The Monk n/e (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Lewis, Matthew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198704453 ISBN 13: 9780198704454

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2016

Synopsis

'He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his desires at any price.'

The Monk (1796) is a sensational story of temptation and depravity, a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and the first horror novel in English literature. The respected monk Ambrosio, the Abbot of a Capuchin monastery in Madrid, is overwhelmed with desire for a young girl; once having abandoned his monastic vows he begins a terrible descent into immorality and violence. His appalling fall from grace embraces blasphemy, black magic, torture, rape, and murder, and places his very soul in jeopardy.

Lewis's extraordinary tale drew on folklore, legendary ghost stories, and contemporary dread inspired by the terrors of the French Revolution. Its excesses shocked the reading public and it was condemned as obscene. The novel continues to beguile and shock readers today with its gruesome catalogue of iniquities, while at the same time giving a profound insight into the deep anxieties experienced by British citizens during one of the most turbulent periods in the nation's history.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

It is only rarely reprinted and, indeed, it is accorded no great stature among the classics of English literature. But The Monk caused a sensation when it was first published in 1796, and its 20-year-old author, British novelist MATTHEW GREGORY LEWIS (1775-1818), earned the nickname "Monk" Lewis thanks to the outrageous success of this then-scandalous and shocking Gothic novel. Most readers today will find that the genres of horror and dark romance have since past The Monk by, but this tale of the terrors of the Spanish Inquisition--from lust and incest to scheming and murder--remains a fascinating read for fans and historians of pulp fiction. Hugely influential on writers as diverse as Victor Hugo and Jane Austen, this is an important keystone of modern popular fiction that lay readers and scholars alike will find intriguing.

About the Author:

Nick Groom publishes widely for both academic and popular readerships and his recent books include The Forger's Shadow (2002), The Union Jack (2006), The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction (2012), and an edition of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto for Oxford World's Classics (2014). His book The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing Year (2013) was shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award and nominated for BBC Countryfile Book of the Year.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0198704453
• ISBN 13: 9780198704454
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Groom Nick