The Monk, Mathew Gregory Lewis

Introduction

In 1796, Mathew Gregory Lewis wrote The Monk which is one of the most influential masterpieces in English literature. It is inspired by Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, the Gothic novel in 1764 which lies in the supernatural circumstances.

The Monk has geographically and historically remote actions and settings (Renaissance and Spain), which enabled the author to enjoy violence and lust with impunity. The book belongs to the subgenres of Horror-Gothic which portrays both emotion and pleasure of terror. This novel with a gothic trend that amplifies the horrors of patriarchal oppression, religious sovereignty, and noble superiority to engage the worries and the incurred wounds of its audience, as its major issue, explores the universal tyranny and subjugation.

Gothic literature can lead to a psychoanalytic criticism that considers excess as an ecstasy. The Monk addresses, the sexual obsession and spiritual defilement mentioned in “The Uncanny”, the article written by Sigmund Freud in 1919 and also the enduring psychological issues rooted in mankind to say when something is half-hidden, half-denied, and then there is something that should be interpreted.

The following dissertation highlights the Unity in Lewis’s novel and the Fragmentation of the Self which is an investigation of the different stages that the human conscience undertakes to conducts each stage produces. The Unity in The Monk is divided into two parts: 1. Thematic Unity and 2. Narrative Unity. Each of these unities are comprised of different parts that have explain in detail. Besides, we examine the Fragmentation in this novel which is more focused on the protagonist of the story, Ambrosio.

The Unity

I- Thematic unity

Thematic unity occupies a considerable part in The Monk. In the following paragraphs, we will review some sections which confirm this unity:

1. Fathers are remarkably absent in this novel. When the story starts, Raymon’s father has been dead. Moreover, Lorenzo and Agnes’s father play a very small role in the storyline. Despite all father's absence, the Marquis de las Cisternas garners attention. He is responsible for lots of disastrous happening in the novel. However, instead of father’s absence, the novel is the place of hero's sexual desire for the women. Their sexual desire is for veiled women. As an example, Ambrosio is consumed with desire for Mathilda and following that Antonia; Raymond lusts after Agnes and Lorenzo loves Antonia and then Virginia. These loves are presented as scopic desires. The women veil in different manners. This obstacle makes the men more eager to see them. They want to see what they should not see. This object which is called scopic desire should be punished in all part of story.

2. In order for the hero to get access to the young woman, the older women attempt to seduce younger men. One of these double-seduction scenarios is about accessing Antonia and embracing Elvira. This seduction could be interpreted as a reversal into the opposite: the poetic instance cannot say that the young man is attracted to older women, so it turns it into the other way around.

3. The central figure of the story is the same: In different parts of the novel when the hero is at the brink of having sexual desire, he finds out that he is encounters a woman who is a portrayal of mother-figure. This is one of the best elements to show the oedipal scenario. It is also another way to express the Freudian’s uncanny by words. Christoval marries with young Cordova, but in the past, Leonella convinced him to be in love with her. Furthermore, we can observe a physical resemblance between Antonia when she appears to Lorenzo and the Bleeding nun who confronts Raymond.

4. Another sign of thematic unity in The Monk can be seen in the heroes' need for a woman. In chapter 6, 11 and 12, we can clearly apperceive Ambrosio’s dependence on Mathilda for coming true his passion. Although he struggles with his desire, he broke the vows by having sex with Mathilda. In order to possess Antonia, Mathilda gives him a magical myrtle branch which unlocks the door to Antonia’s house. Moreover, in chapter 11 Ambrosio receives a small dagger from Matilda to kill Antonia. Finally, she encourages him to present his soul to Satan. Besides, Raymond needs Marguerite’s help when he is in danger in the German forest. What is also necessary to mention is that all heroes are passive and they need the presence of a woman to become active. However, the common point is these two women’s authorities have priority to the heroes and also the female figure as a phallic mother.

5. The thematic mirror-effects between the two stories participate in a vast system of mise- en-abyme. In chapter 4, Marguerite is as gentle as Raymond, when Beatrice is as monstrous as Ambrosio. Beatrice, like Ambrosio, accepts a horrible agreement. This similarity can conduct the story to the Faustian pact. Like Ambrosio, while Beatrice accepts to kill her lover for his brother's sake, she misleads and depraves her life.

6. Finally, the last part of thematic unity in The Monk is passivity. In Chapter 1, Lorenzo has a nightmare that reveals the rest of the story. He dreams of a monster that tortures and kills Antonia. This is exactly something that happens in Ambrosio's story: Antonia claims to see her mother's ghost and faints in terror; the landlady of Antonia's family house runs to the monastery and calls upon Ambrosio. According to Mathilda's advice, he gives Jacintha a drug to feed Antonia which causes her to sleep as heavy as death. When the doctor asserts Antonia's death, Ambrosio takes her body to the crypt and rapes her. In Lorenzo's dream, he, himself is just like a passive observer; he is also the passive narrate of Raymond’s story. He is the most passive of all men characters. Chapter 1 is the only part of the novel that Lorenzo does not create: He cannot protect Antonia from the monk; he doesn’t make much contact with the woman he loves and he cannot protect his sister against the cruelty of the Prioress and Baroness. He merely acts at the end of the novel by freeing Agnes but he is too late to free Antonia.

II. Narrative Unity

1. There are many similarities between the story of Ambrosio and the story of Raymond and Agnes. Ambrosio and Raymond have a sexual desire and love that lead them to act in a transgressive way. Both have an alliance with vow’s violation: Ambrosio violates the vows of chastity for Mathilda, and Raymond pushes Agnes to violate her vows. Ambrosio as the most righteous monk and Agnes as a wronged nun are the two heroes who break a religious taboo.

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