45 pages • 1 hour read
William BeckfordVathek
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1786A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 51-87Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 51-87 Summary
Though all seems lost, the next morning a group of little people carrying baskets of fruit appears. The little people announce that they work for the Emir Fakreddin, a faithful and wealthy lord of the mountains Vathek’s group is traveling through. A heavenly voice informed them of Vathek’s presence in the mountains and sent them to aid Vathek and bring him to Fakreddin as an honored guest. Frustrated with the Stranger due to the trials of his journey, Vathek decides to accept their hospitality, saying, “[The Stranger] hath made me dance attendance, too long already. Besides, who shall prescribe laws to me?—forsooth, must not enter any one’s habitation!” (53). As he eats the fruit brought to him by the little people, Vathek decides to pray with his Quran. Though the notes Carathis sent with Vathek warn against associating with faithful men, Vathek ignores the warning.
The valley Fakreddin lives in is beautiful and filled with comforts, though Vathek is frustrated by how much the little people and Fakreddin pray. He has his pages cause mischief in their progression to stop the prayers and provide entertainment. The entire party is welcomed to Fakreddin’s home. A troupe of beautiful girls takes Vathek’s wives to refresh themselves in the emir’s harem. Vathek feasts at Fakreddin’s table, eating as much as he can of the delicacies offered to him. He also forces the little people to entertain him by dancing for him. Satisfied, he falls asleep on a sofa.
Bababalouk also feasts, hungry after having not eaten in the mountains. Looking for a job to do, he then decides to see if Vathek’s wives require anything. The harem proves difficult to find, and Bababalouk is lost until he encounters some of the little people. They point him toward the harem apartments and invite him to join them in studying the Quran. Bababalouk declines and proceeds to the harem. He finds the women lounging in the baths. Though Bababalouk orders them out of the baths and to bed, the daughter of Fakreddin, Nouronihar, convinces him instead to join them.
The women invent excuses to remain in the baths, but Bababalouk becomes impatient with their attempts. Deciding to play a trick on him, Nouronihar has him sit on a swing. She and the women then begin to swing Bababalouk so violently that he can’t breathe. The swing snaps, and he falls into the bath. Nouronihar and the other women tangle him in towels and leave him stuck there for the night. The next morning Vathek finds him still trapped in the water. Vathek laughs at his servant, and Bababalouk struggles not to resent him. Fakreddin then arrives to invite Vathek to pray with him, which Vathek resents.
Vathek continues to enjoy the amenities of Fakreddin’s household but remains annoyed by their prayers and religious devotion. Instead of ministering to the people of Fakreddin’s household, as his role as caliph should dictate, he forces them to perform silly dances or acts of physical comedy. There are a variety of visitors from India also staying with Fakreddin. Vathek finds them greatly amusing, as they all have odd talents akin to circus performers. Fakreddin, who had hoped that Vathek would convert them to Islam, is increasingly disappointed in his guest.
One night during a festival, Vathek meets Nouronihar when she throws jasmine flowers at him. He immediately falls in love with her. He follows her after the meal and overhears her tell the other women that though Vathek is attractive, she prefers her cousin Gulchenrouz, “the most delicate and lovely creature in the world” (65). Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz are betrothed, share a great many similarities, and are devoted to one another. After hearing this Vathek waits in the same spot in a daze until his litter comes to carry him away.
Meanwhile, Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz play in a field together, but Nouronihar is distracted. Suddenly, a light appears at the top of the mountain. Nouronihar insists upon investigating, even though Gulchenrouz and the other women are afraid. She heads toward it alone, and though she makes to turn back multiple times, her curiosity ultimately wins out. Reaching the light, Nouronihar observes a fantastic scene of wealth and abundance. A voice says that this is what she deserves and that it can be hers if she marries Vathek and descends to the subterranean palace.
Nouronihar returns to Gulchenrouz and the ladies of the harem. Vathek and Bababalouk arrive, looking for her. Bababalouk carries Gulchenrouz away, and Vathek attempts to propose to Nouronihar, but Fakreddin interrupts. Fakreddin appeals to the rules of hospitality, as Vathek stealing his host’s daughter is extremely taboo. The confrontation ends when Nouronihar, conflicted over having to choose between Vathek and Gulchenrouz, faints. Vathek stares at Fakreddin with his terrible glare and departs.
Gulchenrouz comes back and wakes Nouronihar with his kisses. Fakreddin, scared of what Vathek will do, devises a plan to hide Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz. Drugging them both, he pretends that they have died. When Vathek returns to find the seemingly lifeless body of Nouronihar, he is so devastated that he faints. Fakreddin has his servant, Sutlememe, carry Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz to a cave by a mountain lake. Upon waking up, they are told that they have died and must atone for 1,000 years before proceeding to heaven. Both are devastated by this, missing the comforts of the harem compared to their new existence. They are led in prayer by the little people Sutlememe has sent to attend them, and both are extremely devout due to their sadness.
