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Eventually, Humbert comes to the United States and takes a room in the house of widow Charlotte Haze in a sleepy, suburban New England town. He becomes instantly infatuated with her twelve-year-old daughter Dolores, also known as Lolita. Humbert follows Lolita’s moves constantly, occasionally flirts with her, and confides his pedophiliac ...
- Quick Quiz
Take a quiz about the important details and events in of...
- Character List
Lolita’s husband. Dick is a simple, good-natured working man...
- Vladimir Nabokov and Lolita Background
Undaunted, Nabokov persisted, and Lolita was eventually...
- Motifs
Lolita eventually leaves Humbert for Quilty, but her new...
- Symbols
Even though Humbert writes Lolita from his prison cell, his...
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- Context
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- Quick Quiz
- Foreword
- Humbert’s Early Life
- Humbert Meets Lolita
- Charlotte’s Marriage and Death
- Humbert and Lolita’s Road Life
- Lolita Escapes
- Quilty’s Murder and End
The novel Lolitabegins with a foreword from a fictional psychologist, John Ray, who introduces the strange story that will follow. John Ray had received Humbert Humbert’s manuscript from his lawyer after Humbert had succumbed to coronary thrombosis while awaiting trial for an unidentified crime. We also learn that a certain Mrs. Schiller later reve...
The story begins with Humbert’s poetic reminisces of his love and lust for Lolita whom he describes as “My Lolita” and “Fire of my lungs”. Humbert’s introduction is put aside for narration of events leading up to his time with Lolita. We are taken to his childhood in the French Riviera and the love affair with his friend, Annabel Leigh, when he was...
In 1947, Humbert Humbert moved to New England where he was supposed to take up residence in the small town of Ramsdale with a family called the McCoos. The prospect of living near the young daughter of the Mccoos excited him considerably, but he was disappointed with the news that the Mccoo’s house had burned down. Mr. McCoo then refers him to Char...
Charlotte however appears to fall in love with Humbert, but her desire to spend time alone with him is obstructed by Lolita’s meddling presence. She sought to remove Lolita from the picture by enrolling her at a boarding school. One day when Charlotte was away from the house with Lolita, the maid brings Humbert a note from Charlotte where she decla...
The second part of the book is notable for its faster pace and sense of urgency. When Humbert and Lolita resumed their journeys on the road Lolita’s behavior becomes more erratic and she threatens to call her mother or the police and tell them everything Humbert had done to her. Here Humbert finally reveals Charlotte’s death, letting Lolita know sh...
However, as they travel, Humbert notices that a man in a red car is following them. He is concerned when he observes that Lolita has been in constant communication with this individual. Humbert fears that Lolita might be trying to escape, although he finally convinced himself that he was just being paranoid. Lolita fell ill when they were in the to...
A heartbroken Humbert then drives away, driven by his obsession to exact vengeance on Quilty. But first, he returns to Ramsdale to facilitate the transfer of Charlotte’s properties in his possession to Lolita. While on the search for Quilty, Humbert experiences a moment of self-reflection where he acknowledges the damage his terrible and selfish be...
Lolita. Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov that addresses the controversial subject of hebephilia. The protagonist is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He describes his obsession with a 12-year-old "nymphet", Dolores Haze, whom he ...
- Vladimir Nabokov
- 1955
Overview. Russian-born author Vladimir Nabokov ’s Lolita , published in 1955, is a controversial and provocative novel that tells the story of Humbert Humbert, a literature professor, and his obsession with a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze, whom he nicknames Lolita. The novel is narrated by Humbert, providing a complex and unreliable ...
Lolita Summary. A fictional psychologist named John Ray Jr., Ph.D. introduces the rest of the novel, presenting it as a case study in abnormal psychology. He explains that it was written by a murderer and sexual pervert, who refers to himself in the manuscript as Humbert Humbert. The author, as well as the girl he abducted— Lolita —are now ...
Lolita is the story of a European scholar obsessed with "nymphets", and his travels around America with his beloved teenage stepdaughter Lolita, who runs away from him and resents his stealing her life. Humbert Humbert (H.H.), a middle-aged European scholar of English and French literature, is obsessed with "nymphets", nubile girls like Lolita ...
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It was saved by his wife and editor, Véra Nabokov. Frank Lasalle and Sally Horner. The story of Lolita is at least in part inspired by the real-life kidnapping of Sally Horner by Frank Lasalle in 1948. The best study guide to Lolita on the planet, from the creators of SparkNotes. Get the summaries, analysis, and quotes you need.
