I've told you already about my Gothic Literature class and the crazy stuff we've been reading. However, when we got to The Monk by Matthew Lewis the crazy levels just went off the charts. I don't want to give away too much in my review but hopefully I will give enough that you will be influenced to go pick up this book because even though I'm still not sure if I actually liked it or not, it's definitely one of the most fascinating things I've read in a while.
The story follows three distinct couples. There is Ambrosio and Matilda. Ambrosio is this monk who has been sequestered away from the real world his entire life, the furthest he's been into the outside world the monestary is to preach in the attached church. Therefore, he prides himself on his purity and sinlessness. However, he finds out that one of the newer monks to join the ranks is actually a woman in disguise who did it out of a desperate desire to be near him. Matilda has been in love with him for years but claims she is content to just be near him in an unromantic capacity but if he forces her to leave she will have to kill herself. Now with the though of a woman so close, Ambrosio starts feeling things he knows, as a pure monk, he shouldn't.
The next couple is actually the first one you see in the book. Antonia, is much like Ambrosio in the respect that she has been highly sheltered from the world by her protective mother and there is a comment made that she doesn't even know the difference between men and women! (Of course at this point her crazy aunt starts trying to describe it for her which is quite hilarious.) Lorenzo, a young sword she meets in church while waiting to hear Ambrosio speak, is completely captivated by her beauty and is determined to do anything he can to be able to claim her as his wife. In an effort to not reveal too much here, Antonia is the typical gothic heroine, whatever can go wrong, will and her perspective of the story sucks! It's like watching a train wreck.
The last group is Raymond (a friend of Lorenzo) and Agnes (Lorenzo's sister). They are the couple who are always making plans and always failing. The first thing you learn about them is that Agnes has become a nun out of despair of Raymond's abandonment but now they have reconciled but she cannot just leave the nunnery. Oh, and he gets her pregnant in the cloister gardens. Then she goes into this big annoying spiel about it's all his fault and he should have protected her virtue cuz she's a weak woman, blah, blah, blah. It takes two to tango lady! (Lewis had some interesting ideas about women and if you don't know that yet, you will by the end of this book.) Anyways, the Prioress finds out and flips her lid and fakes Agnes' death. Raymond spends the majority of the book doing everything he possibly can to find and free Agnes.
Like I said before, still not sure if I actually liked this book or if it just fascinated me. There's so much going on and everything moves so quickly from bad to worse you just can't look away. If you read it, the ending will definitely surprise you. Just remember, in all Gothic novels, the bad guys always get what's coming to them. And how!
(Yes, the creepy bastard in this picture is Ambrosio. Foreshadowing anyone?)The Monk by Matthew Lewis (496 pages)
Judgement: Fascinatingly Disturbing (8 out of 10)
