I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.
Chapter 5 · Victor Frankenstein
Context
Victor reflects on the sudden reversal of his feelings once the creature is animated, contrasting his earlier obsessive desire with his immediate revulsion upon success.
Analysis
The clause "now that I had finished" marks a sharp temporal break, and Shelley uses the past perfect tense ("had desired," "had finished") to distance Victor from his former self, as if he is already disowning the person who wanted this. "The beauty of the dream vanished" treats his ambition as an illusion that evaporates the instant it becomes real—Victor wanted the idea of creating life, not the messy, breathing reality of it.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Victor's ambition is fundamentally self-centered and abstract—he is in love with the fantasy of being a creator, not with the creature he creates, which is why he abandons it the moment the dream stops being theoretical.