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ejection of inherited dogma. This is a point that was explicitly made by Coleridge in his
review of The Monk: “The most painful impression which the work left on our minds was
that of great acquirements and splendid genius employed to furnish a ‘mormo’ for
children, a poison for youth, and a provocative for the debauchee.”
127
Previously, it was noted that The Monk was categorized as both “obscene” and
“blasphemous” because the content transgressed the accepted rules and conventions
regarding the depiction of lewd conduct and the expression of an anti-religious sentiment.
According to Gamer, T.J. Mathias was particularly voluble about the necessity that Lewis
be prosecuted for obscenity and blasphemy (84). It is obvious that the accusation of
obscenity referred to the depictions regarding Ambrosio’s fulfillment of his lustful
desires, such as the rape of Antonia discussed above. With regard to blasphemy, The
European Magazine’s review of Lewis’ novel condemned the satirical treatment of
religious institutions and the depiction of Ambrosio and Matilda’s lewd conduct as an
“oblique attack upon venerable establishments” (qtd. in Watt 92), an attack which is
literalized in the novel by the rioting mob’s attack on the convent of St. Clare.
Furthermore, the portrayal of religious power as hypocritical and vile as well as the
narrator’s overall cynical tone regarding the church-goers’ cross-purposes at the novel’s
onset were sure to provoke the indignation of conservatives. While the setting and the
various clerical characters mentioned in the text suggest that it is the Catholic religion
that comes under fire in Lewis’ text, The Monk cannot be considered as a supporter of
Anglicanism or Protestantism or any other institution of political authority. On the one
hand, Clara Tuite comments that the novel was perceived as blasphemous and irreverent
because the clerical order depicted in The Monk could be clearly distinguished from