M G Lewis

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryT146748London: printed for J. Bell, 1796. 3v.; 12

Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

""The Monk: A Romance"" is a gothic novel written by Matthew Gregory Lewis and first published in 1796. The novel follows the story of Ambrosio, a monk who is respected for his piety and devotion, but who is ultimately corrupted by his own desires and ambitions. As the story progresses, Ambrosio becomes increasingly involved in a series of dark and twisted events, including murder, rape, and black magic. Along the way, he encounters a range of colorful characters, including a mysterious woman named Matilda, who becomes his confidante and advisor. ""The Monk"" is known for its sensational and often controversial subject matter, which includes depictions of sexuality and violence. It is also notable for its use of gothic conventions, including supernatural elements, mysterious settings, and a sense of impending doom. Despite its scandalous reputation, ""The Monk"" was widely read and influential in its time, and is now regarded as a classic of the gothic genre.

The Monk: A Romance is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis, published in 1796. A quickly written book from early in Lewis's career (in one letter he claimed to have written it in ten weeks, but other correspondence suggests that he had at least started it, or something similar, a couple of years earlier), it was published before he turned twenty. It is a prime example of the male Gothic that specialises in the aspect of horror. Its convoluted and scandalous plot has made it one of the most important Gothic novels of its time, often imitated and adapted for the stage and the screen. In the same month as the second edition was published, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote a piece in The Critical Review, an important literary magazine of the day, in which he both praises and harshly criticises the novel. He acknowledges that it is "the offspring of no common genius," that the "underplot... is skilfully and closely connected with the main story, and is subservient to its development," that the story Lewis weaves in about the bleeding nun is "truly terrific" and that he cannot recall a "bolder or more happy conception than that of the burning cross on the forehead of the wandering Jew." Coleridge gives his highest praise to the character of Matilda, who he believes is "the author's master-piece. It is, indeed, exquisitely imagined, and as exquisitely supported. The whole work is distinguished by the variety and impressiveness of its incidents; and the author everywhere discovers an imagination rich, powerful, and fervid. Such are the excellencies". Coleridge continues by saying that "the errors and defects are more numerous, and (we are sorry to add) of greater importance." Because "the order of nature may be changed whenever the author's purposes demand it" there are no surprises in the work. Moral truth cannot be gleaned because Ambrosio was destroyed by spiritual beings, and no earthly being can sufficiently oppose the "power and cunning of supernatural beings." Scenes of grotesquery and horror abound, which are a proof of "a low and vulgar taste." The character of Ambrosio is "impossible... contrary to nature." Coleridge argues that the most "grievous fault... for which no literary excellence can atone" is that "our author has contrived to make tales of enchantments and witchcraft] ' 'pernicious' ', by blending, with an irreverent negligence, all that is most awfully true in religion with all that is most ridiculously absurd in superstition," commenting with the immortal line that "the Monk is a romance, which if a parent saw in the hands of a son or daughter, he might reasonably turn pale." Coleridge finishes the piece by explaining that he was "induced to pay particular attention to this work, from the unusual success which it has experienced" and that "the author is a man of rank and fortune. Yes the author of the Monk signs himself a LEGISLATOR We stare and tremble." Thomas James Mathias followed Coleridge's lead in The Pursuits of Literature, a poem in the 18th-Century satiric tradition, but takes a step farther than Coleridge by claiming that a specific passage made the novel indictable under law. The passage, found in Chapter Seven Volume II, discusses an interpretation of the Bible as too lewd for youth to read. These two major pieces led the way for a multitude of other attacks on the novel, from such sources as the Monthly Review, the Monthly Magazine, and the Scots Magazine; the last of these attacked the novel six years after its publication. It was a general trend amongst those who criticised, however, to offer praise of some aspect of the novel. "It looked," writes Parreaux, "as if every reviewer or critic of the book, no matter how hostile he was, felt compelled to at least pay lip-service to Lewis's genius." (wikipedia.org)

'The Monk: A Romance' is a captivating Gothic novel written by Matthew Gregory Lewis, commonly known as M. G. Lewis. Set in 16th-century Madrid, the story revolves around Ambrosio, a virtuous and respected monk known for his devoutness. However, his life takes a dark turn when he is seduced by the temptations of the flesh. Lewis skillfully employs vivid descriptions, shocking plot twists, and an eerie atmosphere to immerse readers in a world of suspense and moral dilemmas. As the plot unfolds, the novel delves into themes of morality, religious corruption, and the consequences of unchecked passions. The Monk explores the blurred boundaries between good and evil, exposing the depths of human nature's capacity for both virtue and vice.

Scandalous and scintillating, The Monk is a Gothic classic published in 1796 before the author's 20th birthday. It is among the most important Gothic novels of its era, often adapted for the stage and films. As the novel begins... Leonella and her niece Antonia have arrived at a Madrid church to hear the sermon of priest, Ambrosio. Antonia's Grandfather is the Marquis de las Cisternas, who was unhappy with his son's marriage and has cut off their pension. Lorenzo vows to marry Antonia, but she is pregnant with the child of Raymond de las Cisternas and Ambrosio turns her over to the prioress of her abbey for punishment.