Question about Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov?

Question

If you've read this novel do you believe Lolita is completely innocent.... do you believe she had a mature understanding of the situation? What's your view on both Lolita and Humbert?

Answer 1

It is hard to to take an objective stance on it because HH is such an unreliable narrator, but he seems to tell the blatant truth about Lolita, otherwise she wouldn't have acted so tired of him when at the school on the coast.  I don't attribute innocence to her.  I think she knew from the get go that Humbert desired her, she may not have understood why, but she certainly knew it, used it, and liked it.  I don't think she left him because she was sick or disgusted by the situation either, I think she was bored - that's an important distinction to make in regards to this work because it's either an escape or flight of fancy.

Innocent seems a bad word to attribute to her, naive may fit the bill for her early years, but not innocent.  

Lolita and Humbert Humbert are both antagonists, and anti-heroes - but neither has any clearly defined redeemable qualities.  Save Lolita's apparent devotion to her husband at the end of the novel, and even that is arguable as for her motives.  

This is a debate that has raged for a long time, and one of the reasons the novel is so dynamic.  

Here's some great videos of Nabokov discussing the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNF...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-wcB4RPa...

Answer 2

I think Lolita is a combination of both.  She knows she can manipulate Humbert (and other men) with her sexuality, but she is not fully aware of it or in control of it.  She is a normal girl, maybe a little bit of a risk-taker, but Humbert magnifies everything about her in his imagination until it is completely out of proportion to reality.