Which epic poem does the monster read in Frankenstein?

The monster reads John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost in Frankenstein.

He discovers the poem among three books found in a leather portmanteau, alongside Plutarch’s Lives and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther. The books become an improvised education, helping him understand history, human society, morality, and his own frightening existence.

Paradise Lost affects him most deeply because he compares himself with both Adam and Satan. He sees Adam as a being created by a powerful maker, but feels rejected and abandoned like a fallen angel. This comparison helps explain why the creature simultaneously seeks sympathy from Victor and resents him as an unjust creator.

The poem is also important to Mary Shelley’s novel as a whole. Frankenstein’s subtitle, The Modern Prometheus, places Victor within another tradition of creation myths, while Milton’s themes of creation, rebellion, responsibility, and exile echo throughout the story. The monster does not merely read Paradise Lost; he uses it to interpret his life.