Literary Criticism of Matthew Lewis’ Novel, The Monk Essay -- Monk

Literary Criticism of Matthew Lewis Novel, The MonkElliot B. Goses essay The Monk, from Imagination Indulged The Irrational in the Nineteenth-Century Novel, is a psychological survey of Matthew Lewis refreshed The Monk. Gose uses Freuds and Jungs psychological theories in his analysis of The Monks author and characters. To understand Goses ideas, we must first contextualize his conception of Freuds and Jungs theories. According to Gose According to Freud we must olfactory modality behind conscious daydreaming, as well as behind unconscious sleep dreaming, for keys to the unsatisfied primitive desires of the self. According to Jung, when investigating such fantasy, we sometimes take note ourselves in the presence of a vision that transcends the bounds of the immediate self and its limitations (216). Gose believes that The Monk is the artistic work that led to the writing of Wuthering Heights and Bleak hearth , though Lewis novel comprises flawed components that separate it from th e other novels artistic greatness. Additionally, he finds the qualifications Chase set for a romance novel in The Monk Lewis novel is set in the past, the characters are two-dimensional, the characters serve mainly for plot function, and the plot events are unrealistic. Gose expresses concern in analyzing Lewis, due to the lack of information about his childhood, so Gose analyses Lewis only from sources he deems valid, such as a collection of Lewis letters. He sights the separation of Lewis parents as a traceable indication of an event leading to Lewis rent psyche. Lewis lived with his father only. from the age of six, and followed his fathers educational wishes. Then, as a young man, Lewis entered the Civil Service influenced by his mother... ... manages to seduce him (217). What does he mean by Matilda manages? Is Ambrosio not a active participant of the seduction? Gose is taking guilt off Ambrosios shoulders that rightfully belongs there. Gose does not even allude to the word homosexual in the passages about Ambrosios standoff to Rosario and the devil. The transgendered theory was outdated in 1972 when Gose wrote this essay, but he still describes Ambrosios homosexual tendencies as confused sexual identity (217). Whose sexual identity is Ambrosio confused about, his birth or his lovers? Works CitedBarterian, Gerald R., and Denise Evans, eds. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Vol. 62. Gale Research Detroit, 1998. (original source Gose, Elliot B. Jr. The Monk Imagination Indulged The Irrational in the Nineteenth-Century Novel. McGill-Queens University Press, 1972, pp. 27- 40.)