The Role of the Monk in the English Gothic Romance 1762-1826
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1944 The Role of the Monk in the English Gothic Romance 1762-1826 Robert A. Pollauf Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Pollauf, Robert A., "The Role of the Monk in the English Gothic Romance 1762-1826" (1944). Master's Theses. 322. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/322 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1944 Robert A. Pollauf THE ROLE OF THE MONK IN THE ENGLISH GOTHIC RO~~NCE 1762-1826 BY ROBERT A. POLUUF. S.J. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LOYOLA UNlVERS ITY DECEMBER 1944 VITA A:UCTORIS Robert A. pollaut, S. ~•• was born in Toledo. Ohio. on JUne 20. 1915. He was graduated trom St. ~ohnts High School. Toledo, Ohio. JUne. 1933. In August. 1933. he entered the JesuIt Novitiate a't Milford. Ohio, and began his studies as an undergraduate student ot Xavier university. Cincinnati. He transferred to West Baden aollege, West Baden Springs, Indiana, in 1937, receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola university. Chicago, in 1939. From 1940 to 1943 the writer taught at. Loyola Academy. Chicago. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FORWARD--5tate of Questlon--purpose of Thesis. • • • • • • • .1 r THE ROLE OF THE MONK IN THE GOTHIC NOVEL. • • • • • • • • 3 Beginnings of Gothic--German and French Influences- Meaning of Goth1c--Elements of Gothic Llterature--Horace Walpole and The Castle o,f otranto--Monks in English Llt erature--Protestant Biastowards Catholic Insti tut1aos- Occasion and Sttitabili ty of MOnk. far Important Role in The Gothic Novel. II THREE EARLY GOTHIC NOVELS. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 24 La~sword Earl of Salisbury (1762) by Thamas Leland- Marik Begifihild--C'llaracterffiics--Impartance--The Castle a,t otranta (1764) by Horace Walpo1e--Plot Qf 'S'tOry--Hiile OTFrlar ~erome--Characterist1cs--Compar18Qn with Regin hald--Importance of the NOvel and Character of Friar Je rome--The Champion of Virtue (1777) by Clara Reeve--plot --Role-o? Father oswald--Uomparison with previous monk characters--Conclusion of Chapter. III SIX MONK VILLAINS. • • • • • .. • • • • • • • • • • • • • 49 Abbot Ambrosio 1n The Monk (1795) by Matthew Gregory Lewls--Father So-hadon1 rn l'heItalian (1796) by Mrs. Ann Radcliffe--Fa ther Conrad 1il'!'b:e ~.lysteriaU8 pregnancy (1796) by Joseph Fo,x--Abbot T.1Oridez in GOrid'ez the Marik (lB05) by William H. Ireland--The pseuda-morik-schemoll in The Fatal ReVQh(e (1807) oy Charles R. Maturi~-Father UdO·IPIlo in The M o,f Udolpho (lB07) by T. ~. garsely Curties. IV THREE MONK CHARACTERS FROM TWO NOVELS OF SCOTT. • • • • 105 Scott.s Gothicism--The Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst froll. Ivanhoe (1819)--Friar Tuck Legend--S~ottts humorous treatment of the hermit--Abbot Boniface and the sub-prior Father Eustace from The Monasterl (lB20l--Characteristics: of Boniface: peace-time Abbot; a Father Eustace--comparl son of Eustace wi th Boniface; with heretic Henry Warden- with preceding monk types--Decline of monk villain--Influ ence of Scott in this decline. V CONCLUSION. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 142 Reasons for decline of Gothic fiction--Decllne of the monk charac,ter--Extensian of monk character in later literature--Influence of Gothic on subsequent fiction --Summary of thesis. BIBLIOGRAPHY. FOREWORD This thesis 1s a study of the monk character as presented by the writers of the Gothic romanoe from the beginnings of this literary type in 1762 to its climax in 1795 and down to its gradual decline and incorporation into the novels of Sir Wal ter Scott about t.he year l8Z0. Various causes which con tributed to make the monk a fitting character as the Tlllain of- the Gothic romance will be treated. Among these are the antl-tatholic atmosphere of England at. this period. the suc c,esst'ul endeavors of royal princes to suppress the cTesults, the English misunderstanding of Catholic monastic and religious life. the avid thirst of the English reading public for tales of terror and horror, foreign influences chiefly trom France and Germany. and, finally. the new interest in Nature which culminated in the Romantic movement. The aesthetIcs of the Gothic tale will be seen from this study of the monk chara~ter. The relationship between the simultaneous rise to popularity o·f the Gothio romanoe and the monk character will be pOinted out. In the beginning the monk character was not a bad man and the Gothic novel itself was merely a weak mystery story. but as the monk