1. When does Gradus first come into the story?
In the first word of Shade's poem (his character is a function of the poem itself)
2. Who are the main three characters according to Kinbote?
1. Kinbote
2. Shade
3. Gradus
3. What do the daughters of Judge Goldsworth and the Zemblan Royal family have in common?
Their names are alphbetically arranged according to the letter that they start with
4. Beauty + pity = art
5. What type of butterfly lands on Shade right before he is shot?
A Vanessa Atalanta
6. According to Kinbote, what is it that gives Shade's poem reality?
His own commentary
7. What two primary Shakespearean plays could the title of the book possibly come from?
1. Timon of Athens
2. Hamlet
8. What does "kinbote" mean in Zemblan?
king killer (Botkin = dagger/stilleto)
9. What is the password?
pity
10. How does Shade predict his own death?
In the last refrain of the poem (the gardener)
11. Where in the poem does Hazel commit suicide?
The exact center (line 500)
12. Who gives Gradus a ride to Dulwich Lane to kill Kinbote?
Gerald Emerald
13. Ultima Thule means what?
"ultimate land"
14. What was the title that Kinbote thought Shade should give to his poem?
Solus Rex ("sun king"; also a chess problem)
15. Who translated, albeit poorly, Timon of Athens into Zemblan?
Jack Conmal
16. According to the index, what is Zembla?
A distant northern land
17. What word game does Shade like?
Word Golf , an example of which can be found in the index changing one letter at a time to form a new word (from last to male in index)
18. Who is the toilest?
T.S. Eliot
19. What is the misprint on which Shade had based life everlasting?
white "mountain" instead of white "fountain"
20. What does Kinbote think the last line of the poem should be?
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain (A repetition of the first line of the poem)
21. What is the one thing that Kinbote says he cannot forgive?
treason
-->Shade says he can forgive everything other than not having read the assigned text
22. Just this. Not text, but texture.
23. What are the names of the two books (the first and last) at Judge Goldsworth's house?
1. Forever Amber
2. The Prisoner of Zenda
24. Kinbote is like who?
Hazel Shade -- both have a tendency to reverse words
25. What does "Bretwit" (pg. 180) mean?
Chess intelligence
26. Zembla = resemblance
27. IPH
Institution for the Preparation of the Hereafter
28. How many days does it take to write each of the Cantos?
3-7-7-3
29. What is Kinbote's supposed wife's full name?
Paradisa Duchess of Payn and Moan
30. Ampersand
& (brought with the dropping of the rubber band)
*READ THIS ARTICLE* http://www.tnr.com/article/books/bolt-the-blue
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Paper One Topic
I started out with two ideas on what to write my first paper on. The first of which was brought up in class by John, and it was the relationship of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" to Lolita. I had just read this play in my world lit class, and one could make a number of connections between the two. First off, either Humbert or Quilty could be compared to Prospero. Both manipulated things in a way so as to cause certain events to happen. In the end like Prospero, Humbert comes to see that what he did was not necessarily as good as he had originally intended it to be.
The second paper topic, and the one I am going to pursue is the inclusion of Genesis in Lolita. There are numerous instances in which Lolita is compared to Eve, and in which Humbert compares himself to Adam. He represents himself as an innocent man tempted by Lolita into taking a bite of the sweat flesh of "knowledge." Humbert blames her more than once in the book for his fall into a world of chaos. There are a lot of other religious images strewn throughout the book as well. My focus, however, is going to be on how Lolita is connected to Eve in the story.
The second paper topic, and the one I am going to pursue is the inclusion of Genesis in Lolita. There are numerous instances in which Lolita is compared to Eve, and in which Humbert compares himself to Adam. He represents himself as an innocent man tempted by Lolita into taking a bite of the sweat flesh of "knowledge." Humbert blames her more than once in the book for his fall into a world of chaos. There are a lot of other religious images strewn throughout the book as well. My focus, however, is going to be on how Lolita is connected to Eve in the story.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Emily Dickinson
So we talked briefly in class about Emily Dickinson, and am reading her work in another class, Dr. Leubner's 19th Century American Lit. One of the assigned poems was the one below, and although Nabokov surely was not referring to Dickinson when searching for the title of Shade's poem, aspects of it did remind me of "Pale Fire."
Dare you see a Soul at the "White Heat"?
Then crouch within the door -
Red - is the fire’s common tint -
But when the vivid Ore
Dare you see a Soul at the "White Heat"?
