Although there are occasional instances in the literature of Romanticism where the
world of childhood is privileged—Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" is
a prime example—still the timbres here are unmistakeably Victorian, another sign of
the major shift in British culture during the 1820s. The nostalgic sentimentality,
however, rather veils the way in which Victor displaces upon his parents the mode
of his future conduct in life. His tacit abdication of responsibility will be repeated
in a more overt manner further on in his account.