Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Monk, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Catholicism and Hypocrisy
The Folly of Pride
Morality
Appearance vs. Reality
Human Nature
Summary
Analysis
After his initial visit to Elvira, Ambrosio returns to the monastery without anyone realizing he’s been gone, and so he starts to visit her daily. At first his feelings for Antonia are innocent, but it’s not long before they grow lustful, and he soon makes it his aim to seduce and corrupt her. This isn’t easy, though, as Antonia remains ever innocent and virtuous. Meanwhile, he recognizes that her virtuous, honest nature is clearly superior to his newfound depravity. Yet despite his clear knowledge that what he is doing is wrong, he can’t stop himself from moving forward with his scheme. Meanwhile, Matilda senses his indifference toward her and grows melancholy. Ambrosio feels bad about this, but he can’t force himself to have feelings for her.
Ambrosio’s concern remains solely focused on his reputation, not his standing in God’s eyes: that is, he’s only worried about what will happen to him if he’s caught in an act of sin, not about the moral implications of the sin itself. Meanwhile, as the reader may have guessed, Ambrosio’s affection for Antonia soon devolves into base lust. Though he recognizes that his desire for her is immoral and depraved, he moves forward with his scheme to ruin her, nonetheless.
Themes
One day, Ambrosio is visiting Elvira’s apartment when he observes Antonia reading the Bible—an abridged version that Elvira assembled in order to prevent her daughter from reading parts she deemed unsuitable for Antonia’s young, ignorant mind. Ambrosio interrupts her reading to ask whether she has ever loved anyone. At first Antonia doesn’t understand, and so Ambrosio clarifies that he means “love” in the romantic sense. Antonia admits that she has not—not recognizing her feelings for Lorenzo as love. But Ambrosio, encouraged, asks Antonia whether she feels she is missing something by not having someone to pine for. Antonia pauses and admits that she feels this way about Ambrosio (though she still doesn’t grasp what sort of “love” the monk is talking about).
As illustrated by the abridged version of the Bible Elvira gives Antonia, Elvira has tried to protect her daughter from the evils of the world by making her ignorant of them. But shielding Antonia from the world’s evils does not make them go away—it only leaves Antonia underprepared to recognize and protect herself against any evils that might come her way, as Antonia’s obliviousness to Ambrosio’s advances in this scene shows.
Themes
Unaware of Antonia’s misunderstanding, Ambrosio lunges toward her, traps her in an embrace, and kisses her violently. She resists and pleads with him to stop, but he is undeterred. Just then, the door to Elvira’s room opens, and Ambrosio hurriedly backs away from Antonia. Antonia gratefully runs inside her mother’s chamber.
Antonia manages to evade the worst of Ambrosio’s advances for the time being, but it’s a narrow escape—had Elvira’s door not opened at just the right moment, the situation could have ended quite differently. Elvira’s good timing seems a little too coincidental, leading the reader to wonder whether she is privy to Ambrosio’s ill intentions with Antonia.
Themes
Unbeknownst to Ambrosio, Antonia innocently relayed some of his attempts at seduction to Elvira, who immediately grew suspicious of the monk’s intentions for her daughter. Thinking that Ambrosio might have impure motives for his frequent visits, Elvira began to keep a watchful eye on Ambrosio, though she has been careful to keep her suspicions secret. Now, realizing her suspicions were correct, Elvira suggests he stop coming around so often—surely there are others who need his company more than they do. Though Elvira expresses her wishes carefully, her implied accusation is clear to Ambrosio. After Ambrosio leaves, Elvira warns Antonia to be careful around Ambrosio from then on. Antonia is sad about this, though she doesn’t understand her mother’s reasoning.
As the reader may have guessed, Ambrosio’s attempts at seduction (which went right over Antonia’s innocent, inexperienced head) were not lost on the more worldly, experienced Elvira. Meanwhile, although Elvira expresses her wishes carefully, it’s clear to Ambrosio that she no longer trusts him. Ambrosio cares deeply about his reputation, and so it doesn’t bode well for Elvira that Ambrosio knows she is privy to his dark, secret urges. This scene creates narrative tension, as the reader is left to wonder if Ambrosio will retaliate against Elvira—how far is he willing to go to protect his reputation?
Themes
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Back in his cell, Ambrosio laments his foiled plot to corrupt Antonia. Just then, he hears a quiet knock at his door. It’s Matilda. When he sternly tells her he’s busy, she pleads with him to be kind and at least let her speak with him as a friend. He allows her inside, and she proceeds to tell him more about her history. She confesses that the uncle who raised her dabbled in magic and could even summon the powers of the “infernal spirits.” She admits that this was what she was doing in the vault many nights ago: she summoned a demon who is now hers to command. Matilda’s confession shocks Ambrosio: why would she doom her soul to eternal suffering for a temporary boost of power? Ambrosio might have given in to the temptation of lust, but that’s a far cry from sorcery.