Then crouch within the door -
Red - is the fire’s common tint -
But when the vivid Ore
Has Vanquished Flame’s conditions -
It quivers from the Forage
Without a color, but the Light
Of unanointed Blaze -
Least Village, boasts its Blacksmith -
Whose Anvil’s even ring
Stands symbol for the finer Forge
That soundless tugs - within -
Refining these impatient Ores
With Hammer, and with Blaze -
Until the designated Light
Repudiate the Forge -
It quivers from the Forage
Without a color, but the Light
Of unanointed Blaze -
Least Village, boasts its Blacksmith -
Whose Anvil’s even ring
Stands symbol for the finer Forge
That soundless tugs - within -
Refining these impatient Ores
With Hammer, and with Blaze -
Until the designated Light
Repudiate the Forge -
-
-
-
Not only does she talk about include "White heat" in her poem, but about the light blaze of a really hot fire. This imagery has obvious similarities to a "pale fire." I think that the above poem could also be construed as a poem about the creation of a poem by a poet. The poet continues to "refine" his poems until the intended light shines through and captures the spirit the poet intended. Shade himself does this. There were a number of passages which he decided to omit and replace with others. He played with the words of the poem until he had molded something truly beautiful, a work of art complete with pity, and a poem that served as a remembrance of his lost daughter.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Gretchen Minton's Presentation
I thoroughly enjoyed Gretchen's presentation today. I will be the first to admit that I not very familiar at all with the majority of Shakespeare's works, so pretty much everything that she said revealed something new to me and helped me to further understand what is going on in Nabokov's novel Pale Fire. It never ceases to amaze me how many literary allusions Nabokov sneaks into his works. For example, the names of the street signs in Zembla being taken from Shakespeare works. That is something that I never would have noticed on my own, and is so random that is difficult to believe that he would put something like that in. I cannot even imagine how much time he must have spent just doing research in order to write his novels. In a time where the Internet was not accessible, it is insane that he could even find as much information as he did. Minton too has retained an incredible amount of knowledge it seems. I was blown away by how familiar she was with both "Timon of Athens" and "Hamlet." Something that I would never have noticed had she no pointed out is the switch of gender in the passage about the moon stealing light from the sun. It is likely that Nabokov did this in order to make Kinbote give himself the greater power, since that is what he does throughout the novel. I thought that the interpretation of the colors green and red as indication of heterosexuality and homosexuality was interesting as well. Overall, it was a great presentation and led to an interesting discussion. I'm sure that everyone on class was thankful that she came in.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
1st Paper: Humbert's Femme Fatale
Humbert Humbert, the not so reliable narrator of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, is not only a somewhat offensive pedophile, but a creator. Humbert and Lolita, the nymphet who becomes the apple of his eye, take on the role of two primary characters in his story, and together take a fantastical journey across the United States and boundaries of morality. By incorporating elements of numerous fairy tales and myths into his own experiences, he creates a unique story of love and obsession. One of the myths that he, somewhat ironically, peppers throughout the novel, particularly in character of Lolita, is that of the biblical genesis. Lolita is characterized repeatedly throughout the novel as the very first femme fatale, the one temptress who instigated the fall of all men, Eve.
Humber Humbert evokes the image of Eve in the Garden of Eden from the very moment he glimpses Lolita for the first time. The instant he walks into “the breathless garden” (Nabokov, 40) he is struck by the beauty of Lolita. At this point in his mind she is still innocent and seeing as he has “a gross liking for the fruit vert” (Nabokov, 40), he falls head over heels for her. She becomes an obsession for him. He frequently dreams of intimacy between them and stays in the Haze house only to be close to his Lolita. Although he arranges for them to spend as much time in the same vicinity as possible, it is not until later that he takes a nibble of the forbidden fruit.
“God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die" (Genesis 3:3). Although Humbert does not enjoy the “forbidden fruit,” Lolita’s body in this case, to the fullest extent on their first encounter, he does touch make the mistake of touching it. This action occurs in the living room while Humbert and Lolita are alone, and is perhaps the most obvious allusion to Eve in the entirety of the novel. Not only is Lolita “holding in her hallowed hands a beautiful, banal, Eden-red apple”, but she “grasped it and bit into it” (Nabokov, 58). This is a very obvious allusion to Eve, who first ate of the forbidden apple. He also calls Lolita “apple-sweet” in the same passage, intimating that he has had just a taste of the sweet juice. It is after this that, while moving her body to a song, Humbert brings himself to climax, and therefore has nibbled the forbidden fruit of Eve and begun the infamous fall.
Humbert finds himself in a similar situation in the Enchanted Hunters Hotel, where he initially plans on putting Lolita in a deep sleep before taking advantage of her, but in the end doesn’t. However, rather than claiming responsibility for the situation he places the blame on Lolita. He says to the reader, “I am going to tell you something very strange: it was she who seduced me” (Nabokov, 132). This evokes the image of Adam placing the blame on Eve or eating the forbidden fruit, for like Lolita, she seduced him. In this point in the Bible Adam said to God, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (Genisis 3:12). Like Adam does with Eve, Humbert characterizes Lolita as a temptress who seduces him into the act of intercourse. It also intimates that he would not have done it, but he could not muster the power to resist the temptation put before him by his lover. For the first time takes a full bite of the forbidden fruit, and he and Lolita’s fates are sealed.
