The Monk

The Monk has two main plotlines. The first concerns the corruption and downfall of the monk Ambrosio, and his interactions with the demon in disguise Matilda and the virtuous maiden Antonia. The subplot follows the romance of Raymond and the nun Agnes. At various points, the novel also includes several extended anecdotes of characters with Gothic backstories who tell their tales. Newly arrived in Madrid, Antonia goes to hear a sermon by Ambrosio, who had been left at the abbey as an infant and is now a famously celebrated monk. She meets Lorenzo, who falls in love with her. Lorenzo visits his sister Agnes, a nun at the nearby abbey. He sees someone delivering a letter for Agnes from Raymond. Later, Ambrosio is visited by nuns, including Agnes, for confession. When Agnes confesses that she is pregnant with Raymond's child, Ambrosio turns her over to the Prioress of her abbey for punishment. Ambrosio's closest friend among the monks reveals that he is a woman named Matilda, who disguised herself to be near Ambrosio. While picking a rose for her, Ambrosio is bitten by a serpent and falls deathly ill. Matilda nurses him. When he recovers, Matilda reveals that she sucked the poison from Ambrosio's wound and is now dying herself. At the point of her death, Matilda begs him to make love to her, and he succumbs to the temptation. Lorenzo confronts Raymond about his relationship with his sister Agnes. Raymond tells their long history. Raymond was travelling in Germany when a carriage accident stranded him at a cottage owned by a bandit who kills and robs travellers. Thanks to a warning from the bandit's wife, Raymond avoided being killed, and escaped with a Baroness who was also staying at the cottage. Visiting the Baroness afterward, Raymond fell in love with her niece Agnes. However, the Baroness was in love with Raymond; when he refused her advances, she made arrangements to send Agnes to a convent. Raymond and Agnes made plans to elope. Agnes planned to dress as the Bleeding Nun, a ghost who haunts the castle and exits its gates at midnight. Raymond accidentally eloped with the real ghost of the real Bleeding Nun. Exorcizing the ghost of the Bleeding Nun required assistance from the Wandering Jew. When he was free, he found Agnes in the convent. There he seduced Agnes. When she discovered that she was pregnant, she begged him to help her escape. Matthew Gregory Lewis (July 9, 1775 - May 14, 1818) was an English novelist and dramatist, often referred to as "Monk" Lewis, because of the success of his Gothic novel, The Monk.