Monstrosity functions as code for queer bodies and desires in the Gothic imagination

Evidence

Like Dracula, Vathek is polysexual. He likes women, men, and young, nubile children. Vathek’s homosexuality was likely influenced by Beckford’s own relationships, which included a lengthy affair with a young male aristocrat. It is significant that monstrosity is a central part of this text because, although the act of anal penetration between Vathek and the Indian is not specified, it is intimated. During this period, “the term ‘monstrous’ was used as a constructive synonym for the bodies and desires of queer men.” When Vathek kisses the Indian, lip on lip, it is presented as a queer and grotesque act: “In the transports of his joy, Vathek leaped upon the neck of the frightful Indian, and kissed his horrid mouth and his hollow cheeks, as though they had been the coral lips and the lilies and roses of his most beautiful wives.” This kiss is the Gothic equivalent of sodomy. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 509

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s broader project of the ‘Muslim monster’ — Vathek shows how homosexuality, pedophilia, and racial blackness get fused onto the Muslim male figure.
• DEFINE: Establishes that monstrosity was period euphemism acting as ‘constructive synonym’ for queer male bodies and desire.