-------- Original Message --------
Subject: THOUGHTS: Boyd's NPF
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:45:01 -0400
From: Matthew Roth <mroth@messiah.edu>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU

Dear List,

Thanks for all your responses on the Ovid question (keep 'em coming). No
direct answer yet, but lots of good recommended reading.

I want to offer a correction and a topic for open discussion (count me as
one who feels nostalgic for the more free-wheeling version of this list),
both regarding Brian Boyd's Nabokov's Pale Fire: The Magic of Artistic
Discovery.

1. Correction: Perhaps Brian is aware of this already, but in his discussion
of Eliot's rhymes (men/again) on 193-194, his footnote 11 sends us to a
quote from Webster's The White Devil. This footnote, on page 282, reads
"But keep the wolf far hence, / Or with his nails, he'll dig them up again."
This is incorrect. The first line of the couplet should read, "But keep
the wolf far hence, that's foe to men..." This is crucial because without
the accurate quote, we might think that Eliot himself came up with the
men/again rhyme, when in fact he is just quoting Webster. Therefore, the
charge that Eliot is acting Continental with this rhyme becomes less
damning.

2. THOUGHTS: Allow me first to say that I have nothing but admiration for
Brian Boyd's work on Pale Fire. I'm fairly ecumenical when it comes to the
various theories about the novel, and it doesn't offend me if I disagree
with this or that point of theolo...er, argument. So allow me to bring up
something that continues to bother me about Boyd's theory. When I read
Kinbote's commentary, I am always struck by how venomous he is toward Sybil.
I know that we realize that Kinbote is the fool, and that Sybil is not
really guilty of all he accuses her of, but she still comes across as a
rather austere, unloveable figure. Given Shade's affection for his wife,
how plausible is it that after death he would go ahead and assist Kinbote
with a commentary that is full of invective towards his wife? The same
question applies for Hazel. Aren't they both putting Shade's poem above
their affection for Sybil? Don't they know that the publication of Kinbote's
edition will deeply wound her? Frankly, I can't imagine helping someone
slander my own wife. Another point: in his commentary, Kinbote pretty much
reveals that he thinks Shade had an affair with one of his students--the
girl in the black leotard. Again, why would Shade assist him, knowing that
he was revealing such a detail--a detail which not only reflects poorly on
Shade but also would bring more pain to Sybil? If John Shade is one of
Nabokov's "responsible characters," does this sound responsible?

Just wondering,
Matt Roth



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