Pride and Foolish Ambition

Vathek's pride swells as he ascends his tower and views men as pismires, leading him to almost adore himself; the narrator notes that successes of the foolish form the first rod of their chastisement.

Vathek's pride in his power and intellect leads him to ignore warnings, such as the changing inscription on the sabres, and to pursue the throne of Soliman despite the risks.

Pride and Foolish Ambition is one of the patterns Vathek by William Beckford returns to. The chapter notes above are from this edition’s companions — open those chapters to see how the book stages the idea rather than treating the theme as a slogan.