Help for Matthew Lewis' 'The Monk'?

Hello =) I need help with my essay for The Monk since I have difficulty comprehending the story. I did read it but many parts were too twisted or something I could not understand.. This is my essay question:

The Monk is ‘daring in its treatment of sexual fantasy and violence; it is shocking in the luridly sensational sense as well as in its radical insights into criminal psychology; and it is gothic in its presentation of a dark subterranean world filled with supernatural terrors and the odours of death’. (Coral Ann Howells) Is there a particular element in the above that serves a more significant and relevant purpose than any other in Lewis’s novel?

Any help of some sort will do. Thank you! :bigear:

I haven't read it, so I couldn't help. It is a book that intrigues me though.

I've read it but I can't help since I don't remember much, except that it was a cracker. Hope there are others who will be more helpful. I'd recommend it to you anytime, Kev.

Thank you mona_amon, would you recommend me to anyone who knows much of it? :( :)