The crucial passage is found in Chapter VII in Volume II, pages 141-148. It is in this scene that the Monster describes his discovery of “a leathern portmanteau” containing three books which, together with the reading aloud from Volney’s The Ruins, or, Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires that he overhears in the De Lacey cottage, forms the basis of his education. How do the novel’s references to these four works of literature (Volney’s The Ruins, Goethe’s The Sorrows of Werther, Plutarch’s Lives, and Milton’s Paradise Lost) contribute to our understanding of the Monster’s growth into the most articulate and powerful speaker in the narrative? Be specific in citing examples from the extracts of works included in Appendix C, pages 251-271.
