What does the Devil reveal?
Matilda served the demonic plan, Antonia was Ambrosio's sister, Elvira was his mother, and the legal authorities were close to pardoning him.
Why is the bargain futile?
Ambrosio trades his soul to escape a danger that would shortly have passed, making despair his final and most decisive error.
What happens to Agnes?
She is rescued alive from the convent vault and eventually builds a life with Raymond after profound loss.
What happens to Antonia?
Ambrosio stabs her during the attempted rescue; she dies after Lorenzo reaches the crypt.
Themes and What the Ending Means
Pride and repression: Ambrosio's public holiness becomes the foundation of private entitlement.
Institutional violence: Monastery, convent, family, and Inquisition all conceal or authorize coercion.
Despair: The final bargain suggests that hopelessness, not appetite alone, completes Ambrosio's ruin.
The supernatural: Ghosts, prophecy, magic, and demons repeatedly literalize fears produced by secrecy.