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The Monk: A Romance tells of the spectacular downfall of a Spanish monk. Ambroio lusts for the woman Matilda, who is disguised as a monk, but once he has had her he becomes infatuated with the innocent Antonia. This novel was the first to villainize a priest, and has all the trappings of the Gothic novel, including ruined castles, rape, incest, demonic contracts and the Spanish Inquisition.
Lewis wrote the novel in ten weeks at the age of 19.
Jannes: The Monk is generally considered to be heavily influenced by Le Diable amoureux, and the novels share several themes, most obviously the idea of the devil in the form of a seductive woman.
The biggest flaw of this Gothic horror story for me was the somewhat dated style of writing (similar to that of Defoe). I think the creepiest part may have been the very end, in which the Spanish Inquisition is investigating Ambrosio (the monk) - partly because I suspect some of the tortures described may have been really used during this period of history!
I could quickly see why this book fell into disrepute during the early Victorian times, as it includes somewhat graphic (if flowery) descriptions of carnal sins and horrifying tortures. I did have to chuckle a few times at the very English repugnance of Catholics that showed in some of the descriptions! And I could see why authors such as Jane Austen parodied this type of melodrama. However, I was surprised by the fact that Ambrosio wasn't painted as entirely evil & his struggles with his conscience were sometimes quite moving. ( )
Perhaps no other novel written in the 18th century ever described the pangs of post-nut clarity with such acuity; the vehement disgust Ambrosio has for liberties all too recently indulged in is incredible. He is a man forever unsatisfied, but he is too proud and vain to ever take a step outside of the circuitry of desire once he gives himself over to it — his verbose pleadings and moralisings after committing various heinous acts only ever come off as smokescreens thrown up to conceal his own lack of self-reflection. Lewis probably deserves to be in conversations relating to Sade/Bataille, but I imagine that his work would only need to be briefly touched upon in the grand scheme of transgressive literature. ( )
Dreams, magic terrors, spells of mighty power, Witches, and ghosts who rove at midnight hour.
Opdracht
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Scarcely had the abbey-bell tolled for five minutes, and already was the church of the Capuchins thronged with auditors.
Citaten
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
None sleep so profoundly, as those who are determined not to wake.
An Author, whether good or bad, or between both, is an Animal whom every body is privileged to attack, For though All are not able to write books, all conceive themselves able to judge them.
Agnes! Agnes! Thou art mine! / Agnes! Agnes! I am thine! / In my veins while blood shall roll / Thou art mine! / I am thine! / Thine thy body! / Thine my soul!
Raymond! Raymond! Thou art mine! / Raymond! Raymond! I am thine! / In my veins while blood shall roll / I am thine! / Thou art mine! / Mine thy body! / Mine thy soul!
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Blind, maimed, helpless, and despairing, venting his rage in blasphemy and curses, execrating his existence, yet dreading the arrival of death destined to yield him up to greater torments, six miserable days did the villain languish. On the seventh a violent storm arose: the winds in fury rent up rocks and forests: the sky was now black with clouds, now sheeted with fire: the rain fell in torrents; it swelled the stream; the waves overflowed their banks; they reached the spot where Ambrosio lay, and, when they abated, carried with them into the river the corse of the despairing monk.
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Although some early editions give the title as "Ambrosio, or the Monk," both the first edition and the overwhelming majority of later editions give the give merely as "The Monk". See the facsimile of the first edition's title-page in the 1952 Grove Press reprint.
Uitgevers redacteuren
Auteur van flaptekst/aanprijzing
Oorspronkelijke taal
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
The Monk: A Romance tells of the spectacular downfall of a Spanish monk. Ambroio lusts for the woman Matilda, who is disguised as a monk, but once he has had her he becomes infatuated with the innocent Antonia. This novel was the first to villainize a priest, and has all the trappings of the Gothic novel, including ruined castles, rape, incest, demonic contracts and the Spanish Inquisition.
Lewis wrote the novel in ten weeks at the age of 19.
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Google Books — Bezig met laden...
Group Read, May 2019: The Monk
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