The Monk

novel by Lewis

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Article History

The Monk, Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796. The story’s violence and sexual content made it one of the era’s best-selling and most influential novels.

The novel is the story of a monk, Ambrosio, who is initiated into a life of depravity by Matilda, a woman who has disguised herself as a man to gain entrance to the monastery. Ambrosio eventually sells his soul to the devil to avoid being tortured by the Spanish Inquisition, but the devil throws him from a precipice to his death on the rocks below.

The book differed from other Gothic novels of the time because it concentrated on the sensational and the horrible rather than on romance and because it did not attempt to explain the supernatural events of the plot.

Portrait of young thinking bearded man student with stack of books on the table before bookshelves in the library

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.