The Monk recap

Ambrosio, Madrid's most admired monk, condemns the pregnant nun Agnes and then yields to the novice Rosario, who reveals herself as Matilda. His fall accelerates from secret sexual misconduct to sorcery and an obsession with the innocent Antonia. In a second plot, Agnes's lover Raymond recounts their failed elopement and works with her brother Lorenzo to free her from St Clare's cruel prioress. A demonic aid lets Ambrosio enter Antonia's home; when Elvira catches him, he kills her. He drugs Antonia, has her buried alive, rapes her in the convent crypt, and murders her during an attempted escape. A riot exposes Agnes's underground imprisonment, but her baby has died. Ambrosio is captured by the Inquisition and sells his soul to avoid execution. The demon reveals that his ruin was manipulated, then kills him brutally. Agnes marries Raymond, and Lorenzo eventually marries Virginia.

Madrid crowds the Capuchin church to hear Ambrosio, a monk revered for holiness and eloquence. Among the listeners are the inexperienced Antonia, her aunt Leonella, Lorenzo de Medina, and his friend Don Christoval. Lorenzo falls in love with Antonia and learns about her difficult family circumstances. Within the monastery, Ambrosio enjoys the devotion of the young novice Rosario. At the neighboring convent, a letter dropped by Lorenzo's sister Agnes reveals her love for Raymond and her pregnancy. Ambrosio refuses mercy and reports her to the Prioress of St Clare. Lorenzo, alarmed for Agnes, turns to Raymond, who begins telling the history of their relationship.

Raymond explains that he met Agnes while traveling in Germany. Their attempt to escape from her controlling relatives used the local legend of the Bleeding Nun as a disguise, but Raymond mistakenly carried away the real apparition. After supernatural torment and eventual release, he found Agnes again in Madrid and secretly continued their relationship at St Clare's, leading to the pregnancy exposed by her letter. Meanwhile Rosario reveals that the novice is a woman named Matilda who entered the monastery to remain near Ambrosio. His resistance gives way after illness and intense pressure, beginning a hidden affair that contradicts the public virtue on which his identity rests.

Lorenzo and Raymond try to use family and church authority to remove Agnes from the Prioress's power, but the convent frustrates their efforts and reports Agnes dead. Raymond refuses to accept the explanation. Ambrosio, already tiring of Matilda, becomes fixated on Antonia after receiving her confession. His religious access gives him entry to her household, though Elvira quickly suspects that his attention is improper. Matilda encourages his desire and offers knowledge beyond ordinary means. Ambrosio increasingly treats each barrier as something to evade rather than a warning to stop.

With Matilda's help, Ambrosio resorts to magic in order to reach Antonia. When Elvira discovers him attacking her daughter, he kills Elvira to prevent exposure. Antonia is left grieving and vulnerable. Ambrosio and Matilda then use an enchanted preparation that makes Antonia appear dead. Her supposed body is placed in the burial vaults beneath St Clare's, allowing Ambrosio to reach her beyond the protection of family or law. At the same time, Lorenzo and Raymond continue pressing for the truth about Agnes as evidence of severe punishment within the convent accumulates.

Public accusations against the Prioress turn a religious procession into violence. The crowd attacks St Clare's and kills the Prioress, while Lorenzo and others enter the convent to restore order and search its underground chambers. Agnes is discovered alive in a hidden dungeon. She has endured prolonged confinement and has lost the child she bore there. Raymond's belief that she survived is vindicated, but her physical and mental recovery remains uncertain. Elsewhere in the same vaults, Antonia awakens from the drug and finds herself imprisoned with Ambrosio, whose crimes have passed from deception and murder to complete coercive control.

Ambrosio rapes Antonia in the crypt. During the disorder at the convent she attempts to flee, and he stabs her rather than allow discovery. Lorenzo reaches her before she dies and learns enough to identify the monk. Ambrosio and Matilda are taken by the Inquisition and tortured into confession. Matilda escapes through a compact with a demon. When Ambrosio faces death, he makes the same bargain, surrendering his soul for freedom. Lucifer then reveals that the temptation was deliberately arranged and that Ambrosio accepted damnation just before a human pardon could reach him. The demon carries him into the wilderness, casts him onto rocks, and leaves him exposed until he dies. Agnes survives her captivity and marries Raymond. Lorenzo, after mourning Antonia, eventually marries Virginia, and the surviving households seek peace away from Madrid.

A riot at St Clare's exposes the prioress's cruelty and opens the convent vaults. Agnes is found alive after imprisonment underground, though her infant has died. She eventually recovers and marries Raymond. Antonia, drugged and hidden in the same burial chambers, has been raped by Ambrosio; when she tries to escape during the confusion, he stabs her, and she dies after Lorenzo reaches her. Ambrosio and Matilda are arrested by the Inquisition. Matilda secures freedom through a demonic bargain. Facing execution, Ambrosio also surrenders his soul, only to learn that the demon engineered his temptations and that a pardon would otherwise have arrived. The demon carries him away, drops him onto rocks, and leaves him to die slowly. Lorenzo later marries Virginia, while the surviving couples leave Madrid and the ruined institutions behind.