Read the passage. the publishers of the standard novels, in selecting frankenstein for one of their series, expressed a wish that i should furnish them with some account of the origin of the story. … i shall thus give a general answer to the question, so very frequently asked me: “how i, then a young girl, came to think of, and to dilate upon, so very hideous an idea? ” what is mary shelley’s purpose for writing the introduction to frankenstein?