Vathek

And now it's time for the stories that actually prompted me to do my 2015 Gothic Reading Challenge. 

It actually all started when I read Jane Austen's stories: one of the first she wrote (last to be published) is called Northanger Abbey.  In it, Ms Austen references and affectionately parodies a lot of gothic tropes from books that she grew up reading. 

It occurred to me that Ms Austen's idea of a "gothic novel" and my idea of it could be, like, really different! She lived so long ago; she didn't know Frankenstein or Dracula, or any of the works of Edgar Allen Poe because they all came after her day. 

What did her "Gothic" look like? I wanted to find out!

My initial goal was to read all of Jane Austen's "Horrid Novels": the gothic books that she references in Northanger Abbey. I haven't completed them yet, and I suppose my Gothic Reading Challenge won't be complete until I do (Just like my Jane Austen Reading Adventures weren't complete until I read all of her juvenilia...) 

This week (and possibly into the next, I'm a little behind), I'll be exploring stories from that era: the "first wave gothic" novels. These are the old school! Unpolluted with their subsequent mixing with other genres. Some of them are a bit hard to get through because of the language, if your not used to it. But some of them are really, really epic and should be read by more people! (spoiler alert...The Mysteries of Udolpho is AWE-SOME!)

The History of the Caliph Vathek

by William Beckford 

Published: 1782 (French), 1786 (English)

Listening Time: 3 hours 51 minutes

Link: https://librivox.org/the-history-of-the-caliph-vathek-by-william-beckford/

Quote:   "I began to think [...] that the vengeance of heaven was asleep."

Theme: Ambition

This story definitely uses a different kind of gothic aesthetic because it takes place in the oriental world. Different cultural practices and different beliefs about human nature and the afterlife in that region of the world were seen as really exotic in Mr Beckford's time. I think he did a really good job capturing all of that. 

I'm pretty sure he used 1001 Arabian Nights as a big inspiration in storytelling though...

It's about an Arabian Caliph (regional king) named Vathek and his destructive quest for power.  He's ascended to his throne at an early age and now he's pretty much at the height of his power. Everyone fears and adores him, and he has no shame in indulging himself in anything he wants. 

Vathek has a very close relationship with his mother, Carathis, who acts as his mage. She is a necromancer, and she's devoted her life to helping her son gain more power and influence.

"Let me be devoured in flames, provided he will sit on the throne of Solomon."

So this guy, who can basically boss anyone around he wants and get whatever he wants, meets this mysterious merchant sells him knives with demonic inscriptions on them that nobody can translate. He becomes obsessed with knowing what these mystical knives say and after some run-around, he finds they hold the key to him gaining world domination...knowledge derived from Eblis (the devil) himself.

For some reason, Vathek and mom think it's a cool idea to follow through with this course of action and they basically spend the rest of the story doing horrible thing after horrible thing in pursuit of his goal.

[I see no way this could go wrong!] 

It basically ends as you might expect for being as story about a guy who's trying to make a deal with the devil. And he's such a horrible person, you really don't feel sorry for him. 

• Djinn

Middle-eastern people weren't really into ghosts, they didn't really believe in them. So supernatural phenomena like hauntings and premonitions etc were often attributed to another order of beings. These beings are living people like you and I, but their bodies have different physical properties; which means they have almost superhuman abilities. These people are called Djinn, or genies.

I really like genies. When you learn more about them, they're fascinating. There's A LOT more to them then wishes, and magic lamps, and flying carpets and all the icons western culture is familiar with.

And this story actually presents Djinn in a pretty accurate way:

A Djinn can be good or evil. In this story, there's an evil "genius" called Giaour, who's basically the architect of Vathek's destruction. There are also genies who are good or benevolent: one who is protective of human children (he saves them from a horrible horrible fate), and another (called 'The Shepherd') is aligned with Mohammed and the angels. He even tries to act as an advocate for Vathek; he tries to get him to turn back from his horrible path and repent.

Some djinn are bound to elements like the earth, or to fire. Sometimes they are invisible, and other times they manifest themselves as humanoids and don't really look different from ordinary people.

I really like that, even though Vathek's actions are his own, he's being played by forces he can't understand the whole time. He thinks he's got power, he thinks he has the right to seek more. But he's really just fodder for all of these other primordial entities to play with. A little humility would have done him a world of good.