Lolita Essays

Lolita

You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style. So says Humbert Humbert at the start of Lolita in his account to the "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury" (9). He refers to himself as a murderer (he is, after all, "guilty of killing...

Lolita

"... in the destructive element immerse..."(from Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad)

Through the lens of Humbert Humbert's obsession with la nymphette Lolita, ("Lo-lee-ta... light of my life, fire of my loins..."(9)), Nabokov explores and illuminates the...

Lolita

In Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, Humbert Humbert narrates the story of his love affair with a twelve-year old 'nymphet,' of whom he takes charge, as both lover and quasi-father figure, after her mother's death. Humbert's conversation with...

Lolita

In this brief essay, I will draw upon Lolita to demonstrate how Vladimir

Nabokov uses the techniques of rhetoric to create an explication of the female body, encapsulated in the characters of both the adolescent Lolita and her older, less nubile...

Lolita

In Lolita's afterword, Nabokov describes two opposing views of the book, displayed by two readers. One felt that Lolita was a tale of " 'Old Europe debauching young America,'" while another saw it as " 'Young America debauching old Europe'"(p....

Lolita

In Nabokov's Lolita, an effectual force of individuality converges with a force of society into a prolific battle between what is morally justified by a community, versus what is justified by an individual, revealing the essential choice everyone...

Lolita

In Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita, narrator Humbert Humbert exerts the power of memory as he attempts to manipulate time to suit his devices and desires. Realizing that the nymphet stage which occurs in the lives of a select number of girls...

Lolita

“At the time I felt I was losing contact with reality” – How far can we believe and trust the narrator in ‘Lolita’?

The reality of ‘Lolita’ may differ from the narrative of Humbert Humbert, simply because there is no alternative or neutral version...

Lolita

Nabokov's Lolita is a unique book in that its narrator, under the 'pseudonym' of Humbert Humbert, often breaks the fourth wall to retroactively embellish his story. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he addresses the reader on multiple occasions,...

12th Grade

Lolita

The narrator and focal character of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, who has appointed upon himself the pseudonym Humbert Humbert, strikes the reader as one of the most despicable and unorthodox protagonists in classic literature. He embodies numerous...

College

Lolita

Conversation surrounding Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita often entails the controversial discussion of whether Lolita, the young girl involved with the novel’s forty-year-old narrator, has some agency in the relationship, or whether Humbert Humbert...

College

Lolita

Humbert Humbert, the narrator of Vladimir Nabokov’s infamous yet beautifully written Lolita, is considered by most readers to be a pedophile due to his adoration of underage girls, whom he calls “nymphets.” The eponymous nymphet, Lolita, is, of...

College

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov’s work Lolita is a reflection of his aesthetic literature. Nabokov is able to construct a character who can stimulate and appeal to his audience through his fluid and articulate use of language. A language that is able to mask...

College

Lolita

Humbert Humbert, Nabokov’s protagonist in his masterpiece Lolita, will rarely miss a chance to prove to the reader that he is as smart and well-read as they come. The references are vast, from Poe to Joyce to Freud... and one element that seems to...

College

Lolita

In his mind’s eye, Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita lives in a world of eternal nymphets and time unchanging, of frozen crystals and glass. But reality is mobile and unfrozen, and try as he may to reject it H.H. is forced to recognize...

College

Lolita

The use of folklore and parallels to fairytales in Lolita makes the overall dynamic of the novel simultaneously confusing and artistic for readers. Nabokov implements the folklore and fairytale parallels in characters such as Humbert, Charlotte,...