What rhymes with Dolores?
Plot
•The novel begins with an introduction by Dr. John Ray who is in fact a
fictional character.
•Charlotte Haze takes Humbert on a tour of the house, he ends up
having a chance meeting with her daughter Dolores Haze and Humbert
immediately falls in love.
•Humbert marries Charlotte to stay close to Dolores. Charlotte finds his
diary, threatens Humbert, and in a desperate rage runs out of the house
to be hit by a car.
•Humbert fetches Lolita from camp and takes her on a road trip about
the United States.
•Settle in Beardsley, Leave Beardsley, Road trip, Lolita runs away.
•Humbert has a series of breakdowns and finally reunites with Lolita
after she send him a letter asking for money.
•Humbert murders Clare Quilty and is arrested.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may
know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other
thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more
than loveI and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of
heaven
Coveted her and me.
Annabel Lee
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
Inter-texts
• Edgar Allen Poe
• James Joyce
• A whole ream of French
Writers
• Himself
• Fictional Quotes
•
•
•
•
“Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs,
the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of
thorns.” pg.9
“[seeing] in this respect the monumental decision rendered December 6,
1933, by Hon. John M. Woolsey in regard to another, considerably more
outspoken, book”
“I remember thinking that this idea of children-colors had been lifted by
authors Clare Quilty and Vivian Darkbloom from a passage from James
Joyce…”pg. 221
“There are in my notes “Otto Otto” and “Mesmer Mesmer” and “Lambert
Lambert” but for some reason I think my choice expresses the nastiness
best.” Pg. 308
Style
“Lo-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” pg. 9
“She sat a little higher than I, and whenever in her solitary ecstasy she led
to kiss me, her head would bend with a sleepy, soft drooping movement
that was almost woeful, and her bare knees caught and compressed my
wrist and slackened again; and her quivering mouth, distorted by the
acridity of some mysterious potion, with a sibilant intake of breath came
near to my face. She would try to relieve the pain of love by first rubbing
her dry lips against mine; then my darling would draw away with a
nervous toss of her hair, and then again come darkly near and let me feed
on her open mouth, while with a generosity that was ready to offer her
everything, my heart, my throat, my entrails I gave her to hold in her
awkward fist the scepter of my passion.’ Pg. 15
• “I am like one of those inflated pale spiders
you see in old gardens.” Pg. 49
• “And less than six inches from me and my
burning life, was nebulous Lolita! After a long
stirless vigil, my tentacles moved towards her
again, and this time the creak of the mattress
did not wake her.” Pg. 130
On the surface, what makes Lolita
shocking?
Young Women (Nymphets)
that are aware of their
sexuality
Reader’s
Experience
Nabokov’s point in
writing the novel
The Charges
Allegorical Irony
• There are two issues going
on here.
– Humbert steals the apple as
if to steal her innocence.
– Lolita is the original sin.
Humble Humbert
• Constantly transitioning names
– Humbert loses the sense of who he is.
– Chameleon likes features = adapts to the
situation as his name changes.
Lo and Behold
• Humbert applies the name changing
Identity to Dolores.
– Lo, Lolita, Dolores, Dolly, Little Haze, etc.
Oh my Carmen, my little Carmen.
– Humbert foreshadows Lolita’s inevitable
death
– Sexual extortion drives her to her explicit
lifestyle and eventually to her death
Maraschino Cherries and Ice Cream
Sundaes
– Repetition of food
– How Big Haze should not be eating away at her
already deterioration body and sexuality.
– Lo’s ability to constantly eat sweets as they won’t
affect her young prime body. – Cherry Imagery
– Humbert’s ‘sweet’ tooth
Lo and Behold
• Humbert applies the name changing
Identity to Dolores.
– Lo, Lolita, Dolores, Dolly, Little Haze, etc.
Stealing Honey
•Humbert justifies his actions because he doesn’t disturb her
innocence
•Who is seducing who?
•Who is more ‘perverted’?