I enjoyed The Castle of Otranto and found it easy to read. Vathek was beautifully descriptive and rich in detail. Nightmare Abbey I didn't like so much. I thought it was more of a silly romance and had very little of the gothic genra really, though I can see how this could translate to a stage farce quite well. ( )

What a wonderful autumn read. Back to the roots of gothic romance. Each of these tales is delicious in their execution, with Vathek earning the fifth star. Beckford's offering is haunting and enchanting and a joy from start to finish. ( )

The Castle of Otranto

[The Castle of Otranto] is widely acclaimed to be the earliest Gothic novel. There are one or two earlier works, e.g. [The Longsword] by Thomas Leland, that some people would argue are Gothic novels but this argument has not received wide acceptance, or even much attention, amongst the Gothic scholars of the world.

As evidenced by the Horace Walpole’s prefaces to the first and second editions of his novel, the work was an example of experimental writing that Walpole was not sure would gain approval amongst the reading public. In his first preface he claims the story is a tale from some earlier time that was discovered and which he has brought to light. In the preface to his second edition he admits responsibility for the story and explains his original distancing of himself from the authorship as being due to his fear that the blending of old and new romance styles would not be accepted. Given the popularity of the first edition he was more than happy to own up to having written the story.

As a Gothic tale it has all the elements one would expect: there is a castle with vaults and a secret passageway; a family with a dark secret; damsels who are put in peril; a tyrant to focus the readers detestation; a young hero to give the reader hope; a crypt in a monastery; and elements of the supernatural to bring our story to the boil.

Much of the terror of the tale is created by the machinations of the human characters in the story rather than by fear of the supernatural.

As one would expect from a first of its kind, “The Castle of Otranto” has tropes that are presented in their infancy and that are executed much more stylishly in later Gothic tales. Despite this, and the authors trepidation that he was creating a literary monster, “The Castle of Otranto” is an enjoyable story and is a must read for anyone who likes the Gothic. As someone who likes Gothic stories I have to admit to feeling a degree of regret and shame for not having read this story earlier in my life.

Vathek

I came to this work knowing nothing about its origins, its author, or its content. All I knew was that it was written in the early days of Gothic novels, that it was Gothic in nature, and that there was some evil in its content. When reading fiction for the first time I like to know as little as possible about it so that I can develop my own impressions of the work without any risk of preconception or bias gleaned from the views of others. My ignorance of detail about this work proved beneficial to my enjoying reading the story, to my subsequent reading of people’s views about the book, and to my learning about the life of Beckford, the author.

My first impression on reading Vathek was of reading an Arabian Nights’ tale. The language was very florid and convolute with not a few litotes employed throughout the eighty-two pages of the work. Descriptions were detailed and exotic; greetings between characters were extravagant and hyperbolical, while the scale and grandeur of buildings and events were on a par with that of deities.

Very early in the story the reader learns that the Caliph, Vathek, is vainglorious, opulent and self-indulgent. He has regard for neither the well-being of his subjects nor the tenets of his Muslim faith. While he pays lip service to his obligations in public he makes no effort to conduct himself by the strictures of expected convention. He is supported in his opulence and disregard for morals by his mother, Carathis, who is a devotee of the dark sciences and the demons who rule the underworld.

Temptation and the consequences of giving in to temptation are key themes of this story. Right from the beginning it is made perfectly clear to the reader that Vathek is open to temptation and is just too happy to succumb to it. There are a couple of occasions when the Caliph repents of his evil ways but his mother rapidly puts him back on the dark and narrow path of self aggrandisement through following the conditions laid down in a parchment from the mysterious magician, referred to as the Giaour (a derogatory term for a non-Muslim), promising power and riches.

Evil deeds carried out by Vathek include the sacrifice of fifty young boys, murder and destruction. Having strayed from the evil path and then wanting to redeem his credentials as a sinner against Allah, he commits many crimes as he moves towards the final destination of his journey.

In several parts of the story there were thinly disguised descriptions of paedophilia, something that it turns out Beckford was accused of in real life, accusations that forced him to flee England to escape the consequences of scandal.

Beckford was the richest man in England at one time and apparently his anti-hero was not very different from himself in relation to wanting to be surrounded with grandeur and riches. Beckford had a large monastery like building constructed on his property which contained all forms of riches. He even had two dwarves in his service, a feature reflected in Vathek.

Apparently, like Vathek, Beckford was not one to resist temptation and indulged himself in his chosen pleasures on his private estate.

To talk of a moral message in Vathek one could discuss the issue of temptation and the consequences of wantonly giving into temptation. Given Beckford’s personal lifestyle it would appear he considered there to be no such consequences and that the inclusion of the fate of the transgressors, Vathek and Carathis, in his book was simply part of the story rather than a sincere warning to others.

Another moral message that can be inferred from the story is a reflection of what is becoming a bigger and bigger issue in modern day USA: the positioning of Science by some with an anti-religious position. Vathek’s mother, Carathis, is described as a woman of science, but the science described includes the dark sciences. While the story of Vathek takes place in a Muslim world context, it is not difficult to see a parallel between the conflict between Carathis’s science and Muslim orthodoxy in Vathek and the current arguments between proponents of fundamental Christianity and modern-day science. This is made very clear in the quotation on the last page of the story:

“Such is, and such should be, the chastisement of blind ambition, that would transgress those bounds which the Creator hath prescribed to human knowledge; and, by aiming at discoveries reserved for beings of a supernatural order, acquire that infatuated pride which perceives not that the condition appointed to man is to be –humble and ignorant.”

In what I consider an ironic twist that would be suitable within the story, the first English edition of the story, which Beckford had written in French, was the result of final translation and editing by the Reverend Samuel Henley. Beckford had translated the story into English but was not happy with his efforts and engaged Henley to polish it for him. After Beckford fled the country when the whiff of scandal concerning himself and a thirteen year old boy was in the air Henley published the English translation claiming it as his own work and that it had been translated from Arabic. Betrayal by a man of the cloth would appear very much in line with the themes in Beckford’s tale.

It would appear Beckford did suffer some consequences of his open courtship of temptation. ( )

The Castle of Otranto was very enjoyable. I'd give it 4★. I think his original introduction and premise of its history was quite amusing, and the story was nicely done with the slight bit of fantastical elements you'd expect of a family curse/legend and interesting/amusing characters and intrigue.
Vathek I'd give 3.5★. It was a decent read, entertaining, but the Arabian Nights-style repetition got real old, real fast. I got pretty bored with that. The general line of the story though, I thought was good.
Nightmare Abbey would receive just 3★. I quite enjoy a nice satire piece, and I can see where Peacock was coming from with it, but... I just found it too over the top, it was a bit irksome and when I put it down one night, I wound up not picking it back up to read the last 30 or so odd pages until around five months later. I just wasn't interested. ( )