William Beckford has always been accused of supporting imperialism and misrepresenting the Arab-Islamic world. This thesis tries to disprove these accusations through presenting an accurate understanding of Beckford’s treatment of the Arab women in his prominent and controversial novel Vathek. The thesis, first, discusses how the Arab women are presented in the Western narratives of the Medieval and Renaissance Ages. Then, it compares women in Vathek to those in tales with Oriental origins like The Arabian nights and The Turkish tales. Themes like the representation of the Christian woman, blackness and racial discrimination, and the stereotypes of the Arab woman are discussed. The thesis also looks at the presentations of the Arab women in
