2026 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Desecrating the Sacred: Gothic Inversion in The Monk

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2026

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Kim Carter-Cram

Abstract

Influenced by the culture of England after the Protestant Reformation and the start of the French Revolution, Matthew Lewis creates a Gothic novel as a critique of the Catholic Church. This project explores the primary Gothic device of inversion that he uses to desecrate the sacred. Using this device, he takes objects, disciplines, and places that are considered sacred and twists them to be modes of sin and corruption. Although this is seen within the side plot as well, the prime example of this is within Ambrosio’s moral downfall. Ambrosio’s monastery, vow of chastity, and use of sacred images are all perverted to not bring him deeper holiness, but rather deeper immorality. By profaning these specific elements of Catholicism, he creates a uniquely Protestant critique of the Church. Lewis’ use of inversion evokes terror in the reader by subverting expectations and placing depravity where there is external piety. This project examines the ways in which the Gothic can expose potential instability in the Church by profaning what is sacred.

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