Lolita (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Vladimir Nabokov
- First Published: 1955
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Satire
- Time of Work: The late 1940’s and early 1950’s
- Setting: France and numerous small American towns
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire
- Subjects: 1950’s, United States or Americans, France or French people, Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, 1940’s, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, Obsession, Kidnapping, Voyeurism
- Locales: France, United States
Characters Discussed
Humbert Humbert, the novel’s middle-aged, Central European narrator, who “writes” the book as his confession while in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. After his sudden death of coronary thrombosis a few days before the trial’s scheduled start, his book is “edited” by John Ray, Jr., presumably a professor of psychology. Humbert’s name is fictitious and often distorted in the text, rendered as Humbug, Humbird, Humburger, Hamburg, or Homberg. Born in 1910 in Paris, he is the son of a Continental European father (with Swiss, French, and...
[The entire page is 741 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
