A Clergyman Who Tramples on the Integrity of Humanity

    Human Dignity and The Monk

    By Efe Günay Değirmencioğlu and Egemen Ege

The Monk, which was written by Matthew Gregory Lewis and published in 1796 is a scandalous story about a monk who reveals his true dark nature due to the temptations of a witch named Matilda and Lucifer who is a biblical fallen angel. Ambrosio, the primary character, is a beloved monk among the clergy and the general public. This young monk, who grew up with the priests, became an idol in the eyes of the believers, avoiding women and other sins. But as the story progresses, things don’t stay so innocent, and the Matilda-influenced young monk in Lucifer’s service, due to that Ambrosio reveals his true nature through various wicked acts. And with each gruesome act, the young monk further tarnishes the dignity of humanity.

What started Ambrosio’s downfall is Ambrosio’s breaking of his vow of virginity with Matilda. After this act, Ambrosio does not treat Matilda like a human or a woman, instead he says disgusting things to the woman he is with and treats her like a prostitute. He loathes him through the novel even though she is his only supporter and friend in a way. This demonstrates how much Ambrosio  does not value human dignity and demonstrates how corruptible the young monk’s terribly arrogant personality is. And this Ambrosio, instead of suffering from all this, still pretends to be a good monk and makes plans to get his next target, Antonia, despite the woman’s disapproval and having a lover. As the novel progresses, Ambrosio discovers an opportunity to sexually harass Antonia and attempts to have her against her will by exploiting the poor girl’s predicament in bed. However, the girl’s kind-hearted mother opposes Ambrosio’s treacherous plan, and the cruel monk kills the woman right there and then without thinking. Ambrosio’s murder of a good woman and Christian like Elvira for such a heinous reason demonstrates to the reader the importance that young monk places on human life. And it shows again what Ambrosio can do to other people for his desires. And Ambrosio then rapes Elvira’s daughter Antonio and kills him instead of learning from his mistakes or asking God for forgiveness. This move is both to ignore the girl’s mother’s wishes, to put her poor lover in great sadness, and most importantly, to attempt to ruin the poor girl’s life and not to give importance to the girl’s choice. As a result of his actions, Ambrosio is tortured by the inquisition to confess his crimes, and is sentenced to death by execution. Although Ambrosio’s actions are disgraceful, judicial methods such as torture and execution  are also against  the dignity of a person. This puts the reader in a great dilemma. Ambrosio has trampled on the dignity of so many people, does it give others the same right?

In short, Matthew Gregory Lewis’ book The Monk is one of the appropriate examples of the violation of human dignity, through acts of the corrupted monk Ambrosio.