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Pathos
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Part 2, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Consumerisim:
Through his depiction of Lolita’s susceptibility to advertising, Nabokov satirizes what he considers to be the rampant consumerism of American culture:
She believed, with a kind of celestial trust, any advertisement or advice that appeared in Movie Love or Screen Land [...] If a roadside sign said: VISIT OUR GIFT SHOP—we had to visit it, had to buy its Indian curios, dolls, copper jewelry, cactus candy. The words “novelties and souvenirs” simply entranced her by their trochaic lilt. If some cafe sign proclaimed Icecold Drinks, she was automatically stirred, although all drinks everywhere were ice-cold. She it was to whom ads were dedicated: the ideal consumer, the subject and object of every foul poster.
While on the road with Lolita, Humbert showers the girl with gifts in an attempt to bribe her into compliance. He spends a large amount of money buying her whatever she wants, including food, clothing, comic books, roadside attractions, and other “curios.” He claims that she has “a kind of celestial trust” in “any advertisement or advice” that appears in the magazines that she reads, from advertisements for pimple products to fashion advice. His language here invokes a sense of magic, as if the advertisements put Lolita under a spell. She is, for example, “entranced” by signs for “novelties and souvenirs.” Here, Nabokov satirizes what he regards as the consumerism of American society. Lolita is “the ideal consumer,” who puts absolute faith in commercial products and who is “the subject and object” of every advertisement.
Related Themes:
Part 2, Chapter 11
Explanation and Analysis—Psychoanalysis:
In many of his works, Nabokov satirizes Freudian psychoanalysis, a school of psychology that was highly popular among academics and therapists in the middle of the 20th century. In Lolita, he satirizes psychoanalysis through the character of Miss Pratt, the headmistress of the Beardsley school for girls where he sends Lolita while he teaches literature at the nearby college. Describing a meeting with Miss Pratt, Humbert recounts:
“Dolly Haze,” she said, “is a lovely child, but the onset of sexual maturing seems to give her trouble.” I bowed slightly. What else could I do? “She is still shuttling,” said Miss Pratt, showing how with her liver-spotted hands, “between the anal and genital zones of development. Basically she is a lovely—”
“I beg your pardon,” I said, “what zones?”
“That’s the old-fashioned European in you!” cried Pratt delivering a slight tap on my wrist watch and suddenly disclosing her dentures. “All I mean is that biologic and psychologic drives—do you smoke?—are not fused in Dolly [...]”
The teachers at the Beardsley school follow various modern “trends” that Nabokov considers shallow and absurd. The headmistress uses the language of psychoanalysis, claiming that Lolita is caught between “the anal and genital zones of development,” terms drawn from the psychoanalytic account of adolescent development. When Humbert responds to her claims with confusion, Miss Pratt dismisses his objections as reflecting an “old-fashioned” and “European” mindset. Ultimately, Nabokov satirizes Freudian psychoanalysis or, at the very least, the trendy but intellectually empty tendency of people like Headmistress Pratt to reference such frameworks just to sound educated and sophisticated.
Related Themes:
