How "Lolita" got away

with pedophilia?
Literatura e Expressão Inglesa
Simão Filipe Reis Nunes de Barros e Castro
Mestrado em Ensino de Inglês no 1.ºCEB
 About the book

● “Lolita” is a 1955 novel, written by Vladimir Nabokov, a

russian-american writer;

● This book is written from the point of view of a 37-year-

old literature teacher who becomes obsessed with a 12-
year-old girl who reminds him of his first love, a girl
named Annabel that died when she was young.
Consequently, Humbert, the name of the protagonist,
kidnaps and sexually abuses her;

● This novel has been banned in France, Argentina, New

Zealand, England and South Africa.
Humbert Humbert

● He has the advantage of being the narrator, and with this,

he tries to trick the reader into understanding "his side“;

● His character is also a middle-aged professor who, at the

time when the book was written (1955), exuded
confidence and good ethics.
 Dolores Haze aka “Lolita”

● Dolores is portrayed as being annoying, spoiled and

manipulative, and these traits make the reader not
sympathize a lot with her character;

● Portraying her in this way, Humbert Humbert manages to

make us forget that she is just a child, and that all these
traits are characteristic of her age. Because, when we see
Lolita in a relationship with an adult, we are deceived into
thinking that she is more mature than what she’s really
supposed to be.
Humbert traumas

● All of his traumas from the past makes the reader

sympathize with him.

● These made Humbert look vulnerable and people may

think that “he’s just a broken person”.
 Humbert personality

● Another thing that keeps the reader, almost, an accomplice

of Humbert is his personality.

● He’s described as a warm-hearted person, who keeps

cracking jokes and with that creates a bond with the
reader.
“What is extraordinary about Lolita is not the presence or absence of
the author's "moral position" but the way in which Nabokov enlists us,
against our will, on Humbert's Side.” (Appel, 1967, p. 224)
"Marriage and cohabitation before the age of puberty are still not
uncommon in certain East Indian provinces. Lepcha old men of eighty
copulate with girls of eight, and nobody minds. After all, Dante fell
madly in love with Beatrice when she was nine (...). And when Petrarch
fell madly in love with his Laureen, she was a fair-haired nymphet of
twelve (...).“ (Nabokov, 1959, pp. 20-21)
"According to this line of reasoning, Humbert is neither a sick pervert
nor a criminal. He is only an unfortunate victim of an arbitrary social
convention." (Tamir-Ghez, 1979, p. 76)
 Bibliography
● Appel, A. (1967). “Lolita”: The Springboard of Parody. Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary

Literature, 8(2), 204. https://doi.org/10.2307/1207102

● Tamir-Ghez, N. (1979). The Art of Persuasion in Nabokov’s Lolita. Poetics Today, 1(1/2), 65.

https://doi.org/10.2307/1772041

● How ‘Lolita’ Escaped Obscenity Laws and Cancel Culture - The New York Times. (sem data).
Obtido 16 de Dezembro de 2022, de
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/books/review/lolita-obscenity-cancel-culture-emily-mortimer.
html

● Nabokov, V. (1959). Lolita (Crest Giant Complete and Unabridged). Fawcett Publications, Inc.