Matthew G. Lewis

First published in 1796, "The Monk" is the popular and controversial Gothic novel by Matthew G. Lewis, the English novelist and dramatist. Written when Lewis was only nineteen, it is the tale of a monk who is tempted by carnal desire and led down a ruinous path of ungodliness. Ambrosio, a pious, well-respected monk in Spain, is lustfully tempted by his pupil, Matilda, a woman who has disguised herself as a young boy and initiate monk. Having first been seduced by Matilda, he is soon overcome with carnal desire for the young and innocent Antonia, a sheltered and timid girl. With the help of Matilda, who is actually Satan in disguise, Ambrosio seduces Antonia, a seduction that would ultimately lead to Antonia's death and his own downfall. "The Monk" was immensely popular upon its publication and was widely censored for its scandalous depictions of murder, sexual gratification, and violent rape. Recognized as one of the first novels of the gothic genre, "The Monk" is a classic tale of the tragic ruin that may befall one tempted by evil and lustful desire. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

De un desarrollo sorprendente, la trama de este libro va de una leyenda que se antoja ingenua a amores escondidos, traiciones familiares, invocaciones demon acas exitosas y la m s brutal violencia. Aqu se recrean escenarios cotidianos de su tiempo. De no ser por la evidente tendencia a lo macabro y s rdido, bien podr a leerse como una novela costumbrista, de recreaci n de la Europa del siglo XVIII. Un tiempo donde los m s terribles cr menes se comet an a instancias de los monasterios y la inquisici n; donde el verdadero horror daba rienda en el interior de las catacumbas; donde las cofrad as religiosas actuaban con impunidad y a escondidas; un tiempo que se parece mucho al actual, por los personajes dispuestos a todo con tal de obtener venganza o satisfacci n o, tambi n, de llegar a la mujer amada.

Matthew G. Lewis. (1775 - 1818). Escritor, dramaturgo y pol tico brit nico conocido por Monk Lewis a ra z de su primera obra, El Monje (1796), donde denunciaba la Inquisici n espa ola y que le hizo popular. El Monje, de buena acogida entre la mayor a de la poblaci n, fue muy criticado por obsceno entre los intelectuales brit nicos, lo que oblig al autor a dulcificar la segunda edici n de 1798, publicada cuando ya era miembro del Parlamento. Es una novela g tica donde se ironiza sobre la hipocres a religiosa. Lord Byron y el Marqu s de Sade dieron su visto bueno a la novela en sus correspondientes escritos. El Monje fue reivindicada por Andr Breton y Antonin Artaud como la mejor novela g tica y uno de los mayores logros del Romanticismo.

Horror in literature attains a new malignity in the work of Lewis (1773-1818), whose novel "The Monk" (1796) achieved marvelous popularity and earned him the nickname 'Monk' Lewis.

The Monk shocked and titillated readers with its graphic portrayal of lust, sin, and violence when it was first published in 1796. A true classic of the Gothic novel, it has left an indelible mark on English literature and has influenced such eminent writers as Byron, Scott, Poe, Flaubert, Hawthorne, Emily Brontë, and many others over the past two centuries. Ambrosio is the abbot of the Capuchin monastery in Madrid. He is beloved by his flock, and his renowned piety has earned him the nickname The Man of Holiness. Yet beneath the veneer of this religious man lies a heart of hypocrisy; arrogant, licentious, and vengeful, he follows his sexual desires down the torturous path to ruin. Along the way, he encounters a naïve virgin who falls prey to his scheming, a baleful beauty fluent in witchcraft, the ghostly Bleeding Nun, an evil prioress, the Wandering Jew, and others.