The Monk, by Matthew G. Lewis

Matthew G. Lewis (1775 – 1818) wrote his famous (some would say infamous) Gothic novel, The Monk, in his teens. It was published before the author turned twenty. An astonishing achievement as it is very much a masterpiece of its kind.

The story, in short, centres around the monk of the title. His name is Ambrosio. Noted for his piety and stirring sermons, he is much respected. Ambrosio's close companion at the monastery is a young novice named Rosario. He, too, is renowned for his piety and gentle manner. It is soon revealed, however, that Rosario, who always obscures his face under his cowl, is actually a woman named Matilda. She attempts to seduce Ambrosio, but fails. When told she must leave the monastery, she requests being permitted to take a rose bush as a memento. As Ambrosio's hand reaches to pull out the rose bush as a gift, a deadly snake bites him. Matilda secretly intervenes while Ambrosio lies on his sickbed and sucks the poison from his wound. As Ambrosio revives, Matilda falls sick, having consumed the snake's deadly poison. On her deathbed, about to expire, she manages to finally seduce Ambrosio. He unleashes all his ferocious passions, while Matilda is in the process of dying.

Matilda is doomed, or is she? Matilda reveals a secret to Ambrosio: life can mysteriously be restored. She wanders into a cemetery and calls upon Lucifer. The two make a pact and Matilda is saved. Matilda quickly sets to work tempting evil. Using the tricks of sorcery she manifests a near pornographic moving image of a young fifteen-year-old girl, Antonia, whom Ambrosio had met at the beginning of the novel, showing her bathing. Matilda says she can Ambrosio ravish and rape Antonia. The wicked plot is successful and Antonia is imprisoned in an underground crypt where Ambrosio can do as he pleases with her.

That is the main thread of The Monk, although there are many other characters and interweaving plot lines. Sometimes the story goes off on a tangent for fifty or so pages (there is an argument to be made that the novel is too long.) It can also be tricky to keep up who is who, a problem compounded by having so many wordy Spanish names (Lewis set his story in Madrid). These minor quibbles aside, The Monk is a stunning piece of decadence, littered with bold images, lurid scenarios and red hot temptation. The book excels at both titillating and shocking with it presentation of sexual lust - and its high price. On another level, Lewis's story shows how the church's sexual repression can unleash terrible monsters. The overzealous nuns, who take in a young woman who has got herself pregnant out of wedlock, treat her with astonishing cruelty.

It's hard to tell whether Matthew Lewis's aim is to moralise or excite. His muscular prose creates some fabulous images. The first appearance of Lucifer is extraordinary:

“It was a Youth seemingly scarce eighteen, the perfection of whose form and face was unrivalled. He was perfectly naked: A bright Star sparkled upon his forehead; Two crimson wings extended themselves from his shoulders; and his silken locks were confined by a band of many-coloured fires, which played round his head, formed themselves into a variety of figures, and shone with a brilliance far surpassing that of precious Stones. Circlets of Diamonds were fastened round his arms and ankles, and in his right hand He bore a silver branch, imitating Myrtle. His form shone with dazzling glory: He was surrounded by clouds of rose-coloured light, and at the moment that He appeared, a refreshing air breathed perfumes through the Cavern.”

The Marquis de Sade declared himself a fan of The Monk. Its resonant mix of psychology, sex, desire and religion make it a story that sticks deep in the mind and soul. The horror ending, where Lucifer makes his reappearance, is truly frightening.

No literary education is complete without reading The Monk.