SFG75 said:
It's ironic that all throughout the book, she basically outsmarts the men she encounters. You have that dullard Charles at camp, who is only used to satisfy some intriguing urge. It could be argued that she flirted with Humbert outrageously in order to escape from "big haze." She fools Humbert into thinking everything is a o.k. and then she makes off with Quilty. He never blames her, just Quilty. She made plans with the hospital staff, lulled him into thinking everything was o.k. by having him carry her upstairs, and no suspicions abounded. Leave it to a dumb male to blame another dumb male when something like that happens. Now THAT would be a good write-up on the whole *alpha-male* psychoanalytic conflict premise. Not only that, but you also have the scene at the very end where he finally catches up with her. You have her, her dope of a husband, Humbert standing around like a dope, begging her to come back to him and what does she do? She sweeps everything aside and sends him away.....like a dope. She was right, he was a big dope. in the end, she ends up a tragic figure and a mess, but she seems to ride the wave known as chaos with H.H., QUilty, Charles, and other people under her. At least when it came to possessing her.
SFG
You are thought-provoking, as ever! I think you and Nabokov make a good combination because your questions and comments make us wonder just what Nabokov meant after all.
I woke up this morning wanting to take a kinder view of Lo. After all, she is my girl, and I guess maybe she has wrapped me 'round her finger as well! Your view would absolutely make a good theme for that yet unwritten book called "Humbert," which has Lo as the central figure and tells the story entirely from her point of view, with Humbert as the character who only gets time to come and go, on and offstage, as
she wills.
Without necesssarily taking issue with your view, I'll try to offer a different glimpse of the same young lady's character. (Perhaps it is the old defense attorney in me rising to a challenge again.
)
I will directly dispute Humbert's view of her, that she was nothing much to look at, and that nobody else would be able to pick her out of a crowd except he who could see nymphets.
I will assert that she has all the earmarks of an attractive child and woman, and furthermore I wll go so far as to say that it is your description that actually proves it (esteemed and worthy Mr. Prosecutor).
It is only
Humbert's testimony that makes her unnoticeable in a crowd, and of course Charlotte's, but not even you woruld offer her as a withness against Lo, she is so obviusly biased. (Take that! Thwack! But nice thwack.
)
But, reviewing the evidence, early on before she was twelve, she was a favorite of her 'Uncle' Quilty's and, in turn she adored him, 'the only man she ever loved,' as she herself tells us. We do not
have to assume that Quilty had any perverse interest in her then. She tells us that he would pull her playfully onto his lap (remember that, we'll come back to it), and it is only Humbert's later and rather biased view of Quilty that allows us to back-fill any sinister motive into that. On the face of it, it is perfectly normal and acceptable behavior for a (close) friend of her mother's, to show playful affection toward her daughter. And, later, we see what Lo's reaction is to men, even young as she is, who try to take improper advantage of her: "I'm outta here!" So, Quilty liked the kid she was, and she adored him as her superhero from the Dromes ads in her favorite magazine pages. In short she was a normal kid and likeable.
As to the next man in her life, it would be an understatement to say that Humbert found her likeable. He was totally enthralled by her, which I would offer again as evidence that she was likeable
and attractive. We have seen any number of descriptions by Humbert of people whom he regards as unattractive, beginning with Charlotte and then Rita, and then going back further into the unacceptable women and girls of the demi-monde that he once inhabited looking for just the right one. No, he gave short shrift to the appearance of anyone not attractive to him. But quite the opposite for Lo, and Annabelle before her, both of whom he could not resist because of their attractiveness.
And while on the topic, it brings to mind the famous couch scene in a differrent light. With the affection shown to her by Quilty ever on her mind, as we may safely assume, she undoubtedly wished Humbert would pull her over onto
his lap and show her similar affection. So she deliberately lays her legs across his lap, as much as saying "Hey, Mr. Man. Notice me! I'm over here, but that is where I want to be, on your lap"
After he had her in captivity, one of his principal problems was her immediate attractiveness even to strangers. She could chat up a conversation in a flash with anyone she met. I take that as an indicator of 'attractive' in both personality and appearance.
Charles, at camp, may have had only one thing on his mind, but even her inclusion in that trio speaks at least to her general personability and not aginst it. After all she did not have the same thing in mind as Charles, so that can't be offered as reason for her joining their excursions across the lake and into the woods. No, she was there because she was accepted by them.
Finally she marries, and as the saying goes "It takes two to tango." So we may safely assume that Richard Shiller also found her attractive. We don't always have to assume the worst of people and think that he figured he was lucky to catch anyone at all. So again, her attractiveness contributed to the match.
All of which is a way of saying that she was a very attractive young lady. And it is the fate of beautiful women to have men falling all over themselves to get to them for even so much as a smile. That's the way men are, and that's the way life is. But it takes an attractive women in the first place.
If Lo had ever made ito Hollywood, I would offer it as a safe bet that she would have been packing the movie houses in record breaking numbers.
And there is nothing sinister in any of that.
It all begins with an attractive girl.
Respectfully submitted,
Peder,
For the Defense
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