An Analysis On The Monk From The Perspective Of Archetypal Criticism

The Gothic novel played an unique role in the Western literature history. It originated in late 18 th century in Britain. Matthew Gregory Lewis was one of the famous English Gothic writers at that time. The Monk was a Gothic Novel written by Matthew Lewis when he was 19 and it is also his masterpiece. It was a great shock when it published. The novel was never away from the readers’ attention. As the novel contains the elements of supernatural, horror, ethics, lust and so on, it is regarded as a novel violate the morality and spirit. The story based on a Monastery in Spain. Although it is an Gothic novel, it has a romantic and jocular outset. In the novel, there is a legend of the Bloody Nun, while the ending is thought-provoking.This paper analysis The Monk from three aspects based on Canada famous literary theory critic Northrop Frye’s archetypal criticism: literature shifted from myth, the archetype meaning theory of the myth, the narrative structure of the myth to analysis The Monk. By using of the Frye’s archetypal criticism we find the reconditely theme of the novel theme—good and evil. This thesis gives readers a mirror, it aims at helping people to have a better understanding of good and evil. There is no absolute good and evil, do not be seduced by the immediate interests and desires, and to have a deeper comprehension of reality. This is the innovation of this thesis.The paper can be divided into four parts: The first part is the lead-in portion, to make a system introduce of Lewis and The Monk, the research in China and abroad and the relation of this thesis. The second part is the theoretical basis, describing the development of Frye’s Archetypal criticism and the main content of the theory, and put forward the three concepts of archetypal criticism theory. The third part is the main part which includes three chapters: The second chapter is literature shifted from the myth present in The Monk. For the the plots and characters in The Monk correspond to the archetypes in myth, to reflect the good and evil in the novel. The chapter three is the archetype meaning of the myth in The Monk, by analysis the apocalyptic imagery, demonic imagery and analogical imagery in the novel, to reveal the link between good and evil. The chapter four is the the narrative structure of the myth in The Monk, according to the Four seasons narrative structure in the novel and U-shape narrative structures in the Bible and The Monk, to promote the theme of good and evil again, and reflecting the Lewis’ s deep thought for the real world. The last part is the conclusion, to summarize and reaffirm the argument of the whole thesis.The aims of this thesis is to use the archetypal criticism, to have a study on how Lewis worked on the construction of plot, the characterization of the imageries, and the narrative structure. It is not only can make scholars deepen understanding on Lewis and The Monk, but also can provide new vision for research. It is noticeable that The Monk pay more attention to the violence and hypocrisy and corruption of church system. To some extent, it reflects the social situation at that time which can also provide valuable material about British historical and cultural origin in 18 th century so that the scholars can understand better.