Vathek is a classic Gothic tale written by English novelist William Beckford. The novel contains classic elements of the Gothic genre, including the supernatural, a Gothic "overreaching" protagonist, and the return of moral order at the end of the text. Vathek also includes the idea of the "Oriental," which was frequently a subject of texts at this time in history, where the idea of the "Oriental East" was seen as exotic and unknowable to European audiences.
Ultimately, this is a text that warns against immorality, selfishness, and greed. This idea is expressed predominantly through the protagonist Vathek, who is presented as hedonistic, greedy, selfish, and vulnerable to the temptation of the supernatural. Vathek is a terrible leader, who is willing to sacrifice his own people in order to gain wealth and power, even sacrificing fifty children to reach his goal. Ultimately, Vathek's transgressions are punished, serving as a warning to the reader.
The fifty children Vathek sacrifices are depicted as a symbol of innocence and moral goodness. They are cruelly sacrificed by Vathek to achieve his goal but are later brought back from the dead. Ultimately, the fact they are restored to life and given the chance to live a happy and fulfilling life represents the victory of good over evil, which is also a key element in many Gothic texts of the time. Ultimately, as the content in Gothic novels is often transgressive, this was often balanced by a return to order and morality at the end of the novel.
