Ambrosio's Sexual Pathology
An Analysis of Ambrosio’s Sexual Pathology in Matthew Lewis’ The Monk
Matthew Lewis’ The Monk documents the spiritual and emotional disintegration and demise of Ambrosio, the esteemed abbot of the Capuchins who falls prey to demonic manipulation and worldly temptation, leaving behind him a trail of destruction including rape, incest, and murder. The basic tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis can be applied to adequately interpret the psychosexuality exhibited by Ambrosio in the novel. Specifically, Freud’s tripartite model of the human psyche and its relation to the theory of the Oedipus Complex can be successfully applied to understand the sexual pathology of Ambrosio. In this paper, I argue that a lack of maternal presence in infancy coupled with a repressive and secluded monastic upbringing fostered an abnormal psychosexuality in Ambrosio, resulting from an unresolved Oedipus complex which lead to his progression of increasingly violent behavior towards women and his ultimate self-destruction.
First, it is necessary to discuss the principle tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis in order to effectively apply them to Ambrosio’s psychopathology. Freud held that an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors result from the interaction of the id, the superego, and the ego, which comprise the Freudian tripartite model of the human psyche. The normal development of this psychological division depends on the successful dissolution of the Oedipus Complex, the theory that a young child develops sexual desires for the mother and resentment of the father but eventually dissolves the impulse by interacting with the real world and recognizing societal conventions and taboos. The unsuccessful repression of the Oedipus complex, according to Freud, will gradually resurface in several displaced and abnormal ways throughout the individual’s life. According to Freud, the id is comprised of one’s instinctual and impulsive desires such as sexual urges and the desire for power. The
Matthew Lewis’ The Monk documents the spiritual and emotional disintegration and demise of Ambrosio, the esteemed abbot of the Capuchins who falls prey to demonic manipulation and worldly temptation, leaving behind him a trail of destruction including rape, incest, and murder. The basic tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis can be applied to adequately interpret the psychosexuality exhibited by Ambrosio in the novel. Specifically, Freud’s tripartite model of the human psyche and its relation to the theory of the Oedipus Complex can be successfully applied to understand the sexual pathology of Ambrosio. In this paper, I argue that a lack of maternal presence in infancy coupled with a repressive and secluded monastic upbringing fostered an abnormal psychosexuality in Ambrosio, resulting from an unresolved Oedipus complex which lead to his progression of increasingly violent behavior towards women and his ultimate self-destruction.
First, it is necessary to discuss the principle tenets of Freudian psychoanalysis in order to effectively apply them to Ambrosio’s psychopathology. Freud held that an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors result from the interaction of the id, the superego, and the ego, which comprise the Freudian tripartite model of the human psyche. The normal development of this psychological division depends on the successful dissolution of the Oedipus Complex, the theory that a young child develops sexual desires for the mother and resentment of the father but eventually dissolves the impulse by interacting with the real world and recognizing societal conventions and taboos. The unsuccessful repression of the Oedipus complex, according to Freud, will gradually resurface in several displaced and abnormal ways throughout the individual’s life. According to Freud, the id is comprised of one’s instinctual and impulsive desires such as sexual urges and the desire for power. The
Cited: Botting, Fred. Gothic. London: Routledge. (1996) Freud, Anna. Sigmund Freud: The Essentials of Psychoanalysis (1986). “The Ego and the Id” (1923). Vintage: London (2005). Guerin, Wilfred. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press (1992). Jones, Wendy. Stories of Desire in the Monk. ELH 57:1 (1990) Lewis, Matthew. The Monk. Dover Thrift Editions. New York (2003). Peakman, Julie. Introduction to Sexual Perversions. Palgrave Macmillan (2009)