Where do we see Freudian and Nietzschean perspectives in Lolita?<\/p>\n
Nabokov\u2019s Lolita<\/em>, one of the most controversial books of the 20th century, can be linked with numerous philosophical perspectives, including those of Sigmund Freud and Freidrich Nietzsche. Nietzschean philosophy is present in Lolita<\/em> in the form of the debate around conventional morality: Nietzsche strongly opposed accepted moral values and championed the idea that binary \u2018good\u2019 and \u2018evil\u2019 did not exist. Through Humbert, Nabokov draws the reader into the centre of this debate, as his charismatic narration encourages us to sympathise with him. Throughout the text, parallels are present in the sense that “like Nietzsche, Nabokov can be seen to be effectively critiquing a schematic approach to good and evil – an approach which reduces them to mere social norms” (Rodgers, p.110). The Nietzschean approach forces the reader to question their assumption that Humbert\u2019s status as a paedophile immediately renders him a bad person, since in all other ways he would outwardly be seen to be a productive member of society. While Nietzsche\u2019s ideas are supported, Freudian psychology comes under fire in Lolita<\/em>. Nabokov vocally detested Freud, as he described in a 1966 interview: \u2018I think he’s crude, I think he’s medieval, and I don’t want an elderly gentleman from Vienna with an umbrella inflicting his dreams upon me\u2019 (New York Times Books, 1966, n.p.). Within Lolita<\/em>, he overtly mocks the field of psychiatry: Humbert enjoys lying to practitioners, and heaps scorn upon one who tells him that Lolita has been deemed \u2018sexually immature\u2019 given his knowledge of her active sex life with him. Humbert resists classification throughout, trying to force the reader to see him as a unique \u2013 if flawed \u2013 individual, not a \u2018textbook case\u2019. Nabokov weaves prominent discourses into the story to evidence his perceptions of Humbert, and further, of the world and its hypocrisy.<\/p>\n Nabokov, V. (2000). Lolita. London: Penguin Classics.<\/p>\n New York Times Books. (1966). \u2018Why Nabokov Detests Freud\u2019. [Online]. Retrieved 16.09.2016 – available online.<\/p>\n Rodgers, M. (2011). \u2018Lolita\u2019s Nietzschean Morality.\u2019 Philosophy and Literature 35.1, pp. 104-120.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How far can Freud and Nietzsche connected with the novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nReferences<\/h2>\n