LOLITA

1. DEPICTIONS OF LOLITA
Lolita is purely an object of Humberts adoration/lust, her existence in the readers mind
is almost completely dependent on Humberts projection of his illicit desires on her. He
is enthralled, the intensity of lust and love that she invokes in his is evidently reflected in
his descriptions of her. She is depicted in such a way that the reader forgets that she is
only an ordinary child (with frequent mentions of her impropriety- swearing, picking
her nose etc.). The poeticism and elaborate nature of the prose while never overtly
explicit or crude, is highly suggestive, relying on double entendres and puns. The ornate
language diverts the reader from the objective scene before us and it is difficult at times
to separate Humbert and our experiences. In fact, Humbert invites the reader to subject
his actions to close scrutiny.
A. Opening passage
i. The infamous opening encompasses the hyperbolic portrayal of beauty of Lolita
that pervades most of the novel. It is filled with alliterative assonances, giving it
a lilting, almost musical feel and is evidence of not only Humberts affection
towards her, but also of his skill which he is aware of himself.
1. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loinsLo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue
taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth.
Lo. Lee. Ta.
2. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
B. Annabel lee
i. Lolita as a reincarnation of Annabel Lee: by attributing a psychological/clinical
reason to his perversity, Humbert makes the implication that he is less
responsible for his actions. Yet at the same time, he ridicules psychology,
gleefully mocking the nurses/doctors when they had him filed under
homosexual. He also mentions the able psychiatrist (166) in a flippant tone,
and gives a suggestion that seems all too predictable of taking Lolita to the
seaside to quell his lifetime urges yet his achieving gratification with Lolita
earlier had been described to a spiritual extent and he stated that he had
reached a state of absolute security, confidence and reliance not found
elsewhere in conscious life
1. I broke her spell by incarnating her in another.
2. The fact that to me the only objects of amorous tremor were sister of
Annabels, her handmaids and girl pages.
 3. Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there
might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain
initial girl-child.
4. The able psychiatrist who studies my case- and whom by Dr. Humbert has
plunged, I trust, into a state of leporine fascination is no doubt anxious
to have me take my Lolita to the seaside and have me find there, at last,
the gratification of a lifetime urge, and release from the subconscious
obsession of an incomplete childhood romance with the initial little Miss
Lee
ii. Diction pertaining to enchantment and the supernatural are used to describe the
nymphets, a term coined by Nabokov, a diminutive of nymphs. The beings that
Humbert are attracted to are not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac), and
he describes them as having a hold on him, which adds to his own self-defense of
Lolita having instigated their encounters and not vice versa.
1. (17) Unconscious herself of her fantastic power
2. Between maiden and man to enable the latter to come under a nymphets
spell
iii. Relationship with other woman: by depicting normal women as unappealing
compared to nymphets, almost brutish, referring to them as terrestrial women
having pumpkins or pears for breasts as opposed to the fey grace, the elusive,
shifty, soul-shattering, insidious charm, he provides justification for his
1. Valeria:
C. First encounter with her
i. (57) By inviting the readers to scrutinize his actions and observe the scene with
impartial sympathy, he is deliberately contradictory, as he suggests that he has
nothing to hide but still asks for the readers understanding.

By changing the style of the prose to one similar to a play, it gives a false sense of
objectivity, contributing to the paradoxical/contradictory idea of impartial
sympathy. Humbert will have us believe that the scene he sets before us is one
that is innocent, a careful, chaste event. Lolitas actions are sexualized. The
moment is prolonged as Humbert goes into excruciatingly minute and seemingly
useless details, he manipulates the reader, making them share his frustration
and his need for release and despite what is happening the reader finds
themselves waiting for release.
1. All the while I was mortally afraid that some act of God might interrupt
me, might remove the golden load in the sensation which all m y being
concentrated..
2. Lola.. devouring her immemorial heel of her slipperless foot in its sloppy
anklet, against the pile movement she made..

2. HUMBERTS DUALITY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH QUILTY

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 A. Physical appearances: Humbert reminds countless time of his handsome
appearance, appealing not only to the reader to win our sympathy but also to Lolita,
to have us believe that she is attracted to him because of his likeness to certain
movie stars and participates willingly in whatever he wants. He also shares some
likeness to Quilty.
i. Lanky, big-boned, woolly chested Humbert with thick black eyebrows
ii. clean-cut jaw, muscular hand, deep sonorous voice, broad shoulder
iii. Gray faced, baggy-eyed, fluffily disheveled in a scanty balding way, but still
perfectly recognizable, he swept by me in a purple bathrobe. Very like one I had.
iv. (59) between my gagged, bursting beast and the beauty of her dimpled body in
its innocent cotton frock
B. His claims of protecting the childrens purity
i. (19) Humbert Humbert tried hard to be good. Really and truly he did. He had the
utmost respect for ordinary children, with their purity and vulnerability, and
under no circumstances would he have interfered with the innocence of a child.
ii.
(62) I felt proud of myself. I had stolen the honey of a spasm without impairing
the morals of a minor. Absolutely no harm doneWhat I had madly possessed was
not she, but my own creation, another fanciful Lolita

The child knew nothing. I had done nothing to her.

C. Murder of Quilty is almost over dramatic parodic
D. Similarities between Humbert and Quilty: The two characters are not clearly
distinguishable at points of the novel. But by his characterisations, Humbert
manages to make Quilty seem more of a pervert than himself. Humbert wants to
protect Lolita from him, where Humbert adores and believes that he is in love with
her, Quiltys intentions with her are more deplorable.
i. (249) He mimed and mocked me. His allusions were definitely highbrow. He was
well-read. He knew French.
ii. (299)I felt suffocated as he rolled over me. I rolled over him. We rolled over me.
They rolled over him. We rolled over us.

WHEN THE VEIL OF LANGUAGE SLIPS AND WE SEE HUMBERT FOR

WHAT HE REALLY IS:

1. I said nothing. I pushed her softness back into the room and went in after
her. I ripped her shirt off. I unzipped the rest of her. I tore off her sandals.
Wildly, I pursued the shadow of her infidelity; but the scent I travelled
upon was so slight as to be practically undistinguishable from a
madmans fantasy
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 He refers