Matilda or Rosario, whatever you choose to call this thing of the Underworld. What is it? A human, or a demon?
It's difficult to say what exactly is Rosario and Matilda are, whether male or female or a human or a demon. Though this Demon (as I will call Matilda/Rosario from now on) takes the guise of a male only to reveal itself as a female, the genders are simply names. They don't truly express any form of gender as many perceive it today, for example, a male is usually regarded as masculine, aggressive, powerful, while females are passive, weak, and innocent. With the Demon, this is reversed, as it says in the essay on page 193 "...even to become androgynous, especially in her disguise as a young male novice of Ambrosio's monastery." This gender confusion is a valuable aspect of the Gothic novel.
If this wasn't enough confusion for the reader, the Demon is a supposed minion of Satan himself, sent to interfere with the monk's life and cause his fall, as said in the passage from pg. 375 "It was I who threw Matilda in your way; it was I who gave you entrance to Antonia's chamber; it was I who caused the dagger to be given you which pierced your sister's bosom..." Perhaps I missed it, but the Demon's past was never fully explained, and only appeared when the time was right, when Ambrosio was beginning to grow in power and knowledge.
Although, it could also be seen that Satan was simply acting through "the Demon" because she was so dedicated to Ambrosio, and so in love, that she desired nothing more than to get closer to him. To me, however, she was working as the Demon all along, preying upon Ambrosio's weakness to seduction (as he was secluded from the world), to infiltrate his defenses, and use him to destroy himself.
The very thought of a Demon, usually thought of as a male (with the exception of succubi), taking on the disguise of a young boy, and acting so quiet and passive, and flourishing into an aggressive woman, destroys the idea of gender roles, which further ties it into the Gothic genre.
Another thing that I found interesting about the Demon, is that it was quite knowledgeable, having been raised within the monastery, as noted by Brewer on page 194 "Thus the narrator of The Monk undermines as well as affirms sexual stereotypes, suggesting that, at least for some women, noncomformist and even trasgressive behavior is not inconsistent with virtue. In contrast, the passivity and innocence of Antonia, whose education is designed to make her a proper, if ignorant, lady, leads her to trust and even encourage the lustful Ambrosio, who ends up raping and murdering her." It sounds as if education breeds evil within women, while innocence ends with their ultimate demise. So what should women do? Learn enough to live their lives under the shadow of man?
Not that man isn't weak to temptation, but only at the hand of women. Perhaps one could assume that Lewis is making a statement against women, in that he finds them evil in all forms, whether they are legitimately innocent, or evil to their core. So maybe, just maybe, Matilda the Demon isn't a demon after all, but simply a woman, the destroyer of man.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm intrigued by this series of questions in your post: "It sounds as if education breeds evil within women, while innocence ends with their ultimate demise. So what should women do? Learn enough to live their lives under the shadow of man?" How might you relate this discussion to our current exploration into the nature of education as discussed in _Frankenstein_? How could you relate this to the series of contradictions Rousseau provides in his _Emile_?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your conjecture about Matilda as a demon. Perhaps for your final project you could write Matilda's history from her own perspective.