This assignment will look at narrative transgression in Matthew Lewis’s 18th Century Gothic Novel, The Monk (1796). The novel was written towards the end of the eighteenth century, during the French Revolution. This is reflected throughout the narrative of the novel, mainly through the characters actions which further the narrative. There was a lot of unease in Europe at the time the novel was written amongst nobility, with the fear that the same thing would happen to them. Lewis was an MP; so it would have been of concern to him. As a result one of the major themes of The Monk is transgression, and Lewis explores the effect it has on society. Religion and sexuality are the main themes in the novel, and the assignment will look at how the characters conform to the cultural expectations of those themes, and how their transgression, if present, affects their narrative. Ambrosio and Matilda, the protagonist and antagonist will be explored thoroughly, with minor characters also being investigated.
The character of Matilda, or Rosario, is the ultimate transgressor in The Monk. She transgresses both sexually and religiously. Whether this is seen as a positive outcome for her depends on whether what the devil says at the end of the novel, “It was I who threw Matilda in your way”[1] is true or not. Given that the devil also claims Ambrosio was to be found innocent by his prosecutors despite such evidence against him, it is probable that this is merely a lie to further torment Ambrosio.
Matilda’s gender transgression has a startling effect on Ambrosio, “Amazed, embarrassed and irresolute, he found himself incapable of pronouncing a syllable, and remained in silence gazing upon Matilda;” (p. 46). By revealing her female form she gains power over Ambrosio, and is able to manipulate him to do what she wants.
Furthermore her religious transgression gives her control over a “daemon” (p. 204) which appears to give her the power for anything she wants,
Matilda…spoke in a loud and commanding tone, and her gestures declared that she was threatening him with her vengeance. Her menaces had the desired effect: the spirit sank upon his knee, and with a submissive air presented to her a branch of myrtle (p. 204).
This enables her to give Ambrosio what he wants; Antonia, and further strengthens her power over him.
There will be debate over Matilda’s fate. Both she and Ambrosio cut deals with the devil and we see that Ambrosio suffers for doing so. However in his article, “Transgendering in Matthew Lewis’s The Monk” Brewer[2] argues that because he was afraid of religious transgression he only asked the daemon to “save me! Snatch me from hence!” (p. 320) whereas Matilda was more confident, and by wishing for “the power of procuring every bliss which can make life delicious” (p. 314) she would be able to lead a life of luxury. This would suggest that through religious and sexual transgression Matilda would come out of the novel in a better position than any other character. It is also worth noting that she is the only character to transgress both sexually and religiously of her own free will.
The central character of The Monk, Ambrosio, was raised in the monastery since he was a baby, and “in order to break his spirit, the monks terrified his young mind with all the horrors with which superstition could furnish them” (p. 204). This would have left Ambrosio too terrified to entertain any unholy thoughts, which built up over time unleashed themselves all at once as soon as Matilda gives him an outlet to do so. Had he not been treated so harshly by the monks he may not have been as compelled to transgress in adulthood.
Ambrosio transgresses both sexually and religiously. In breaking his vow of chastity with Matilda, Ambrosio weakens his resolve and this causes him to “forget his vows, his sanctity, and his fame: he remembered nothing but the pleasure and opportunity.” (p. 69) this leaves Ambrosio open to sin. Every time Ambrosio transgresses he feels regret and remorse, “Scarcely had he succeeded in his design than he shuddered at himself and the means by which it was effected. The very excess of his former eagerness to possess Antonia now contributed to inspire him with disgust.” (p. 281) This sexual deviance backfires on him and he finds himself taken by the inquisition to be punished.
Ambrosio also transgresses religiously, by making a pact with the devil, “He signed the fatal contract, and gave it hastily into the evil spirits hands.”(p. 320) This is the act that seals his fate and results in a prolonged death. This could be seen as an argument against transgression, however it could be argued that seeing as he is not committed to the pact, and does it out of fear rather than desire, and he is punished for taking transgression lightly.
The opposing fates of Ambrosio and Matilda counter balance the argument for transgression, however only Matilda is fully behind the transgression, and she manipulates Ambrosio into his actions, suggesting that transgressing through choice reaps benefits, but it is something to be taken seriously. Characters that only broke one boundary still appear to have better conclusions than those who stayed within their boundaries.
The opposite of Ambrosio is the Mother St. Agatha. She is so regressed that she insists on following the laws as strictly as possible, “The laws of our order are strict and severe; they have fallen into disuse of late, but the crime of Agnes shows me the necessity of their revival.”(p. 38) and condemns Agnes to death. Her lack of transgression however is her downfall, as she is killed horrifically in the riots, “…the rioters still exercised their impotent rage upon her lifeless body. They beat it, trod upon it, and ill used it, til it became no more than a mass of flesh, unsightly, shapeless, and disgusting.” (p. 261) Although it later emerges that Agnes had not been killed, her outward regression resulted in her death.
