The Monk - Matthew Lewis

The first steps towards gothic literature were taken in the mid to late 1700's. The gothic architecture and art had been developing for years, giving some criticisms and unfavourable portrayals of the church and authority in general. Through these art forms, people were learning to think more independently, away from the church and become more open in their expressions. The first gothic novel was Horace Walpole's novel The Caste of Otranto (1764). ...
...and treachery are woven through the book and continue in some form through to modern day horror. The Castle of Otranto is a landmark piece of literature, and was actually subtitled "A Gothic Tale". There were many gothic books during this time including Vatheck (1786) by William Beckford and Ann Radcliffe The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).

Ambrosio, abbot of the Capuchin monastery in Madrid, goes from a pinnacle of self satisfied ... more

The first steps towards gothic literature were taken in the mid to late 1700's. The gothic architecture and art had been developing for years, giving some criticisms and unfavourable portrayals of the church and authority in general. Through these art forms, people were learning to think more independently, away from the church and become more open in their expressions. The first gothic novel was Horace Walpole's novel The Caste of Otranto (1764). This novel sets forth all the characteristic features of the gothic that we can recognise today. A ruined castle, an endangered lady, an evil villain, a hero and treachery are woven through the book and continue in some form through to modern day horror. The Castle of Otranto is a landmark piece of literature, and was actually subtitled "A Gothic Tale". There were many gothic books during this time including Vatheck (1786) by William Beckford and Ann Radcliffe The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).

Ambrosio, abbot of the Capuchin monastery in Madrid, goes from a pinnacle of self satisfied saintliness to become one of the most depraved villains in all of fiction. After being seduced by Matilda, a diabolical woman who entered the monastery disguised as a novice named Rosario. The monk, with the help of a talisman provided by Matilda, plots the rape of one of his penitents, Antonia. His first attempt is fouled by her mother, Elvira, whom he strangles. His second attempt, in which he succeeds, culminates in the fatal stabbing of Antonia. As it turns out, Antonia is his sister and Elvira their mother; thus he has, among his crimes, the rape and murder of his sister and the murder of his mother. His punishment at the end, when the Devil breaks his word on a pact that would have allowed Ambrosio to escape, is gratifyingly spectacular. Woven through this to create a sense of duality is the romance of Raymond and Agnes. Their relationship is pure and good unlike that of Ambrosio and Matilda.

There are many features that make the gothic novel what it is. The time period in which a lot of gothic literature was developed was a time in which disapproval of the church was continuing to grow and people were beginning to think separately from the theological ways they had followed previously. This influenced the gothic in many ways. The church is one of the integral parts of the gothic tale, because while the church itself and the ideas of religion represent good, the people who create and enact the rules set down are human and are vulnerable to temptation and to sin as much as every one else.

It is interesting to note that as much as the monks and nuns are supposed to have no interest in sex, the monks and nuns in The Monk are absolutely fixated with it. Hiding below the respected exterior of the monastery and the abbey are dungeons, graveyards and secret tunnels leading to many places within the city. When Agnes joins the nuns order she believes that her beloved, Raymond is dead. She meets him many years later and falls pregnant with his child. When this pregnancy is discovered she is treated as though she has committed a crime far worse than murder. She is systematically starved, deprived of light and tortured. The horrors that are inflicted upon the woman are worsened by the fact that it is her own convent that is issuing them.

Hypocrisy is another element running deep into the centre of the gothic novel. The nuns who preach chastity, holiness and obedience to Gods laws are themselves participating in the ruin of at least one human life and are directly to blame for the death of her child. Ambrosio is supposedly the most religious man in the city, but he is obviously hypocritical, telling dedicated followers that they should follow Gods laws and not be full of pride, whilst at the same time his pride in himself is practically unrivalled. "How powerful an effect did my discourse produce upon its Auditors! How they crowded round me! How they loaded me with benedictions, and pronounced me the sole uncorrupted Pillar of the Church!" (Lewis 1998 pg 40). He then continues to describe his admiration for the painting he has of the Madonna, but he speaks only of the physical features presented in the painting, not the idea of the Virgin Mary. "I must accustom my eyes to the Objects of temptation, and expose myself to the seduction of luxury and desire. Should I meet in that world which I am constrained to enter some lovely Female, lovely…as you Madonna…!" (Lewis 1998 pg 40)

Another note to mention is the sexual tension between Rosario and Ambrosio. At first, before Rosario reveals he is actually Matilda, the sexual tension has homosexual overtones. "From the moment in which I first beheld you, I perceived sensations in my bosom, till then unknown to me; I found a delight in your society which no one's else could afford; and when I witnessed the extent of your genius and information, I rejoiced…" (Lewis 1998 pg 57-58) Homosexuality is another thing that would have been forbidden and punished by the church in the times of this novel. The excessive use of sexual episodes within the church magnifies the fact that these nuns and monks are normal people and they too are struggling with the temptations and sins just like anybody else would.

