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Irony
In either language one of Vathek's most attractive characteristics is its irony, but a comparison of the texts demonstrates that the English-language version includes ironies and more trenchant expressions of irony not found in the French version. These ironies may highlight a single statement, transform the implications of an episode, or comment upon the narrative structure.
The text of Vathek sparkles with statements of broad or subtle irony. It is not difficult to demonstrate that the English text contains a slightly more generous scattering than the French. Two instances of a negative construction cleverly creating ironic understatement are provided by 26:10 and 70:18. In each case the negative construction and, hence, the irony are missing from the French. The example of 70:18, in which Vathek shows only too clearly an understanding of the forbidden science of astrology, demonstrates the attack on conventional values which proceeds in both versions of the tale, but seems more pointed in the English text. In two instances the English version alone presses this attack through the use of a particular technique, the ironic transformation of a cliché. In 42:12 the translation of "jeunesse" as "the rising generation" conveys a particularly wry irony in view of the direction in which Vathek intends to send the fifty aspiring young athletes. Similarly the use in the English version of the cliché, "for the advancement of science" (60:15), besides reflecting on Carathis' rather outré collection of magical materials intended for purely selfish purposes, also brings into question conventionally cherished notions about the values of scientific studies. The cliché is not used in the French version. A final example of the use of irony to attack conventional values occurs in the onslaught of the bees upon the Caliph and Nouronihar in punishment for the depredations they inflicted on the santons. The idea of the creatures of nature in concert to accomplish God's holy work is expressed in both versions, but only
In the episode recounting Vathek's sacrifice of the innocents, the English version presents additional irony by communicating an awareness of the discrepancy between appearance and reality. The entries of 38:8 and 38:15 offer the ironic contrast between the appearance of the scene to the spectators and its significance to Vathek. In 39:14 and 41:18 the irony affects our vision first of the children and then of Vathek. Thus, in the English version of the episode, the irony touches all the actors: it castigates Vathek and the Giaour for their wickedness, and the children, parents and onlookers for their gullibility. The effect of the additional irony is to mitigate the horrors of the scene by directing the reader's attention away from the repugnance of the act and toward the frailties of the actors.
The final example that I will include under the heading of irony concerns a statement made early in the tale which seems innocent enough but which reflects ironically on the outcome. The presentation in the English version of 2:2 of Vathek's enjoyment of company is in contrast with his normal treatment of his subjects. This simple irony encompasses a latent and sombre irony that is fulfilled in the Hall of Eblis where affability is no longer possible and companions no longer agreeable. Because it includes this reference to Vathek's enjoyment of agreeable companionship, the English version makes the poetic justice of Vathek's fate in the Hall of Eblis more apparent.
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