Agnes breaks her religious vows, and tries to elope with her lover Raymond. This sees her punished by being placed in a chamber underground, where following an illness to the nun responsible for feeding her she transgress into “a creature stretched upon a bed of straw, so wretched, so emaciated, so pale, that he doubted to think her woman” (p. 270) as she is near death, this could be Lewis saying that in death gender and guidelines are broken, and that transgression is natural, as is argued by Brewer[3]. Both her religious and sexual transgressions work for her in the end as she is reunited with Raymond and ends up marrying him. The cost of all this, the death of their child, could be seen as a warning against transgression, but the finality of their marriage at the end would disprove this.
An important character who does not appear to transgress is Lorenzo. At the start of a novel he dreams of a monster attacking Antonia, which many interpret as a foreshadowing of Ambrosio’s rape and murder of her. However in his article, “A Dreadful Dreadful Dream…” D.L. Macdonald argues that “The monster may represent an unacknowledged side of Lorenzo himself…The monsters fall into the abyss may represent Lorenzo’s repudiation of this side of himself.”[4] Macdonald’s argument is convincing, and explains what happens to Lorenzo at the conclusion of the novel.
In shunning the darker side of his sexuality, Lorenzo is patient and waits for Antonia, which results in Ambrosio taking advantage and ultimately leads to her death. Lorenzo gets married to another former nun in the end, but Lewis states “his sentiments partook not of the ardent character which had marked his affection for Antonia.” (p. 306) Had Lorenzo acted on his natural urges and transgressed sexually, he and Antonia may have been together.
Antonia is completely unaware of her sexuality, and as a result she does not notice the danger when Ambrosio makes an attempt to seduce her, “She knew not that there was more impropriety in conversing with him in one room than another. She thought herself equally secure of his principles and her own, and having replaced herself upon the sofa, she began to prattle at him with her usual ease and vivacity.”(p. 191) Had Antonia been more aware of human transgressions, instead of being protected from them, she may not have suffered the same fate.
Despite fears of a revolution, The Monk does not entirely condemn transgression. Ultimately the character of Matilda show’s that transgression when well planned can be a benefit. However we are shown through Ambrosio that rushing into unchartered territory can be fatal. The narrative shows that uncontrolled transgression can lead to rioting, yet at the same time those not willing to transgress are punished for their passiveness, and their actions do not further the narrative. The novel itself was considered transgressive at the time due to its explicit depiction of sex and violence. Lewis would have been aware of this as he was writing which suggests that Lewis sees transgression as a positive act, as long as it is deliberate and thought out. Matilda and her fate mirror this verdict. The Monk shows transgression as something that happens naturally, as highlighted by Brewer, and it is something that we have to learn to control, rather than unleash.
Bibliography
Brewer, William D., ‘Transgendering in Matthew Lewis’s The Monk’, Gothic Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2 (2004), p192-207
Cooper, Andrew L., ‘Gothic Threats: The Role of Danger in the Critical Evaluation of The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho.’, Gothic Studies, Volume 8 Issue 2 (2006), p18-51
Lewis, Matthew, The Monk (Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2009)
Macdonald, D.L., ‘’A Dreadful Dreadful Dream’ Transvaluation, Realisation, and Literalization of Clarissa in The Monk’, Gothic Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2 (2004), p157-171
Messier, Vartan P., ‘The Conservative, The Transgressive, and the Reactionary: Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian as a Response to Matthew Lewis’ The Monk’, Atenea, Volume 25 Issue 2 (2005), p37-48
Nelson, Victoria, ‘Faux Catholic: A Gothic Subgenre from Monk Lewis to Dan Brown’, Boundary 2, Volume 34 Issue 3 (2007), p87-107
Robertson, Ben P., ‘In The Name Of Matilda: Female Transgression and Romantic Conceit’, Names (American Name Society), Volume 53 Issue 3 (2005), p169-201
[1] Matthew Lewis, The Monk (Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2009), p 322
[2] William D. Brewer, ‘Transgendering in Matthew Lewis’s The Monk’, Gothic Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2 (2004), 192-207, p. 202
[3] William D. Brewer, ‘Transgendering in Matthew Lewis’s The Monk’, Gothic Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2 (2004), 192-207, p. 199
[4] D.L. Macdonald, ‘’A Dreadful Dreadful Dream’ Transvaluation, Realisation, and Literalization of Clarissa in The Monk’, Gothic Studies, Volume 6 Issue 2 (2004), 157-171, p. 157-158