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villainous spider and the Uebermensch: Nietzschean paradigms in Matthew Lewis's "The Monk"

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Date Issued:
1999
Summary:
Matthew Lewis's The Monk portrays the catastrophic effects that sexual repression has on Ambrosio, a monk who is raised in a monastery. Lewis also demonstrates the freedom found in sexual fulfillment in the form of Matilda, the woman who seduces Ambrosio and leads him toward his final destruction. A Nietzschean critique of Christianity provides a connection between eighteenth century dissatisfaction with Roman Catholic doctrines and Nietzsche's aversion to the self-abnegation required to save the soul from eternal perdition. Ambrosio is the Nietzschean paradigm of the hypocritical ascetic, who hides his vice beneath the monkish robes of piety. Matilda, on the other hand, is the Ubermensch that Nietzsche discusses in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, because she sheds religious constraints and becomes a sexual being capable of experiencing sexual pleasure without guilt.
Title: The villainous spider and the Uebermensch: Nietzschean paradigms in Matthew Lewis's "The Monk".
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Name(s): Turner, Richard Scott.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Buckton, Oliver, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1999
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 67 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Matthew Lewis's The Monk portrays the catastrophic effects that sexual repression has on Ambrosio, a monk who is raised in a monastery. Lewis also demonstrates the freedom found in sexual fulfillment in the form of Matilda, the woman who seduces Ambrosio and leads him toward his final destruction. A Nietzschean critique of Christianity provides a connection between eighteenth century dissatisfaction with Roman Catholic doctrines and Nietzsche's aversion to the self-abnegation required to save the soul from eternal perdition. Ambrosio is the Nietzschean paradigm of the hypocritical ascetic, who hides his vice beneath the monkish robes of piety. Matilda, on the other hand, is the Ubermensch that Nietzsche discusses in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, because she sheds religious constraints and becomes a sexual being capable of experiencing sexual pleasure without guilt.
Identifier: 9780599218840 (isbn), 15661 (digitool), FADT15661 (IID), fau:12417 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.
Subject(s): Lewis, MG--(Matthew George),--1775-1818--Monk
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm,--1844-1900--Contributions in concept of the superman
Lewis, MG (Matthew George),--1775-1818--Criticism and interpretation
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15661
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.