became more and more the arch-villain, so the Gothic tale bec,ame more and more the vehicle of black terrors and hair-raising horrors. The various causes of the monk-tos gradual disappearance as the chief villain will be disaussed. The new religio.us re:vival in England soon brought about -1- a tolerance at least of Catholicism leading to the Emancipation Act of 1829~ The monk character conti.nued- in the litwature of the time. but his role was now taken by the dissolute prince or the renegade noble. Gothic romance also disappeared as a lit erary type, but many of its outstanding characteristics were absorbed in the new historical fiction'so vigorously and fully develop&d by Se:ott.. Gothic elements showed their appearance in the novels of Dickens in the sombre background and new vil lain. The mysterious Gothic plot survived in the detective stories of a later period. Gothic elements also, influenced the romantic. school of poetry as seen in the nature poetry of Wordsworth, Byron.• lCe~ts, Shelley,. Tennyson and others. Thus we see that the Gothic. movement was no- literary ab erration. It resulted from a basic relation of cause and effee • Nor was it unproductive of much that is good in English 11 tera ture" at least in its contributions to the literary works that fallowed it,_ since the majority of its o-wn ae:hievements are no longer worth reading in themselves:.. Modus agendi:- Monk characters from representative Gothic novels will be selected for study. After summaries of the plot to show the part played by the monk .. the monk character will be treated according to his physical,. intellect-ual, and moral qual ities. Other characters will be examined in reference to the monk. Various monk characters will be compared with one anothe to pOint out differenc:e. in treatment by the Gothic novelists. causes for such differences, and also to trace the development -the monk from the piQUS hermit typE! to the scheming public viII CHAPTER I THE ROLE OF THE MONK IN THE GOTHIC NOVEL The -Gothic novel arose in the latter half of the eighteenth century as part of the literary reaction "against the rational .. realistic ereed of Richardson and Fielding which had asserted the superiority for literary purposes of things familiar and 1 ' contemporary .. " I~ was an essential force in the pre-romantic period which saw a new 1nterest in t.he marvelous,. the beauf..iea of nature. and the longing of men to escape from the sober real ities of life. This longing led to a new addition to ~e form ula heretofore used by th~ novelists. As "H1ahardaon strove to awaken pity f'or innocence in distress,. the romancer was his· com- a plement; with pity he would unite terror.- The beginning of the Gothic romanOe is usually dated from 1764, the year in which Horace Walpole published n,. CasUe ~ g1:ranto" but elements of Gothic had already appeared in the novels of Smollet, as Roder ~ BandOIl (1'l4a), peregrine picide (1751)" and especially Count Fathom (1753). As Cross notes of this latest novel:- Realism he (Smollettj c.arried to. that pOint where by its enormities it becomes romance •• .. Renaldo, who has betJn informed that his lionimia 1s dead and buried,. visits her reputed t9mb in a church lying 10 a sequestered field. It 1s a night I R i. Lovett and. H.S. Hughes, The Histog of the Novel in : E~liSh (Boston: Houghton MITrTin co ... 1~2r;-p. 103.-- 2 ~bur Cross, The DevelOPjent of the English NOvel (New york: Macmillan C:o ••~2),. p. 06. -- -3- of tuncommon darknes 8. t As';" he en'-ts and walks up tthe dreary alsle., the clock strikes twelv, and the owl screeches from the ruined battle ments. He turns his tbloodshott eyes to his at tendants ••• falls prostrate on the cold grave, where he remains in the gloom until morning ••• Looking intOc vacancy. he sees the lfigure of a woman arrayed in white', who, approaching with easl steps cries Renaldol In a voice very llke )lon1mla ts. He is speechless with terror t thls hair stands upright.. and ta cold vapor t,hrilis ~hrough every nerve..' ~at phantom is really Monim1a. who has feigned death to get clear of the villain of the story and to contrive an iateroyiew with her lover.:5 The Gothle elements In this story will be quite apparant when we examine the eharacteristlca ot: this new literary fo·rm. Foreign Influenees chlefly trom Franc~e and Germany helped to mold this Gothic torm. The French Abbe Prevost, a translator of Richardsonts novels, wrote ma~ French novels which were soon translated into English. The most popular was Cleveland (trans. 1738),. which Clara Reeve, an important Gothic novelist, con sidered an original English novel.