8 1 5 , ▁the ▁basic ▁idea ▁for ▁the ▁story ▁was ▁adopted ▁from ▁Matthew ▁Gregory ▁Lewis ' s ▁novel ▁The ▁Mon k , ▁which ▁is ▁itself ▁mentioned ▁in ▁the ▁text . ▁ ▁Although ▁Hoff mann ▁himself ▁was ▁not ▁particularly ▁religious , ▁he ▁was ▁never theless ▁so ▁strongly ▁im pressed ▁by ▁the ▁life ▁and ▁atmosphere ▁on ▁a ▁visit ▁to ▁a ▁monaster y ▁of ▁the ▁Order ▁of ▁Fri ars ▁Minor ▁Cap uch in , ▁that ▁he ▁determined ▁to ▁write ▁the ▁novel ▁in ▁that ▁religious ▁setting . ▁Character ist ically ▁for ▁Hoff mann , ▁he ▁wrote ▁the ▁entire ▁novel ▁in ▁only ▁a ▁few ▁weeks . ▁The ▁Dev il ' s ▁Eli x irs ▁is ▁described ▁by ▁some ▁literary ▁critics ▁as ▁fitting ▁into ▁the ▁Goth ic ▁novel ▁genre ▁( called ▁Sch auer rom an ▁in ▁ ▁German ). ▁It ▁can ▁be ▁class ified ▁in ▁the ▁sub gen re ▁of ▁dark ▁rom antic ism . ▁ ▁Plot ▁The ▁Dev il ' s ▁Eli x irs ▁is ▁pre domin antly ▁a ▁first - person ▁narr ative ▁related ▁by ▁the ▁Cap uch in ▁mon k ▁Med ard us . ▁He ▁is ▁ignor ant ▁of ▁his ▁family ▁history ▁and ▁what ▁he ▁knows ▁about ▁his ▁child hood ▁is ▁based ▁upon ▁fragments ▁of ▁memory ▁and ▁a ▁few ▁events ▁his ▁mother ▁has ▁explained ▁to ▁him . ▁ ▁Med ard us ▁cannot ▁resist ▁the ▁devil ' s ▁el ix ir , ▁which ▁has ▁been ▁entr usted ▁to ▁him ▁and ▁which ▁aw ak ens ▁in ▁him ▁sens ual ▁des ires . ▁After ▁being ▁sent ▁from ▁his