The Monk

by Lewis, Matthew Gregory; Macdonald, D. L.; Scherf, Kathleen

• ISBN13: 9781551112275
• ISBN10: 1551112272
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-01
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

The Monk is the most sensational of Gothic novels. The main plot concerns Ambrosio, an abbot of irreproachable holiness, who is seduced by a woman (or perhaps a demon) disguised as a novice, and who goes on to sell his soul to the Devil. An extravagant blend of sex, death, politics, Satanism, and poetry, the work greatly appealed to the Marquis de Sade. The Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and appendices of historical materials that address the novel's literary sources (in English, German, and Greek literature), historical contexts (the French Revolution, slavery and abolition debates, sexuality), critical reception, and influence.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	7	(2)
Introduction	9	(18)
Matthew Gregory Lewis: A Brief Chronology	27	(3)
A Note on the Text	30	(3)
The Monk
Vol. 1	33	(100)
Vol. 2	133	(114)
Vol. 3	247	(118)
Appendix A: Literary Sources
1. Richard Steele, The Guardian, 31 August 1713	365	(2)
2. Samuel Richardson, Clarissa, 1747-48	367	(2)
a. Lovelace's Dream	367	(2)
b. Clarissa's Dream	369	(1)
3. Johann Karl August Musäus, "The Elopement"	369	(10)
4. Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, "The Eternal Jew"	379	(3)
5. Matthew Gregory Lewis, "Imitation of Anacreon"	382	(2)
Appendix B: Historical Contexts
1. The French Revolution	384	(4)
a. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790	384	(1)
b. Matthew Gregory Lewis, "France and England in 1793"	385	(2)
c. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason,1794-95	387	(1)
2. Colonialism and Slavery	388	(4)
a. Matthew Gregory Lewis, The Castle Spectre, 1797	388	(1)
b. Matthew Gregory Lewis, Journal of a West India Proprietor, 1815-18	389	(3)
3. Georgian Homophobia	392	(2)
a. The Trying and Pilloring of the Vere Street Club, 1810	392
Appendix C: Critical Reception
1. [Mary Wollstonecraft?], Analytical Review, October 1796	394	(1)
2. European Magazine, February 1797	395	(3)
3. [Samuel Taylor Coleridge], Critical Review, February 1797	398	(4)
4. "An Apology for the Monk," Monthly Mirror, April 1797	402	(6)
5. Matthew Gregory Lewis, letter to his father, 23 February 1798	408	(2)
6. Matthew Gregory Lewis, Preface to Adelmorn, the Outlaw, 1801	410	(1)
7. Le Décade philosophique, 9 May 1797	411	(1)
8. Spectateur du nord, April June 1798	412	(3)
9. Marquis de Sade, "Reflections on the Novel," 1800	415	(1)
10. Ann Radcliffe, "On the Supernatural in Poetry," 1826	415	(3)
Appendix D: Cultural Responses
1. Charles Farley, Raymond and Agnes,1797	418	(4)
2. "The Bleeding Nun," 1801	422	(3)
3. Almagro & Claude; or Monastic Murder, 1810	425	(32)
Appendix E:Variants	457	(18)
Works Cited and Recommended Reading	475