Alexander Hristov
Dr. Peter Becker
ENGL E-166
May 5, 2015
Literature as Art: Aesthetic Appeal in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita Close reading is the foundation of literary analysis. Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov famously noted in an interview that, “Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only re-read it. A good reader, a major reader, and active and creative reader is a re-reader.” Essentially, he contends that one cannot fully appreciate a book’s artistic subtleties and thematic nuances because initial readings require more rigorous information processing. Nabokov believed that only upon further reading and re-reading could one interpret the significance of an author’s style. His 1955 classic, Lolita, is a veritable case study on literature as art. Ever the writer’s writer, Nabokov uses language as a means of artistic expression. In Lolita, shocking subject matter is effectively assuaged by means of literary invention. Nabokov, referencing his novel, once noted:
There are gentle souls who would pronounce Lolita meaningless because it does not teach them anything. I am neither a reader nor a writer of didactic fiction…For me a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm (Azevedo 2).
The story itself is replete with abhorrent topics: rape, murder, and pedophilia, to name a few. Through his protagonist Humbert Humbert, however, Nabokov enchants an otherwise grim tale. Lolita is the story of Humbert’s obsession over the 12-year-old Dolores Haze. Humbert’s use of flowery language, alliteration, and repeating sentence patterns seduces the reader to indulge his sick fantasies. Literary aesthetic makes the abominable subject material practically irrelevant, gently taking the reader into the mind of a psychopath. Humbert’s demented tendencies and poetic dialogue are immediately evident in the very first paragraph as he describes the object of his obsession: Lolita. Sentence one reads, “Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta” (Nabokov 1). To call her the “light of my life” shows a deep, albeit misguided, love for Lolita. Merely uttering her name evokes such a passionate response he even acknowledges the movement of his tongue as he pronounces it, dissecting “Lolita” into a series of syllables. In addition to explicit emphasis on the name itself there are three strings of alliteration; one in the letter l with “Lolita, light, of my life” and two in the letter t, with “the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three” and “to tap, at three on the teeth,” respectively. Such a syntactically unnecessary stylistic device can only serve an artistic purpose: to charm the reader’s senses with aesthetically pleasing prose. Nabokov’s linguistically artistic introduction puts the reader in Humbert’s shoes, showing how truly enthralled he is with Lolita, regardless of the societal stigma associated with such pedophilic desires. In the same opening, Humbert notes, “You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style” (Nabokov 1), implying that he is self aware of his psychosis and that he will detail his account such that it appeals to the reader. His “fancy prose” is intended to beguile the senses and place a veil over the disgusting truth of his unsavory desires. Whenever Humbert describes his pedophilic tendencies he employs language so florid that it heightens the reader’s senses and calls to the fore the aesthetic appeal of the prose itself. In addition to heavy alliteration and impassioned descriptions, Nabokov utilizes recurring patterns in Humbert’s narrative, effectively subverting the reality of the objectionable subject matter in favor of textual aesthetic. The following passage epitomizes the textual, rather than substantive, nature of Humbert’s narrative:
Monday. Delectatio morosa. I spend my doleful days in dumps and dolors. We (mother Haze, Dolores and I) were to go to Our Glass Lake this afternoon, and bathe, and bask; but a nacreous morn degenerated at noon into rain, and Lo made a scene (Nabokov 43).
Humbert’s journal entry starts with a single word sentence followed by two words, “Delectatio morosa,” Latin for “morose delight.” The term was once used in medieval Catholic Europe to describe the sin of intentional sexual thought. The passage also contains alliteration and a recurring M,D motif. The M of “morosa” and D of “Delectatio” are mirrored with “my doleful” and “morn degenerated.” Alliteration also appears in the third and fourth sentences with “doleful,” “days,” “dumps,” and “dolors” and “bathe,” “bask,” and “but,” respectively. The last word of the alliterative thread, “dolors,” serves two more functions: it is the root of Lolita’s full name, Dolores, and is also derived from the Latin verb dolere, meaning to ache or suffer. Humbert conveys his lament over his lust for Lolita throughout the novel, employing aesthetically pleasing linguistic devices and sentence patterns, such as in the paragraph above, seducing the reader much as he seduces Lolita herself. Indeed, Nabokov’s stylistic flair effectively masks the more disconcerting facets of Humbert’s narrative. Consider the following scene, in which Humbert describes his arousal when Lolita places her feet on his lap:
She wore that day a pretty print dress that I had seen on her once before, ample in the skirt, tight in the bodice, short sleeved, pink, checkered with darker pin, and to complete the color scheme, she had painted her lips and was holding in her hollowed hands a beautiful, banal, Eden-red apple (Nabokov 57).
Humbert describes the optics of his obsession with such passion that he effectively distracts the reader from the truth that he is, in reality, obsessed with a child. Alliteration appears from the beginning with “pretty print,” continues with “holding in her hollowed hands,” and concludes with “beautiful, banal.” Humbert turns the “banal” act of eating an apple into a “beautiful” narrative. Moral turpitude aside, he desperately wants the reader to view Lolita as he does—as a piece of art. Later on, Humbert describes Lolita eating her “Eden-red apple,” saying his “heart was like snow under thin crimson skin” (Nabokov 58). Such a poetic description diverts attention from his wholly inappropriate reaction to a young girl eating fruit. All things considered, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita epitomizes the idea of literature as art. To that end, Nabokov employs elaborate stylistic devices to appeal to the reader. His ultimate success, it can be argued, is crafting a narrative, through Humbert Humbert’s memoir, that effectively disguises pedophilia. Humbert’s linguistic prowess masks reality, but it does not change it. To remove this mask would be to expose Humbert’s true nature: a murderer, rapist, and pedophile. Humbert, however, maintains an artistic façade, consistently producing passages rife with poetic expression. Indeed, Humbert’s desire to bring the reader into his reality, to evoke the same emotions he experiences, is the peril the reader faces–a call to indulge a murderous, pedophilic psychopath.

Works Cited
Azevedo, Luís. “Vladimir Nabokov’s 20 Quotes on Writing.” The A to Z Review. Web.
Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid. University of Notre Dame. Web.
Nabokov, Vladimir. The Annotated Lolita. Ed. Alfred Appel, Jr., New York: Vintage, 1991.