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Chapter 8
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
Thoughts of Elvira’s corpse consume Ambrosio for a time, but eventually his guilt fades. He tells Matilda about the murder, and she reassures him that what he did wasn’t so bad—after all, it’s only natural to defend oneself when one’s life is threatened. What’s more, things would’ve been very bad for Ambrosio had Elvira made the public aware of his sins. And, with Elvira dead, it’ll be easier for Ambrosio to get to Antonia.
Ambrosio’s guilt is not tied to his actions, but rather to the way others perceive him. As long as nobody finds out about his sins, he is content to continue with his evil deeds in pursuit of pleasure. Meanwhile, Matilda continues to reassure and encourage Ambrosio, leaving readers to wonder why, exactly, she is so invested in bringing about his ruin. What, if any, are her motives for helping him to sin?
Themes
One problem is that Ambrosio, in his former moral anguish, destroyed the enchanted myrtle. Matilda tells him that he can call on the demons for more assistance, but he’ll have to “subscribe to their established conditions.” Ambrosio says he’s not ready to do this, and Matilda backs off—for now.
Matilda seems to imply that Ambrosio will have to call on the demons directly this time if he wants additional help—earlier, Matilda called on the demons on Ambrosio’s behalf. Ambrosio claims that this is a line he is not ready to cross, but if his pattern of behavior continues as it has up to this point, it’s only a matter of time before he reneges and decides he's willing to corrupt his soul just a little bit more in pursuit of pleasure.
Themes
Back at Elvira’s, Antonia awakes, stumbles on the corpse of her mother and shrieks in horror. She falls to the floor and clings to her dead mother. Antonia’s cries alert Flora, who runs to Antonia’s chamber and, upon seeing Elvira’s corpse, begins to shriek as well. Elvira’s superstitious landlady, Jacintha, finds out what happened and arranges for a funeral—not out of compassion, but because she doesn’t want Elvira’s ghost haunting the building. Jacintha arranges for Elvira to be buried at St. Clare’s cemetery. Due to Elvira’s recent illness, everyone assumes she died of natural causes.
Jacintha is yet another character whose superstitious beliefs come across as religious compassion. She appears to organize Elvira’s funeral out of pity for Antonia, but her motives are ultimately selfish: she is terrified that Elvira’s ghost will haunt her home if the corpse is not properly laid to rest. Jacintha’s character, while providing some comic relief, also adds to the novel’s broader critique of Catholicism.
Themes
Antonia falls into a deep melancholy. Now, she is alone in a strange city with little money and even fewer friends. Leonella remains away for the indeterminate future, and Antonia hasn’t heard from Lorenzo. Antonia wants to go to Ambrosio for comfort, but she doesn’t, remembering her mother’s warning to stay away from him. Finally, she writes to the marquis de las Cisternas (Raymond), 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 do. Antonia’s luck improves somewhat when a letter arrives from Leonella announcing her return to Madrid that Tuesday.
Antonia’s helplessness in the aftermath of her mother’s death foregrounds the shortcomings of Elvira’s efforts to protect her: Elvira thought that shielding Antonia from the evils of the world might protect her from them, but it has only left Antonia woefully underequipped to confront those evils. What’s more, Antonia suffers despite her virtuousness, adding to the book’s attack on conventional understandings of morality. In the novel, bad things can—and often do—happen to good people, and Antonia’s plight is a prime example of this moral injustice.
Themes
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Antonia, Flora, and Jacintha stay up late into the night on Tuesday, awaiting Leonella’s arrival. To pass the time, Antonia re-enters her mother’s chamber for the first time since Elvira’s death. She’s initially overcome with sadness, but this quickly gives way to fear when she registers the dark emptiness of the room and realizes how alone she is. Suddenly she hears a creak behind her, and she turns to see Elvira’s ghost. Elvira tells Antonia they’ll meet again in three days. Petrified, Atonia shrieks before collapsing to the floor and losing consciousness. When she comes to, Jacintha is beside her. But when Antonia tells Jacintha what she saw, superstitious Jacintha immediately runs to the monastery to speak with Ambrosio.
Elvira’s ghost adds an additional supernatural element to the novel, as is typical within the genre of gothic fiction. Elvira’s announcement that she and Antonia will meet again in three days seems to foreshadow Antonia’s imminent death, imbuing the plot with a sense of foreboding and creative narrative tension. Of course, if Elvira’s ghost visited Antonia with the intention of protecting Antonia, her efforts have backfired, as Jacintha reacts to the ghostly visitor by sprinting straight to the person who least has Antonia’s best interests at heart: Ambrosio.
Themes
At the monastery, Jacintha hysterically tells Ambrosio about Elvira’s death and the subsequent appearance of Elvira’s ghost. She relates a nonsensical story about seeing Elvira unashamedly eating a chicken wing—on a Friday—just before her death: this, Jacintha insists, is why Elvira’s spirit cannot remain at rest. Jacintha pleads with Ambrosio to come to the house and sprinkle it with holy water. Ambrosio considers her request. On the one hand, he won’t be able to conceal his visit to Jacintha’s house—meaning everyone will know he has broken his vow to never leave the monastery. On the other hand, he deeply desires to see Antonia. Ultimately, his desire for Antonia wins out, and he agrees to follow Jacintha to her lodging house that instant.
