What if your holiest vows became the key to your own damnation?In The Monk, Matthew Gregory Lewis delivers one of literature's most notorious tales of moral collapse and gothic terror. Revered friar Ambrosio believes himself immune to sin-until a mysterious novice unmasks herself as the deadly temptress Matilda.
Each indulgence drags him deeper: from secret liaisons to black magic, from deceit to diabolic bargain, until Heaven itself seems powerless to save him.
What You'll Discover in This Modern Translation:
- A Scandalous Descent from Sanctity to Sorcery - Follow Ambrosio's journey from haloed icon to hell-bound renegade.
- Iconic Gothic Set Pieces - Haunted crypts, midnight rites, bleeding statues, and the Devil in disguise.
- Themes of Hypocrisy, Desire, and Corruption - A timeless warning about power unchecked by humility.
- A Landmark of Gothic Literature - Inspiration for Poe, Byron, and countless dark romantics.
- Streamlined, Accessible Prose - Archaic wording refined for today's reader while preserving Lewis's macabre flair.
Daring, decadent, and disturbingly modern, The Monk remains the definitive novel of lust turned lethal.