小说《洛丽塔》的分析

• in 1947, Humbert, got a teaching job in a small New England town, he married a widow Charlotte Haze for the purpose of being near Charlotte's 12-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze. • Charlotte Haze died from a car accident ,Humbert begin his erotic travel with his daughter Dolores Haze. They drive around the country, moving from state to state and hotel to hotel. • After many years traveling Lolita began to feel dislike to her stepfather. So she use some tricks to escape successfully her stepfather's control.
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Lolita
The summary of the novel
• The story tells about an obsessive middleaged scholar who pursues an exquisite nymphet of 12 year’s old. • Because of his childhood experience, Humbert Humbert began to obsess with little girls especially those whose age range from 9 to 14 and he also defined those girls as nymphet. These tragic experiences are the reason for how Humbert Humbert became a pedophile.
Lolita by V. Nabokov
主讲老师： 陆道夫 广州大学外国语学院
Vladimir Nabokov
• a Russian American Writer; • studied at Trinity College , Cambridge; • Although he created characters with absurd obsessions and bizarre sexual appetites, Nabokov also fashioned himself as a sophisticated and serious novelist. • Wordplay, elaborate allusions, complex descriptions, and educated reflections on reading and writing are all prominent in Nabokov’s fiction. • focus on the themes of memory and travel
• The modern devaluation of values seems to have deprived them of the ability to distinguish love form lust and rape.
The different way of life
sensitive
• One day in 1952, Humbert receives a letter from Lolita, now 17, who tells him that she is married, pregnant, and in desperate need of money. Humbert goes to see Lolita, giving her money and hoping to kill the man who abducted her. She tells the truth: Clare Quilty, the writer of the school play, is also a pedophile and amateur pornographer. He checked Lolita out of the hospital and attempted to make her star in one of his pornographic films; when she refused, he threw her out. • Humbert wanted Lolita to leave her husband and return to him, but she refuses. Finally, Humbert killed Quilty. He dies of illness upon finishing his manuscript. Lolita dies giving birth to a stillborn girl on Christmas Day.
wild
stubborn conservative Well-educated envy maturity
passionate
unconstraint sexual, poor educated
Enjoy life
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The character of Lolita
• a dreadful little creature, selfish, hard,
• vulgar, and foul-tempered ; • Lolita even negotiates with Humbert on the pin money , touching his thigh upward, which is minutely erotically depicted by the author, showing the extremely physical and mental maturity of the little girl.
The theme of the novel
• it is the naive child, the female, the American who corrupts the sophisticated adult, the male, the European.
The theme
• Lolita shows distinct American social and cultural characteristics, • anti-hero Herbert, an extreme individualist, is torn between temptation and being tempted. • the central conflict is between the so-called anti-ethical plot and the author's outstanding artistic techniques; • Nobokov's love Lolita could well be seen as a stand-in for his own homeland, Russia, while Herbert for his homeland and his long period of Diaspora. Lo stands for Nobokov's broken dreams of a lost homeland in America.
Questions
• What are the conflicts in Lolita? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional)? • What are some symbols in Lolita? How do they relate to the plot and characters? • Is Humbert Humbert consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed characters? • Discuss some of the symbols in Lolita.
• Why is the novel so controversial? Do you think the book should be censored or banned? Does the story end the way you expected? How?
Questions
• Why might we consider Humbert Humbert the protagonist of the story when he is so obviously evil? • What significance can be attributed to the many games played in the novel? • How does Dolores change throughout the story? • Is Dolores responsible in any way for her fate? • Is Charlotte a good mother to Dolores? • How does Quilty act as a foil to Humbert?