F #17

“The book from which Felix instructed Safie was Volney’s Ruins of Empires” (p.84). Ruins of Empires was written during the early part of the French Revolution. Volney questions the ideas of the world during this time period. Frankenstein’s monster learned a lot of his language by listening to Felix and Safie read this book. Some of his ideas that human culture is flawed may have come from being “brought up” by this book. Mary Shelley may have chosen to allude to this book in her own because of the great effect it had on her husband’s ideas.
“Ruins of Empire.” English Upenn. 30 Aug. 2009. http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/V2notes/ruins.html