Agnes Character Analysis in The Monk

Agnes is a young nun at the convent of St. Clare. She is the sister of Lorenzo. Agnes was sent to St. Clare by her jealous aunt, the baroness, who sought to thwart Agnes’s plans to elope with her beloved, Raymond. The baroness also lied about Raymond’s intentions for Agnes, claiming that Raymond had never loved her and only wanted to marry her for her wealth. The couple reconciles after Raymond tracks down Agnes at the convent and explains his side of the story. They makes new plans to elope, but after the convent’s prioress learns of Agnes’s affair—and the pregnancy that resulted from it—she takes Agnes prisoner in the convent’s crypt, leaving her to live out the rest of her days surrounded by the decaying corpses of the convent’s departed nuns and subsisting on a meager diet of water and bread. Meanwhile, the prioress convinces the public that Agnes has died. A malnourished and traumatized Agnes is eventually discovered in the crypt after an elderly nun, Mother St. Ursula, alerts the public to the prioress’s murderous schemes. Agnes gradually recovers, and she and Raymond eventually marry, living out the rest of their days in happiness.

Agnes Quotes in The Monk

The The Monk quotes below are all either spoken by Agnes or refer to Agnes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

You cannot but be aware, that your parents were unfortunate slaves to the grossest superstition: when this foible was called into play, their every other sentiment, their every other passion, yielded to its irresistible strength.

Related Characters: Raymond (speaker), Lorenzo, Agnes

Page Number and Citation: 116

Explanation and Analysis:

‘Take care of yourself,’ she continued; ‘my love is become hatred, and my wounded pride shall not be unatoned. Go where you will, my vengeance shall follow you!’

Related Characters: The Baroness (speaker), Agnes, Ambrosio, Raymond

Page Number and Citation: 127

Explanation and Analysis:

‘I tremble for your sister,’ said she; ‘I have heard many traits of the domina of St Clare’s character from a friend who was educated in the same convent with her: she reported her to be haughty, inflexible, superstitious, and revengeful. […] Though naturally violent and severe, when her interests require it, she well knows how to assume an appearance of benignity. […]’

Related Characters: Elvira (speaker), Agnes, Lorenzo, The Prioress

Page Number and Citation: 189

Explanation and Analysis:

His good sense had pointed out to him the artifices of the monks, the gross absurdity of their miracles, wonders, and suppositious reliques. He blushed to see his countrymen the dupes of deceptions so ridiculous, and only wished for an opportunity to free them from their monkish fetters. That opportunity, so long desired in vain, was at length presented to him. He resolved not to let it slip, but to set before the people, in glaring colours, how enormous were the abuses but too frequently practiced in monasteries, and how unjustly public esteem was bestowed indiscriminately upon all who wore a religious habit. He longed for the moment destined to unmask the hypocrites, and convince his countrymen, that a sanctified exterior does not always hide a virtuous heart.

Related Characters: Mother St. Ursula, Theodore, Agnes, Lorenzo, Ambrosio, The Prioress

Page Number and Citation: 297-298

Explanation and Analysis:

Virginia requested that the unknown might be given to her in charge, and promised to let Lorenzo know, whenever she was sufficiently recovered to accept his visits. In truth, she made this promise more from consideration for herself, than for either Lorenzo or the captive. She had witnessed his politeness, gentleness, and intrepidity with sensible emotion. She wished earnestly to preserve his acquaintance; and in addition to the sentiments of pity which the prisoner excited, she hoped that her attention to this unfortunate would raise her a degree in the esteem of Lorenzo.

Related Characters: Agnes, Raymond, The Prioress, Lorenzo, Virginia

Page Number and Citation: 321

Explanation and Analysis:

Agnes Character Timeline in The Monk

The timeline below shows where the character Agnes appears in The Monk. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Lorenzo, who only arrived in Madrid last night, says he needs to see his sister (Agnes), who is in a convent, first. Don Christoval insinuates that Lorenzo forced Agnes to reside... (full context)

...finds himself on the pavement of the church. As he gets up to head to Agnes’s convent, he spots a cloaked, suspicious looking man outside the church. Lorenzo watches as the... (full context)

...retrieves the cloaked man’s letter before continuing into the church. Lorenzo realizes the nun is Agnes and angrily rushes forward to confront the mystery man, who is still hidden behind the... (full context)

...(evening prayers), Ambrosio stays in the chapel to listen to the nuns’ confessions. One nun (Agnes) lets a letter fall from her habit, and she’s alarmed when she realizes Ambrosio has... (full context)

Ambrosio refuses to grant Agnes mercy and tells the prioress about Agnes’s sin. He feels bad when Agnes is dragged... (full context)

Raymond and Lorenzo head to Raymond’s hotel room to discuss Raymond’s relationship with Agnes. Lorenzo treats Raymond coldly, upset the latter has put Agnes’s reputation at risk. Raymond asks... (full context)

...and the two become friends. It’s at the castle of Lindenberg where Raymond first meets Agnes, and he is immediately struck by her beauty, intelligence, and talent at music and drawing.... (full context)

Upon her healthy birth (and her mother’s recovery), Agnes is sent away to live at a convent in Germany and trained for her adult... (full context)

Raymond continues his story. He immediately resolves to rescue Agnes from her future as a nun and suggests they elope. Agnes, however, insists that Raymond... (full context)