Jacintha’s hysterical story about Elvira dying because she ate chicken on a Friday ridicules what the novel portrays as Catholic superstition—according to Church doctrine, Catholics (as well as other Christian denominations, though with varying degrees of severity) are supposed to abstain from meat on Fridays. Ironically, Catholic doctrine ends up protecting Ambrosio from facing the consequences of his sin, as Jacintha’s Catholic beliefs supply her with a theologically sound explanation for Elvira’s death and subsequent haunting. This moment of dark humor adds to the book’s broader critique of the Catholic Church.
Themes
Ambrosio and Jacintha arrive at Elvira’s apartment in Jacintha’s lodging house. Seeing Elvira’s ghost so horrified Antonia that she disregards her mother’s vague warnings about Ambrosio and is instead grateful to see him. She tells him about seeing Elvira’s ghost and about what the ghost said about Antonia dying in three days. Ambrosio comforts Antonia and promises to return tomorrow. Flora, who was told by Elvira never to leave Ambrosio alone with Antonia, watches the monk like a hawk.
The efforts of Elvira to protect her daughter backfire once more: Antonia, in her state of agonizing grief, seeks comfort in Ambrosio’s company despite Elvira’s warning to stay away from him. Yet again, Elvira’s strategy of shielding Antonia from the evils of the world ultimately ends up putting Antonia at a disadvantage to defend herself when those evils inevitably come her way.
Themes
Back at the monastery, Ambrosio frets over the possibility that Antonia may soon die. Matilda reassures him that this isn’t so—it’s merely a side effect of Antonia’s hysterical grief. But Matilda also proposes a plan that will ensure that Antonia is Ambrosio’s for eternity, but they have to act fast: soon Lorenzo will return to declare Antonia his betrothed, and then Ambrosio will have lost his chance. Matilda tells Ambrosio about a special plant that, when ingested, mimics the appearance of death. Ambrosio should slip some into Antonia’s medicine when he visits her tonight. She’ll appear dead and will be buried in the vaults at St. Clare but will revive 48 hours later. At that point, she will be entirely under Ambrosio’s control. Ambrosio is immediately on board with the plan and fantasizes about all he will do to Antonia once she belongs to him.
Matilda has repeatedly withheld information from Ambrosio or otherwise manipulated his perception of reality, so the reader might be skeptical of her insistence that Antonia will be all right. The detail of the plant that mimics the effects of death might hint at Agnes’s yet unknown fate: Mother St. Ursula, the prioress, and all the other nuns insist that Agnes has died, yet it could be the case that the prioress has merely given Agnes the special plant that Matilda describes to Ambrosio in this scene. In a book where things are rarely as they seem and religious leaders are invariably corrupt and deceitful, it’s not illogical to second-guess the prioress’s claim that Agnes is dead.
Themes
Ambrosio springs into action, heading to St. Clare to acquire the special herb, which Matilda informed him may only be found in the convent’s laboratory. After retrieving a vial of the herb, he heads to Jacintha’s lodging house to administer the potion to Antonia. Ambrosio wants to leave immediately in order to evade suspicion, but Jacintha reminds him that he promised to inspect Elvira’s old chamber to ensure the ghost was no longer there. Ambrosio reluctantly agrees and shuts himself inside Elvira’s chamber. Though Matilda warned him the ghost was merely a figment of Jacintha’s hysterical imagination, he starts to feel creeped out. When he hears a rustling from the curtains, he is overcome with a sudden burst of terror and bolts from the room.
The detail of the special herb only existing within the convent’s laboratory is further evidence that Agnes may have been given the herb, too. In that case, there is still hope that she may be reunited with Lorenzo and Raymond and that some happy, just ending is still possible in a book that is otherwise so dominated by depravity and moral injustice. Ambrosio’s unease at being in Elvira’s room might reflect his lingering guilt over murdering her, but it could also reflect his anxiety about his misdeed coming to light and soiling his reputation.
Themes
Ambrosio hasn’t gotten far before a frantic Flora catches up to him to apologize—she was the one behind the curtains. Just then, Jacintha approaches, moaning with horror. Elvira’s ghost told the truth: Antonia has begun to convulse and will surely soon die. Later, Father Pablos visits Antonia and determines that she is indeed near death. She soon dies—or at least, she appears to die—and her body is brought to the tomb at St. Clare. Leonella happens to return to Madrid that very day. But, having missed the opportunity to say goodbye to her late sister and niece, she has nothing else to tie her to the city and soon departs once more.
The special herb has worked just as Matilda said it would. Now, with everyone under the impression that Antonia has died, and with her body kept out of reach deep in the crypt of St. Clare, Ambrosio is perfectly positioned to carry out his long-awaited assault of Antonia. At this point, it seems unlikely that Antonia will reap any rewards for her unwavering commitment to virtue. Despite her goodness, she is poised to suffer a tragic fate, reinforcing the book’s position that bad things can and often do happen to good people.
Themes
