Lolita as a Foucauldian Case Study
Lolita as a Foucauldian Case Study
Reading the introduction to Lolita invoked a strong sense of déjà vu, which I realized came from the uncanny similarities between it and “The Custom House”. Both introductions serve to set up the stories as “true” (or in terms of The Scarlet Letter, based on a true story). More notably however, both introductions include the authors’ definitions of art (though the authors aren’t writing as themselves, I think it is safe to assume that the ideas about art put forth are their own). Hawthorne implied his belief about art reflecting the ambiguity of life. Nabokov’s opinion is more clearly stated, he says “a great work of art is of course always original, and thus by its very nature should come as a more or less shocking surprise” (5).
The introduction was also fascinating because it seemed very Foucauldian. The idea that “had our demented diarist gone, in the fatal summer of 1947, to a competent psychopathologist, there would have been no disaster” is evidence of the medicalization of sex and idea that abnormal sexual behaviors can be cured, which is discussed by Foucault (5). Indeed, the author does call H.H. “abnormal” (5). However, the author also writes that “ “offensive” is frequently but a synonym for “unusual”, “ implying a disagreement with the labeling that came with scientia sexualis. Finally, the author mentions three figures: “the wayward child, the egotistic mother, the panting maniac” which seem reminiscent of Foucault’s masturbating child, hysterical woman, and perverse adult (5).
The Foucauldian feel and similarities to The Scarlet Letter continued throughout the novel. For example, the feelings H.H. feels towards Valeria’s lover reminded me of a similar triangle in The Scarlet Letter, with H.H. playing the part of Chillingworth, Valeria’s Lover as Dimmesdale, and Valeria as Hester. Indeed, only a few pages before their lunch together, Valeria is characterized as the hysterical woman – “had the idiot in hysterics “ – just as Hester was (26). Another example: Foucault’s ideas about confession are given credence by Charlotte (Lolita’s mother) who demands information from H.H. about all of his past loves and romances. As he says, “Never in my life had I confessed so much or received so many confessions” (80). She is clearly someone who believes that truth lies in sex.
Tags: confession, Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, hysterization, scientia sexualis, truth
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Kaitlyn, the connections you make here between the novels are excellent in terms of seeing how they incorporate the societal trends that Foucault describes. I do want you to rethink (or consider more fully) the nature of the narrator of the introductory piece. John Ray, Jr., Ph.D. has to be be taken into account more skeptically to appreciate what the novel achieves in this little masterpiece of ironic wit on Nabokov’s part, so why don’t you give us (in class) a fulsome description of him as a person, taking into account all he clues he gives us in the introduction.