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The Wandering Jew
Cowls
In The Monk, cowls (loose hoods or hooded robes worn by monks) symbolize the unreliability of physical appearance to reflect inner truths. In particular, they represent religious hypocrisy. In the novel, two notably deceptive…
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The Madona
The painting of the Madona—the Virgin Mary—that hangs in Ambrosio’s cell symbolizes what the novel presents as religious doctrine’s limited ability to suppress human instinct. It also represents Ambrosio’s hypocrisy. At first, Ambrosio turns…
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