Recommendations
Books Like The Monk
Best books to read after The Monk by Matthew Lewis
Readers who love The Monk by Matthew Lewis are drawn to its combination of the most transgressive Gothic novel of the Romantic period, the explicit investigation of the relationship between religious repression and sexual violence, and the literal supernatural apparatus (Matilda as demon, the Devil at the end). They want works that deal with Gothic transgression, the Catholic villain, and the tradition that Lewis established as the dark complement to Radcliffe's female Gothic.
- 1Buy
The Mysteries of Udolpho
by Ann Radcliffe
Radcliffe's companion — the female Gothic response. The companion as the text Lewis was partly reacting against: where Radcliffe uses the explained supernatural and avoids explicit sexuality, Lewis takes the Gothic into territory Radcliffe refused
- 2Buy
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
Shelley's companion — the creature and his creator. The companion as the Gothic novel's transformation: Mary Shelley uses the Gothic conventions Lewis had developed (the transgression, the supernatural compact, the catastrophic consequence) to investigate questions of creation and responsibility
- 3Buy
Melmoth the Wanderer
by Charles Maturin
Maturin's companion — the wanderer cursed by his supernatural pact. The companion as the fullest development of the supernatural compact that Lewis established: Melmoth is what Ambrosio's pact with the Devil would look like if organized around the entire history of European transgression
- 4Buy
Vathek
by William Beckford
Beckford's companion — the Caliph's pursuit of supernatural knowledge. The companion as the Oriental Gothic version of the same investigation: both The Monk and Vathek are organized around a figure of power whose transgression of moral and supernatural limits leads to catastrophic punishment
- 5Buy
The Castle of Otranto
by Horace Walpole
The companion predecessor — the founding text. The companion as the origin: where Walpole established the conventions, Lewis radicalized them — taking the supernatural from the melodramatic to the genuinely demonic and the transgression from the implied to the explicit
- 6Buy
Dracula
by Bram Stoker
Stoker's companion — Count Dracula. The companion as the late Gothic realization: Dracula inherits from The Monk the explicitly sexual supernatural threat — Dracula's relationship to the women he attacks goes back to Lewis's Ambrosio-Antonia relationship
- 7Buy
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
Wilde's companion — Dorian's aesthetic transgression. The companion as the aestheticist Gothic: both The Monk and The Picture of Dorian Gray are organized around a beautiful young man whose inner transgression is hidden by an external perfection, and both investigate the relationship between aesthetics and moral constraint
- 8Buy
The Italian
by Ann Radcliffe
Radcliffe's companion response — Schedoni and Ellena. The companion as Radcliffe's direct response to Lewis: The Italian was written immediately after The Monk and partly as a demonstration that the most effective Gothic villain (Schedoni) does not need the supernatural to be terrifying
More The Monk Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.