Lewis, Matthew Gregory, 1775–1818, English author, b. London. In addition to his writing he pursued a diplomatic career and served for a time in Parliament. He was often called "Monk" Lewis from the title of his extravagant Gothic romance Gothic romance, type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th cent. in England. Gothic romances were mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and they were usually set against dark backgrounds of medieval ruins and
..... Click the link for more information. The Monk (1796), the writing of which was influenced by the tales of Ann Radcliffe Radcliffe, Ann (Ward), 1764–1823, English novelist, b. London. The daughter of a successful tradesman, she married William Radcliffe, a law student who later became editor of the English Chronicle.
..... Click the link for more information. . The novel concerns a saintly Capuchin monk who, led into a life of depravity by a fiend-inspired woman, subsequently becomes a rapist and murderer. Charges of immorality and irreligion brought against Lewis by his critics caused a less offensive second edition to be published. Of his melodramatic plays the most famous is The Castle Spectre (1797). His ballads, notably Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogene, influenced Sir Walter Scott Scott, Sir Walter, 1771–1832, Scottish novelist and poet, b. Edinburgh. He is considered the father of both the regional and the historical novel.

Early Life and Works

..... Click the link for more information. 's early poetry.

Bibliography

See biography by L. F. Peck (1961); studies by M. Summers (1938, repr. 1964) and R. P. Reno (1980).

Lewis, Matthew Gregory

(born July 9, 1775, London, Eng.—died May 4, 1818, at sea) English novelist and dramatist. The sensational success of his gothic novel The Monk (1796) earned him the nickname “Monk” Lewis. Its horror, violence, and eroticism brought it a wide readership, though it was universally condemned. Lewis also wrote a popular music drama in the same vein, The Castle Spectre (1798). After inheriting a large fortune in Jamaica in 1812, he sailed twice to the island to inquire about the treatment of slaves on his estates there, and he died at sea. Journal of a West India Proprietor (1834) attests to his humane and liberal attitudes.