The use of excess means that the author goes to the extremes of emotion, feeling and behaviour. In The Monk, Lewis does indeed take things to the absolute utmost. He goes far beyond what is expected, he goes beyond the limit. However in the case of The Monk, this extreme use of excess does not spoil the piece of literature. Lewis does not use excess in a way that it simply wallows in it. He cleverly uses different characteristics of the gothic novel to achieve his goal.

"Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is the source of the SUBLIME; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling." (Edmund Burke 1757) The sublime is a juxtaposition of pain and pleasure, it stirs emotion, incurs passion and astonishment. The sublime aids fear, for it is the fear of the unknown which stimulates the sublime.

The sublime thus leads into the feeling of terror, terror being the feeling that "…expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life…" (Ann Radcliffe 1826) The use of terror is mysterious: it is the feeling that is generated by the individuals' imagination. There are several episodes of terror in The Monk. One particular piece of descriptive text is the Bleeding Nun. "I felt a sudden chillness spread itself over my body…my hair stood bristling…slow and heavy footsteps ascending…drew near my Bed…It was the Bleeding Nun! I beheld before me an animated Corse. Her countenance was long and haggard…cheeks and lips were bloodless…eyeballs…lustreless and hollow. I gazed upon the Spectre with horror to great to be described. My blood was frozen in my veins…I uttered a deep groan, and sank lifeless upon my pillow." (Lewis 1998 pg 159-161) However many horrific elements are described in this passage, there is no real threat to Raymond's life and Lewis ends this dynamic passage with a faint. The reader would have more than likely expected the terror to escalate and culminate in a gruesome scene.

The idea of the sublime terror often develops into horror. Horror according to Ann Radcliffe "…contracts, freezes and nearly annihilates them." The difference between terror and horror is that horror is specific and leaves nothing to the reader's imagination. It leaves no room for the reader to imagine what happens next, Lewis is straight to the point and leaves nothing out. "The cold seemed more piercing…My frame became weak, feverish and emaciated…Slumbers constantly interrupted by some obnoxious Insect crawling over me…dragging his loathsome length along my bosom…quick cold Lizard…leaving his slimy track upon my face…fingers ringed with the long worms…bred in the corrupted flesh of my Infant." (Lewis 1998 pg 415) These vivid descriptions combined with Agnes' emotional reaction to her situation provide the reader with believable horror. The realism makes this more shocking and terrible.

"Lewis's supernatural incidents, which are not hidden or awaited, partake of the horror aesthetic in that they are displayed in all their gory and ghastly totality. What is threatened and usually avoided in Radcliffe is completed and handed out for the reader's disgusted delectation in Lewis." (McEvoy 1998 pg xiv) Upon summoning the demon, Ambrosio is faced with the image of Lucifer which is displayed in such a way that nothing is left to the imagination. "…blasted limbs…swarthy darkness…gigantic form…hands and feet armed with long talons…two enormous sable wings…hair supplied by living snakes." (Lewis 1998 pg 433)

Another use of excess is that in the murder of Elvira and the rape and following murder of Antonia. Due to Ambrosia's upbringing, he feels that he is finally released from years of repression and discipline; he feels that he is stronger, stronger than he ever could be. His sexuality is unregulated and his desire for Antonia is so strong he threatens to commit a crime that he cannot, under any circumstances, avoid. In order to have the object of his desires, he has to murder and rape. "…his caresses terrified her from their fury, and created no other sentiment than fear…her alarm, her evident disgust…seemed only to inflame the Monk's desires, and supply his brutality with additional strength." (Lewis 1998 pg 383) The rape and subsequent murder of Antonia is completely unexpected. The reader would probably have more than likely expected Antonia to be rescued and her innocence preserved, therefore when the opposite happens the reader truly feels horrified. This is just another way in which Lewis can be seen as different between himself and other gothic novelists. Radcliffe would have saved Antonia but Lewis, as he has already shown so often, goes against the conventions.

As a final twist in the tale in order to unsettle the reader even more, Lewis takes it one step further. Not only has he committed crimes of rape and murder, Ambrosio finds out that Elvira was his mother, and Antonia his sister. This intensifies everything that is prohibited in the eyes of God. By the end of the novel, Ambrosio realises his mistakes. He can see everything that he had done wrong and for what reasons. This recognition of the self in Ambrosia's character subtracts itself from the excess, it is real life, and Ambrosio had fallen from grace into hellish damnation.

However much Lewis uses excess, it cannot be charged with the idea that it 'simply wallows' in it. Lewis cleverly uses the ideas of the sublime, horror, terror and the uncanny to produce the effect that it is. Lewis has gone further than any other gothic novelist of his time. 

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