Zadig

Serpents appear twice in Zadig. Before Zadig realizes he is in love with Astarte, he has an ominous dream that foreshadows their dangerous love and Moabdar’s plot to kill him. Zadig dreams that “he was lying softly on a bed of roses, from which a serpent issued and stung him to the heart with its sharp and venomous fang” (81). The dream is rich in symbolism. At first, Zadig is in a comfortable, relaxing bed, a bed of roses, connoting love. Suddenly, a serpent emerges from the roses and sinks its venom into his heart. That the serpent emerges from the bed, the site of love, and poisons his heart, a symbol of both love and emotion, portends that love will lead to great emotional pain. Of course, this premonition plays out in the story in Moabdar’s plan to murder Zadig and the latter’s subsequent pain at being separated from Astarte.

Ogul’s physician prescribes a remedy of cockatrice cooked in rose water to cure a malady caused by Ogul’s extreme gluttony. To Ogul, the rarity of the mythical beast endows it with magical healing properties. Instead of addressing the cause of his malady by eating less, Ogul demands an exotic cure that will enable him to continue eating.