Raymond runs into Agnes sitting in a parlor and working on a drawing. She invites him to sit with... (full context)

According to Agnes, the bleeding nun is an apparition who roams the hallways of the castle of Lindenberg... (full context)

When Raymond asks whether Agnes believes in the bleeding nun, Agnes says she’s too sensible to believe in such superstition.... (full context)

Just as Raymond is leaving Strasbourg, Theodore intercepts him to covertly deliver a letter from Agnes, in which she instructs Raymond to hide out in a nearby village. She’ll find him,... (full context)

Agnes tells Raymond her plan. It’s now April 30—meaning the bleeding nun’s arrival is imminent. Agnes... (full context)

...days. Theodore delights in tormenting the old woman, and everyone back at the castle, save Agnes, have no idea what has happened to the old woman. On the fifth of May,... (full context)

When Raymond comes to, he asks the peasants who apparently rescued him about Agnes. The peasants, puzzled, inform Raymond that was traveling alone. Days pass, yet still Raymond hears... (full context)

...visits him to explain what happened the night of the thwarted scheme. According to Theodore, Agnes was waiting for Raymond at the designated spot and was shocked and dismayed when he... (full context)

...Lindenberg Hole and, upon burying them, her apparition no longer haunts him. Raymond learns that Agnes has since taken her holy vows, and so he heads to Madrid in the hopes... (full context)

...Raymond takes over the gardener’s job. One day, he spots the prioress speaking sternly with Agnes about the sin of pining over the loss of an unfaithful lover. After the prioress... (full context)

Agnes and Raymond continue to meet in secret for several weeks, though Agnes initially resists the... (full context)

A few months later, Raymond receives a letter from Agnes informing him that she is pregnant. She pleads for him to return and rescue her... (full context)

Lorenzo acknowledges that Raymond was wrong to act on temptation but doesn’t blame him—Raymond and Agnes wouldn’t be the first to engage in premarital sex. He gives Raymond his full support,... (full context)

Meanwhile, Lorenzo returns to Raymond to plan their rescue of Agnes. The friends take a coach to the convent and sneak in through the garden at... (full context)

Lorenzo returns to the convent each day, but every time, he’s told that Agnes is doing even worse. He becomes convinced that this is a lie, and so he... (full context)

Lorenzo tells Elvira about his ongoing predicament with Agnes and assures her that, as soon as that problem is resolved, he will set to... (full context)

...to St. Clare. He approaches the prioress after the church service and confronts her about Agnes. Once more, the prioress lies about Agnes’s worsening condition. When Lorenzo tells her about the... (full context)

...the cemetery. As they hide, they overhear the prioress and another nun, Mother Camilla, discussing Agnes. Mother Camilla urges the prioress to be more lenient with Agnes, but the prioress holds... (full context)

After the prioress and Mother Camilla leave, Ambrosio explains Agnes’s situation to Matilda. He insists on meeting with the prioress tomorrow to convince her to... (full context)

Lorenzo’s grief over Agnes’s apparent death prevents him from reaching out to his uncle (the baron) about accepting his... (full context)

Meanwhile, Raymond’s grief over Agnes is so great that he falls seriously ill. Theodore, fiercely loyal to his master, resolves... (full context)

...She flashes Theodore a meaningful look and, in a voice only he can hear, whispers, “Agnes!” The prioress returns just then and angrily demands to speak with Mother St. Ursula. Excited... (full context)

...to tell anyone of their plans if they want to learn of the injustices that Agnes’s “assassins” inflicted upon her. Lorenzo responds to the letter with mixed emotions: while it confirms... (full context)

...her closest relative, but he never receives the letter because Raymond, overcome with grief over Agnes’s apparent death, failed to approach the marquis about supporting Antonia as he’d promised Lorenzo he’d... (full context)

...a troop of men to back him as he goes to the convent to avenge Agnes’s apparent murder. He has not yet heard about Antonia’s apparent death. Raymond’s health remains stable,... (full context)

...on Theodore’s description. Mother St. Ursula whispers to another nun that they are saved, since her—Agnes’s—brother is here. Then a wheeled cart passes by. On top of the cart, a beautiful... (full context)

...climbs upon the empty throne to address the crowd and tell them the tale of Agnes’s horrific and undeserved fate. Mother St. Ursula accuses the prioress of abusing her authority to... (full context)

Mother St. Ursula explains that the prioress exaggerated Agnes’s supposed sins in order to justify this extreme punishment. When the other nuns protested, the... (full context)

...It’s also revealed that all the nuns other than the prioress’s confidants were convinced of Agnes’s death. Still, the angry mob attacked and killed any nuns it could find, even some... (full context)

...Lorenzo leaves, Virginia sets to work tending to the emaciated woman—whom she eventually recognizes as Agnes! Virginia knew Agnes at the convent, but the poor girl was initially unrecognizable in her... (full context)

After Agnes recovers, she fills in some of the details of the horrific things that were done... (full context)

Agnes was pregnant when she was buried, and eventually she gave birth to a premature baby,... (full context)

It’s revealed that Agnes’s tormenters either died in the convent fire or were killed by the mob. In the... (full context)

The Monk

Agnes Character Analysis

Agnes Quotes in The Monk

Chapter 4 Quotes

Chapter 5 Quotes

Chapter 10 Quotes

Agnes Character Timeline in The Monk