Matthew Lewis’ The Monk and Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian are two of the most iconic Gothic novels of the Eighteenth Century, both written only a year apart and one in response to other. It is of no surprise that both novels have various subjects in common—one of these, the Supernatural. Ghostlike forces, specters, demons and locations are approached differently in The Monk and The Italian, one uses the supernatural deliberately—and in a much larger role—while the other uses the supernatural to heighten certain scenes of terror. Certainly, both novels use it as a shock factor, but furthermore both use it for different reasons in their novels. We will contrast the ways that the supernatural is used and presented—and later enforced or dispelled—to discern the role it has on both novels.
Starting with Lewis’ The Monk we see the supernatural at first only as an inkling that grows stronger and larger as the story goes on. There are hints of prophecies with gypsies and such, but it is not only until we are introduced to it with the narrative of The Bleeding Nun—told by Raymond de las Cisternas—that it is predominant in the plot. This passage seems completely unrelated to the main story, at first, but in it we are introduced to the supernatural as a force that is prevalent in the novel’s reality and that it can in fact, impact a character’s actions. We are introduced to it in detail, as the image of the Nun is clearly seen by Raymond: “[a] figure entered, and drew near my bed. . . I