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Re: du Maurier & VN
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CK: You and I (Jansy & Carolyn) have discussed this before. Although a trilby is a kind of hat (named for the hat worn by the heroine in du Maurier's Trilby), in the context of other references to hypnosis and multiple-personality disorders in Pale Fire I took it to be a reference to du Maurier's novel.
JM: I saw the movie "Svengali" a long time ago and I didn't connect the trilby to Du Maurier's novel ( I'd only read "Peter Ibbetson") until yesterday.
It would be fascinating to discover (or to be reminded of) that Nabokov has been a keen reader of Du Maurier, with themes related to mind-control, altered states of mind, perversion, vampirism and much more.
Inspite of Humbert Humbert's descriptions about "nymphet magic" it is hard to imagine Dolores Haze in the role of a "succubus". As far as "Arthur" ( the Enchanter) and HH go, in the roles of an "incubus", both appear to be, at most, extremely clumsy, undreamlike human predators.
I understand you consider it possible that Nabokov extracted something from Du Maurier and that it was consistent enough (not only a playful reference) to include in a project related to structuring Pale Fire as a "split-personality" plot.
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JM: I saw the movie "Svengali" a long time ago and I didn't connect the trilby to Du Maurier's novel ( I'd only read "Peter Ibbetson") until yesterday.
It would be fascinating to discover (or to be reminded of) that Nabokov has been a keen reader of Du Maurier, with themes related to mind-control, altered states of mind, perversion, vampirism and much more.
Inspite of Humbert Humbert's descriptions about "nymphet magic" it is hard to imagine Dolores Haze in the role of a "succubus". As far as "Arthur" ( the Enchanter) and HH go, in the roles of an "incubus", both appear to be, at most, extremely clumsy, undreamlike human predators.
I understand you consider it possible that Nabokov extracted something from Du Maurier and that it was consistent enough (not only a playful reference) to include in a project related to structuring Pale Fire as a "split-personality" plot.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/