Editor's Choice
Summarize Samuel Taylor Coleridge's review of The Monk.
Quick answer:
Coleridge finds Lewis's novel to be a "cheap," gaudy, and immoral piece of fiction. Coleridge's criticism of Lewis's work is interesting, because he both acknowledges the novelist's talent while also noting his immorality. To Coleridge, Lewis has talent but lacks moral ability; he cannot create well-rounded characters or behave according to nature, which results in a lack of understanding regarding the motives of his characters and the plot itself. Furthermore, he criticizes Lewis for being too brutal with his writing—rather than creating an enjoyable story that might actually improve morality by shocking readers out of apathy, he has written something that is "no longer enjoyable"
Samuel Taylor Coleridge contributed a review of Matthew Lewis' novel, The Monk, to The Critical Review on the publication of the second edition of The Monk, claiming to have been motivated to review it by the success of the novel. Coleridge admires the dexterity of the plot and the device of the Wandering Jew; he also has praise for the degree of imagination present in the work and the characterization of Matilda. He is concerned that overuse of the supernatural impedes the ability of the novel to examine the moral nature of characters, and that horror and the grotesque is overused. he also condemns the characterization of Ambrosio. Coleridge objects to the use of superstition and also is concerned that this work will give a bad reputation to the Gothic as a whole and have a bad effect especially on younger readers.
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