Vladimir Nabokov's satirical novel "Lolita" tells the story of the aberrant relationship between middle-aged Humbert Humbert and his young stepdaughter, Lolita. Until the day she leaves him, Humbert's physical desire for Lolita overshadows everything in their lives, as he exploits her vulnerability and dependence on him to satisfy his needs. Humbert realizes by their last meeting that his obsession with her has ruined Lolita's life, and though he regrets robbing her of her youth and innocence - the very things that had attracted him to her in the first place - he also knows there is no way he can make up for that crime.
Many years after their affair comes to an end, Humbert describes with rapture and sentimentality his years with Lolita, including their first evening alone at an inn. This event is the turning point in his relationship with Lolita - when they become lovers - yet Humbert looks back with remorse on that fateful night: "And my only regret today is that I did not quietly deposit key "342" at the office, and leave the town, the country, the continent, the hemisphere, - indeed, the globe - that very same night." (123) Humbert originally blames Lolita's "nymphean evil" (125) as the underlying cause of his future trials with her, as Lolita proves to be not so much the submissive little girl Humbert expected she was. She learns to survive as a child in an adult's game, getting what she wants from him by demanding compensation for her reluctant sexual favors. However, Humbert acknowledges his overwhelming guilt as the adult. Too late he understands that the selfish satisfaction of his desires was not worth the damage it would cause either of them as he laments, "I should have known that nothing but pain and horror would result from the expected rapture." (125) .
Lolita longs for a normal family life where they wouldn't do "filthy things together never behaving like ordinary people".
Third, using the Lolita Concept could be considered a crime. "The Lolita Concept is not a personal taste. ... In South Korea, the law does not specify and restrain the concept of Lolita. ... Because of the celebrities who perform the Lolita Concept, South Korea is in danger. ... The concept of Lolita should not be performed by anyone. ...
Here is where Lolita enters the picture. ... When Humbert first glimpses Lolita in the yard, he glimpses a sort of Annabel reincarnated as Lolita. This is the moment where he realizes that he loves Lolita, "at first sight."" ... (Nabokov, 278)- At the end of the book, when Lolita is grown up and married, Humbert is still head over heals in love with Lolita. Humbert goes to visit Lolita for one last chance with her. ...
This quote reminded me of the film "Lolita- that we watched in class. ... The movie throws in many clues to remind the viewers that Lolita is still a child. ... As far as Lolita's mother, Charlotte Haze played by Melanie Griffith goes, I think she knew all along that Lolita had a thing for Humbert. I think that Charlotte was jealous of Lolita's flirtatious relationship with Humbert and that is most likely why Lolita was sent off to summer camp. ... I also think that Lolita knew exactly what she was getting into from the very start. ...
And to Humbert, Lolita was a reincarnation of Annabel. ... This physical obsession with Lolita is microscopic. ... Lolita as a nymphet, imprisons Humbert from the second he sees her. ... "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. ... But in my arms she was always Lolita....
What can we intuitively learn about the taboo subjects of incest and pedophilia when such a tale is told by Humbert Humbert, the narrator of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita? ... The presence of fate propels the story, initially by burning down Humbert's original destination so that he may meet Lolita and her monster of a mother, Charlotte Haze. ... Much later, after Lolita and Humbert have traveled the country, returned East and then jumped back on the road, McFate abandons Humbert by not pointing out foreboding signs of Lolita's imminent departure. ... It's his voice, and Nab...
" (Lydia Kiesling, On Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita). ... " (Banned Books Week: Lolita). ... Lolita is a book written by an adult for adults. ... Lolita should not be banned just because it is for an older audience. ... So we're reading Lolita this month....
Humbert's character genuinely seems to enjoy talking about Lolita. ... That changes when he meets Lolita. ... Ellen Pifer also recognizes this is her literary criticism Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita: A Casebook. ... When he sees the squalid conditions Lolita happily lives in Humbert knows for sure that any other life he could have given her, no matter how poor or broken, would have been better for Lolita. ... Humbert portrays these thoughts as made by a changed man, but during Humbert and Lolita's first cross country trip after her mother's death Humbert is already shown just ...