Meanwhile, Vathek grieves the loss of Nouronihar. Though Fakreddin attempts to induce him to leave, Vathek is only focused on mourning. He is so upset by her death that he even refuses food. By the mountain lake, Nouronihar and Gulchenrouz remain melancholy, frustrated by the lack of entertainment and the bland food. Gulchenrouz begins to adapt, taking joy in the little people and in music, but Nouronihar is consumed by thoughts of the wealth and status she has lost. At Fakreddin’s estate, Vathek remains preoccupied with his grief. He spends most of his time on the mountain, weeping over Nouronihar’s supposed grave.
One day while Vathek sits at her grave, Nouronihar wanders from her hiding place and comes upon him. Vathek thinks he is seeing a ghost. At first believing Vathek to be dead as well, Nouronihar laments that he too is now unable to enter the subterranean palace. Vathek, realizing the trick that has been pulled, declares that the two must continue to the subterranean palace together. They set off for Istakar. Learning what has happened, Fakreddin mourns his daughter and moves Gulchenrouz further into the mountains to protect him. He does not inform Gulchenrouz of the ruse.
Pages 51-87 Analysis
Though this section begins with Vathek accepting religion into his life again, his piety quickly disintegrates. As soon as the prayers of Fakreddin and the little people interfere with his own pursuit of pleasure, Vathek begins to scorn them. He behaves much as the Stranger did when he stayed with Vathek, eating to excess and ignoring his host’s customs. While this behavior angered Vathek when he was on the receiving end, he is perfectly happy to abuse Fakreddin’s hospitality. This progresses further with his introduction to Nouronihar and his desire for her. Vathek’s willingness to break the rules of hospitality to satisfy himself reflects his willingness to change allegiances based only on his own feelings.
This inconsistency is also displayed in Vathek’s approach to ruling. Caliphs were religious as well as secular authorities, believed to be the successors of Muhammad. Vathek has the title of “commander of the faithful,” but he puts no effort into fulfilling that role—another example of the discrepancy between Appearance Versus Reality. Vathek rejects any responsibility he finds unpleasant—e.g., attempting to convert Fakreddin’s guests rather than allowing them to entertain him. Just as he was a kind ruler to his people only when nothing was required of him, Vathek is a religious leader only when he finds it convenient or amusing.
A connection between the natural world and religious virtue emerges in this section. Fakreddin’s estate is set amidst great natural beauty, and he is shown to cultivate the landscape himself. When the little people appear to Vathek with food they tell him that “[their] master [Fakreddin], filled with pious zeal, hath culled, with his own hands, these melons, oranges, and pomegranates” (52), showing both that Fakreddin is comfortable in the natural world and that religion motivates him toward kindness and generosity. The natural world rewards Fakreddin, providing bountiful and delicious food, as “Every thing with the emir [is] excellent and pious” (62). This is the opposite of how Vathek ruled, building palaces that artificially appeal to the senses and acting generously only out of his own selfishness. The importance of the natural world is further shown in the corruption of Nouronihar. Before meeting Vathek she contentedly gathers flowers, but afterward, she ignores the honeysuckle that her uncorrupted cousin Gulchenrouz smells and picks. This symbolizes the start of her detachment from her religion and family that is amplified by the vision the Stranger shows to her.
That Nouronihar is already falling from grace even before she sees this vision shows how infectious evil is in Vathek. As the story often notes, Vathek learned his taste for magic and dark arts from his mother even before the Stranger began corrupting him in earnest. This infectiousness also informs the depiction of Bababalouk, ever loyal to Vathek. Like Vathek, he has no religious inclinations, troubling the little people with his apathy toward prayer. Now Nouronihar in turn is infected with Vathek’s desire for the subterranean palace’s wonders. Her struggles between her love for her pure, childlike cousin and her desire for the powerful Vathek seem to represent a young woman’s struggle with sexuality. By giving in to her desires she condemns herself to follow Vathek in his fall, harkening to the figure of the “fallen woman”—i.e., one who was seen as sexually transgressing—that was common in 18th-century literature.
This romantic attraction between Vathek and Nouronihar plays on many common Gothic tropes. A forbidden and passionate relationship in which a woman scorns a more socially acceptable partner for a morally corrupt man is a frequent plot device in Gothic literature. Nouronihar’s false death—another Gothic trope—allows the narrative to emphasize the intensity of the couple’s feelings. Vathek wailing at his “dead” lover’s grave expresses both excessive emotion and a macabre desire that penetrates beyond death. This is a second layer of forbidden attraction on top of Fakreddin’s rejection of Vathek as a son-in-law. Their reunion figuratively brings Nouronihar back to life, as it reveals to her that she is not actually dead. Ironically, however, her “resurrection” places her firmly at Vathek’s side and on his narrative path.
