Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita
Love, what is it? Love is a powerful feeling that is expressed in many ways throughout our society between men and women. Sometimes powerful feelings can have a negative ending, such as the ending in the novel Lolita.
The affair, Humbert argues, was made possible because he resembled a movie star to Lolita, and ends when Quilty offers her a chance at Hollywood, something Humbert cannot do. Lolita is perceived by the adults in her life--Humbert, Charlotte, and Quilty--as a star. The novel's consistent invocation of filmic metaphors to describe Lolita invites us to read her as a literary version of Hollywood's child star. Her career is as short-lived as the average child star's: as first Humbert's lover and then Quilty's whore, Lolita's career spans roughly four to five years. Humbert scrupulously remarks throughout the confession that he is working with the wrong medium. He is convinced, and he obviously wants his reader to become so, that Lolita could be forever his, that his seduction would be a complete achievement.
Recognizing that "Lolita ...
price of shame" (Tolstoy, 135). Anna is struck by guilt and sobs in surprise when Vronsky describes what has happened between the two of them as bliss. She is disgusted and horrified by the word and requests Vronsky not to say any other word (Tolstoy, 136).
According to literary theories and the theories of Fredrich Nietzsche, human beings have an unquenchable urge for power and will use "ethics," and everything else, in order to increase their authority. In Nabokov's Lolita, we see how Humbert controls Lolita in the beginning stages of their relationship but eventually finds himself going mad because of her deceitful ways and the control she has over his sexual desires.
Humbert reminds the reader of his effectiveness at both seduction and therefore dominance early in the novel: “I was, and still am, despite [my misfortunate], an exceptionally handsome man.” (25) Even after all that he has went through, as this is written in his prison cell, he still claims to be as powerful as he ever was. And with such a disposition, he boasts of his ability to dominate the opposition by seducing any female, (even though he does so sometimes with exceptional motives.) He exemplifies it by wedding ...
I chose to view this work as the later. To me it showed a middle aged man trapped in a moral dilemma. A statement from the first page of the book best says how I feel about the story. “Lolita is not about sex, but about love. Almost every page sets forth some explicit, erotic emotion or some erotic action and still it is not about sex. It is love”.
...has been proven and documented that Humbert is known to alter the truth and flat out lie when he is put into a tense situation in order to get himself out of trouble. Since a trial is usually used to decide whether a person is found guilty of his or her crimes it is only reasonable to believe that Humbert would lie in his narrative about his travels with Lolita in order to save and protect himself, thus cementing the fact that he cannot be trusted as a reliable narrator.
Love is a powerful emotion that affects everyone at some time in their lives. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, love is defined as a feeling of strong and constant affection for someone(1). Love can refer to the feelings between a couple in a romantic relationship, or it can refer to the affection one would have with a friend. When love is shown, each person cares about the other. Sometimes, love can be hypnotizing, causing one to do something they would not do normally. In “Gift of Magi” by O Henry and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, it shows that love can make one do crazy things.
His first redeeming attribute is his real and true love for Lolita. Humbert infact confesses that, “I loved her. It was love at first sight, at last sight and ever sight”(270). If the reader thinks back to the beginning of the novel Humbert refers to Lolita as someone who only brought him lust. Humbert also makes it a point to tell the audience that he only like girls who fall into his nymphetic criteria and anyone who is too old does not appeal to him. When Humbert sees Lolita though after three years of being apart he says that “I insist the world know how much I loved my Lolita, this Lolita, pale and polluted, and big with another’s child, but still gray-eyed, still sooty-lashed, still auburn and almond, still Carmencita, still mine”(278). No matter how she has age and move past her nymphetic stage of life Humbert still loves her. Humbert even goes on to say that, “No matter, even if those eyes of hers world fade to myopic fish, and her nipples swell and crack, and her lovely young velvety delicate delta be tainted and torn-even then I world go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of your dear wan face, at the mere sound of your raucous young voice, my Lolita”(278). This is true love that he is feeling. No matter what happens to her he will still love her. Humbert has
The unreliability of the narrator should be the key point of interpretation when discussing Lolita, however, this is generally not the case within the classroom. In my educational career I have studied Lolita in two classroom settings, one as an undergraduate and one as a graduate student. In both of these classes the discussions ignored the science of the unreliable narrator and chose to focus exclusively on the moral implications presented by Humbert Humbert concerning twelve-year old girls. I would have expected such a discussion in the undergraduate setting; the novel’s sh...
Poets and philosophers for centuries have been trying to answer the question, what is love? Love has an infinite number of definitions, which vary from one person to another. Love cannot be measured by any physical means. One may never know what true love is until love it- self has been experienced. What is love? A four letter word that causes a person to behave in a way that is out of character. What is love? A first kiss, childhood crushes on a teacher or friend’s mom. What is love? A choice that people make by putting their partner’s wishes, desires and needs above everything else. What is love? The act of forgiveness, the infatuation with someone, the communication between two people. What is love? A friendship that turned into a lifelong commitment, that special someone who has vowed to spend the rest of their lives to honor and protect, to love each other “till death do you part.” When in love nothing else in the world matters. According to the online Encarta Dictionary love is the passionate feeling of romantic and sexual desire and longing for somebody. Poets and philosophers may never know what love really is, and we may never truly understand the question what is love.
Arguably the most controversial novel published in the 20th century, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is described as “a shocking book” by TIME Inc. (1958). After nearly sixty years, society’s views on the fiction do not seem to have changed a lot. Given the fiction’s sensitive topic, Nabokov encountered numerous obstacles in getting Lolita published in America (Boyd, 1991); its publication in China is even more complex. Part of the reason for this lies in the Chinese moral values and the nation’s conservative attitudes toward social taboos including sex and incest. Along with this, the complication is tightly related to the nature of translation.
Love is said to be one of the most desired things in life. People long for it, search for it, and crave it. It can come in the form of partners, friends, or just simply family. To some, love is something of a necessity in life, where some would rather turn a cold shoulder to it. Love can be the mixture of passion, need, lust, loyalty, and blood. Love can be extraordinary and breathtaking. Love being held so high can also be dangerous. Love can drive people to numerous mad things with it dangerously so full of craze and passion.
Love is having compassion for others, sharing feelings and your life with another person, as well as, having faith in others and forgiving those we love for the any errs that they may make. Most of all, we must be committed to those we love. Of course, this is only my opinion. No matter how long I try to explain what love is ultimately it is up to you, the reader, to define what love is to you. So let me leave you now with the words of the great Humanist Erich Fromm, "Can anything be learned about the art of love, except by practicing it?"
In all his novels, Nabokov uses the power of language, deceptiveness, and aesthetics to lure in and charm readers. With his critical thinking of science, he is able to create a theoretical framework. One thing that is quite evident throughout novel Lolita is his affinity for mind games. This novel can be compared to Johan Huizinga’s Homo Luden. An important component in Huzinga’s games is the “tension.” Nabokov uses this component in his writing to keep readers engaged and to challenge them to work their way through the game.
Love is an interpersonal relationship developed, maintained, and possibly destroyed through communication, but also can be enhanced by communication. Love is often described as a feeling of closeness, caring, intimacy and commitment between two people. There are six different types of love: eros, ludus, storge, pragma, mania, and
What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Each human being has his/her own thoughts about love to guide himself/herself to land safely and smoothly into the kingdom of Love. Without this preconceived idea of love, people would be acting like a blind person searching for the light with thousand of obstacles in front of him.