Upon reflecting on that night, Humbert says this, “I should have known (by the signs made to me by something in Lolita—the real child Lolita or the angel behind her back) that nothing but pain and horror would result from the expected rapture” (Nabokov, 125). The fall has occurred, and things slowly go downhill for Humbert. His obsession continues, but the two begin to fight, and although he continues to submit power over her, she openly objects. As Eve began to think for herself and consider her desires as well, so does Lolita, ultimately causing Humbert to become dejected. He realizes that “there was in her garden […] regions which happened to be forbidden to me” (Nabokov, 84). He also notes that they are living in a “world of total evil.” The world, his wondrous “nymphetland” has lost much of its allure, and Humbert is left dreaming of the past.
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta” (Nabokov, 9). Although Eve is not technically Adam’s sin, it was her that brought it on him. Lolita not only causes Humbert, in a way, to sin, she is in fact his sin. This is one aspect of his story that differs from Genesis. By the end I think that he realizes, perhaps, that Lolita was not so much like the temptress Eve that he evokes through much of the story, but the innocent and curious Eve. She was a young female who wanted to experience knew things and gain knowledge of the world. She was lead to do this in a unorthodox way, by a troubled man. If Lolita is Eve, then Humbert is the snake that tempted her in the first place, and I think he begins to realize this.
Humber Humbert evokes the image of Eve in the Garden of Eden from the very moment he glimpses Lolita for the first time. The instant he walks into “the breathless garden” (Nabokov, 40) he is struck by the beauty of Lolita. At this point in his mind she is still innocent and seeing as he has “a gross liking for the fruit vert” (Nabokov, 40), he falls head over heels for her. She becomes an obsession for him. He frequently dreams of intimacy between them and stays in the Haze house only to be close to his Lolita. Although he arranges for them to spend as much time in the same vicinity as possible, it is not until later that he takes a nibble of the forbidden fruit.
“God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die" (Genesis 3:3). Although Humbert does not enjoy the “forbidden fruit,” Lolita’s body in this case, to the fullest extent on their first encounter, he does touch make the mistake of touching it. This action occurs in the living room while Humbert and Lolita are alone, and is perhaps the most obvious allusion to Eve in the entirety of the novel. Not only is Lolita “holding in her hallowed hands a beautiful, banal, Eden-red apple”, but she “grasped it and bit into it” (Nabokov, 58). This is a very obvious allusion to Eve, who first ate of the forbidden apple. He also calls Lolita “apple-sweet” in the same passage, intimating that he has had just a taste of the sweet juice. It is after this that, while moving her body to a song, Humbert brings himself to climax, and therefore has nibbled the forbidden fruit of Eve and begun the infamous fall.
Humbert finds himself in a similar situation in the Enchanted Hunters Hotel, where he initially plans on putting Lolita in a deep sleep before taking advantage of her, but in the end doesn’t. However, rather than claiming responsibility for the situation he places the blame on Lolita. He says to the reader, “I am going to tell you something very strange: it was she who seduced me” (Nabokov, 132). This evokes the image of Adam placing the blame on Eve or eating the forbidden fruit, for like Lolita, she seduced him. In this point in the Bible Adam said to God, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (Genisis 3:12). Like Adam does with Eve, Humbert characterizes Lolita as a temptress who seduces him into the act of intercourse. It also intimates that he would not have done it, but he could not muster the power to resist the temptation put before him by his lover. For the first time takes a full bite of the forbidden fruit, and he and Lolita’s fates are sealed.
Upon reflecting on that night, Humbert says this, “I should have known (by the signs made to me by something in Lolita—the real child Lolita or the angel behind her back) that nothing but pain and horror would result from the expected rapture” (Nabokov, 125). The fall has occurred, and things slowly go downhill for Humbert. His obsession continues, but the two begin to fight, and although he continues to submit power over her, she openly objects. As Eve began to think for herself and consider her desires as well, so does Lolita, ultimately causing Humbert to become dejected. He realizes that “there was in her garden […] regions which happened to be forbidden to me” (Nabokov, 84). He also notes that they are living in a “world of total evil.” The world, his wondrous “nymphetland” has lost much of its allure, and Humbert is left dreaming of the past.
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta” (Nabokov, 9). Although Eve is not technically Adam’s sin, it was her that brought it on him. Lolita not only causes Humbert, in a way, to sin, she is in fact his sin. This is one aspect of his story that differs from Genesis. By the end I think that he realizes, perhaps, that Lolita was not so much like the temptress Eve that he evokes through much of the story, but the innocent and curious Eve. She was a young female who wanted to experience knew things and gain knowledge of the world. She was lead to do this in a unorthodox way, by a troubled man. If Lolita is Eve, then Humbert is the snake that tempted her in the first place, and I think he begins to realize this.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
On page 36 in Pale Fire, Shade writes about an article in Aunt Maude's room that reads, "Red Sox Beat Yanks 5-4 On Chapman's Homer." In class today Dr. Sexon informed us that this is not only a reference to a baseball game, but a poem by John Keats as well. Below is a copy of John Keat's poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer."
John Keats. 1795–1821
MUCH have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
John Keats. 1795–1821
MUCH have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
Waxwing
This is a picture of a waxwing, the bird mentioned on pg.33 and pg.37 in Nabokov's Pale Fire.
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