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I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics, and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country; a variety of circumstances had prevented his marrying early, nor was it until the decline of life that he became a husband and the father of a family.
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An introduction that serves as a curtain raiser to some of the characters that you are going to deal with while reading the story.
There are very few characters in the classic literature that have even become symbol of their characteristics and the English language has adopted them as an adjective. Frankenstein is also one of such characters that has now become a description of something gone monstrous and slipped out of control.