occult artifacts and need to constantly occupy herself with dark tasks. Nouronihar has comfort, wealth, and love with her father and Gulchenrouz, but she cannot resist when offered more. This emphasis on indulgence is closely related to the work’s Orientalism, as is Vathek’s ambivalence toward it. In each of the above cases, the desire for more than has been freely given is either a sign of a character’s evil

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