Matilda’s story about her uncle’s history of summoning “infernal spirits” (i.e., demons) should signal to Ambrosio that enough is enough: it’s one thing to break his vow of celibacy, but it is quite another to cavort with devil worshippers. Indeed, Matilda’s latest admission does seem to give Ambrosio pause, causing him to reevaluate whether his pursuit of pleasure is really worth the possibility of damning his soul to eternal suffering.
Themes
Matilda tells Ambrosio that if he follows her into the vault at St. Clare, she’ll perform incantations that will allow Antonia to be all his. When Ambrosio resists, Matilda accuses him of refusing her offer not because he doesn’t want to, but because he’s afraid to. Matilda continues to reason with Ambrosio, arguing that if God forgives all sinners, he’ll forgive Ambrosio’s sin of sorcery, too. Matilda’s impious language disgusts Ambrosio, though, and he declares that he will have Antonia by “human” means—not with the help of the devil. Matilda says this can’t possibly happen, since Elvira has banned Ambrosio from visiting with Antonia. Then she removes a mirror covered in odd letters from her habit—a gift, she explains, that has allowed her to witness Ambrosio’s activities at Elvira’s apartment.
As Ambrosio continues to resist using sorcery to have his way with Antonia, Matilda responds with increasingly persuasive arguments to get him to acquiesce. This might lead the reader to wonder why she is so invested in leading Ambrosio astray and whether she has some yet unknown motive for doing so. Indeed, she seems more determined to ensure that Ambrosio succeeds at seducing Antonia than Ambrosio himself. Notably, Ambrosio doesn’t question Matilda’s methods for helping him, perhaps suggesting that he is more willing than he realizes to overlook any details that might stand in the way of his designs.
Themes
Ambrosio’s curiosity gets the best of him, and he gazes into Matilda’s magic mirror, which reveals Antonia undressing in her chamber. A bird flies in and nibbles at her breasts. Witnessing this sumptuous scene is too much for Ambrosio, and he immediately orders Matilda to take him to the vault: he’s willing to do whatever it takes to have Antonia, even if it involves sorcery.
The swiftness with which Ambrosio reverses course and decides he’s on board with resorting to sorcery to have Antonia is almost comical—all it takes is one quick look at the titillating scene that plays out on the surface of Matilda’s magic mirror. Comedy aside, this scene further highlights the power of Ambrosio’s baser human urges to override his supposedly strong religious conviction.
Themes
Matilda leads Ambrosio to the entrance of the vaults at St. Clare. She tells him to wait while she goes inside to get something. Alone, the darkness frightens Ambrosio, but he tries not to show it. He’s also afraid of the sin of sorcery he’s about to commit, yet he reassures himself that he has time to repent. Suddenly, he hears the groans of someone in pain coming from within the vault, but his own terror is too great for him to give the mysterious groaning much notice. Eventually Matilda returns with her basket and a lamp. She beckons for Ambrosio to follow her into the vault and then leads him down many narrow passageways.
Ambrosio knows that it’s wrong to practice sorcery, yet he ignores his guilty conscience in pursuit of pleasure. This makes his behavior all the more morally indefensible. Worse still is his implied refusal to accept responsibility for his sins: he seems to justify his behavior on the grounds that Matilda is leading him to sin, minimizing his own culpability at any chance he gets. Not only is Ambrosio a sinner, but he is also a hypocrite: he responds to others’ sins with the utmost severity, yet he refuses to hold himself to that same standard of conduct.
Themes
Eventually they arrive at a spacious cavern, where Matilda removes a bottle from her basket and pours some of its contents onto the ground. A flame rises from the ground, and Matilda recites her mysterious incantations. Then she suddenly shrieks and flails her body about. She plunges a knife into her arm and lets the blood pour into the fire. The ground begins to shake, and Ambrosio suddenly grows cold and shaky.
This is the most overt display of sorcery that Ambrosio has witnessed thus far, and yet he still fails to remove himself from the situation and atone for his sins. His initial sin of breaking his vow of celibacy has sent him down a slippery slope of increasingly depraved acts, and he seems to have descended well past the point of return.
Themes
Just then, a demon appears. He’s naked and has red wings and a star on his forehead, and he seems to shine with “dazzling glory.” Matilda speaks to the demon in a language Ambrosio doesn’t understand as Ambrosio looks on in awe. Finally, the demon places a branch of myrtle in Matilda’s hands and then disappears. Matilda explains to Ambrosio that he must place the myrtle on Antonia’s pillow past midnight. A death-like sleep will overtake her, and Ambrosio will be able to have his way with her without her waking. In the morning, she’ll register that she has lost her virtue, but she won’t know who did it. Ambrosio takes the myrtle from Matilda and then follows her out of the vault. The two retreat to their respective cells for the night. Ambrosio can’t wait until midnight.
The appearance of a demon confirms in no uncertain terms the depth of Ambrosio’s depravity: now he can add sorcery to the many sins he has committed since first breaking his vow of celibacy to have sex with Matilda, even if he has only indirectly summoned the demon through Matilda’s incantations. Though contemporary readers may take greater issue with the sexual assault of Antonia that Ambrosio is apparently all too eager to commit, it’s worth noting that, according to Church doctrine, sorcery is a far more serious sin.
Themes
