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.

XREF: Connects to broader Gothic literature scholarship on queerness in texts like Dracula and Frankenstein.

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 509