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Conan Doyle's _Charles Augustis Milverton_ and Lolita.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Kiran Krishna" <kiran@Physics.usyd.edu.au>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (99
lines) ------------------
>
> I just posted this on the NYTIMES on the web Nabokov discussion forum.
> People who haven't read Lolita or Charles Augustus Milverton might like to
> skip this post
----------------------------
> I recently re-read Charles Augustus Milverton, and the shooting of
> Milverton reminded me of Lolita, so I compiled a list of points of
> correspondence between the two:
>
> 1) There is a situational similarity here: Both seek to shift all the
> blame from themselves to another person, who is guilty, but not solely so.
>
> 2) Both Milverton and Quilty, initially mistake the identity of the person
> in the room, Milverton because he has been duped, and Quilty
> because he is drunk. Humbert, however, does play a part in misleading
> Quilty, unlike the mysterious lady in CAM.
>
> 3) The accusation scenes - Humbert confronts Quilty with "Concentrate on
> the thought of Dolly Haze whom you kidnaped."
> Milverton is accused "So
> you sent the letters to my husband, and he-the noblest gentleman that ever
> lived, a man whose boots I was never worthy to lace-he broke his gallant
> heart and died."
>
> So, both crimes are essentially presented as justified acts of
> revenge for a wrong done to another person. Humbert mentions "poetic
> justice" and that is the way Holmes and Watson view the murder.
>
> 4) The woman who shoots CAM asks him: "Well, Charles Milverton, what have
> you to say?"
> Humbert tells us:
> "I asked him if he had anything serious to say before dying."
>
> 5) Both Quilty and CAM respond to the accusation first by trying to
> justify their actions and then trying to scare their accusers
>
> CAM:
> "You were so very obstinate," said he. "Why did you drive me to
> such extremities? I assure you I wouldn't hurt a fly of my own
> accord, but every man has his business, and what was I to do?"
>
> Quilty: "You see, I had no fun with your little Dolly. I am practically
> impotent...I gave her a spledid vacation"[Ellipsis mine]
>
> "but really, my dear Humbert, you were not an ideal stepfather"
>
> "I saved her from a beastly pervert."
>
> CAM:
>
> "Don't imagine that you can bully me," said he, rising to his
> feet. "I have only to raise my voice, and I could call my servants and
> have you arrested. But I will make allowance for your natural anger. Leave
> the room at once as you came, and I will say no more."
>
> Quilty has many such moments:
>
> "You need not roar at me."
>
> "I did not!" he cried. "You're all wet... Show me your badge
> instead of shooting at my foot, you ape, you. Where is that badge?"
>
> "My dear sir," he said, "stop trifling with life and
> death..."[Ellipsis mine]
>
> "Get out, get out of here."
>
> 6) The repeated accusations just before the shootings:
>
> CAM:
> "You will ruin no more lives as you ruined mine. You will wring
> no more hearts as you wrung mine."
>
> Compare with Humbert's poem.
>
> 7) What actually put me on the track was the repeated shooting.
>
> "She had drawn a little gleaming revolver and emptied barrel
> after barrel into Milverton's body...Then he staggered to his feet,
recieved
> another shot, and rolled upon the floor...She looked again, but there was
> no sound or movement."[Ellipses mine]
>
> Humbert's description is similar but much more detailed.
> 8) Finally, Quilty at being shot sits down and says "ah!".
>
> CAM:
> "You've done me," he cried and lay still.
>
> The clues are few, but, I think this was an intentional allusion. However,
> considering the flimsiness of the evidence I might be wrong. I am not
> suggesting an "influence", but a deliberate allusion, or at worst
> something that was at the back of the master's mind as he wrote Lolita.
>
> yours
> Kiran
>
>
>
From: "Kiran Krishna" <kiran@Physics.usyd.edu.au>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (99
lines) ------------------
>
> I just posted this on the NYTIMES on the web Nabokov discussion forum.
> People who haven't read Lolita or Charles Augustus Milverton might like to
> skip this post
----------------------------
> I recently re-read Charles Augustus Milverton, and the shooting of
> Milverton reminded me of Lolita, so I compiled a list of points of
> correspondence between the two:
>
> 1) There is a situational similarity here: Both seek to shift all the
> blame from themselves to another person, who is guilty, but not solely so.
>
> 2) Both Milverton and Quilty, initially mistake the identity of the person
> in the room, Milverton because he has been duped, and Quilty
> because he is drunk. Humbert, however, does play a part in misleading
> Quilty, unlike the mysterious lady in CAM.
>
> 3) The accusation scenes - Humbert confronts Quilty with "Concentrate on
> the thought of Dolly Haze whom you kidnaped."
> Milverton is accused "So
> you sent the letters to my husband, and he-the noblest gentleman that ever
> lived, a man whose boots I was never worthy to lace-he broke his gallant
> heart and died."
>
> So, both crimes are essentially presented as justified acts of
> revenge for a wrong done to another person. Humbert mentions "poetic
> justice" and that is the way Holmes and Watson view the murder.
>
> 4) The woman who shoots CAM asks him: "Well, Charles Milverton, what have
> you to say?"
> Humbert tells us:
> "I asked him if he had anything serious to say before dying."
>
> 5) Both Quilty and CAM respond to the accusation first by trying to
> justify their actions and then trying to scare their accusers
>
> CAM:
> "You were so very obstinate," said he. "Why did you drive me to
> such extremities? I assure you I wouldn't hurt a fly of my own
> accord, but every man has his business, and what was I to do?"
>
> Quilty: "You see, I had no fun with your little Dolly. I am practically
> impotent...I gave her a spledid vacation"[Ellipsis mine]
>
> "but really, my dear Humbert, you were not an ideal stepfather"
>
> "I saved her from a beastly pervert."
>
> CAM:
>
> "Don't imagine that you can bully me," said he, rising to his
> feet. "I have only to raise my voice, and I could call my servants and
> have you arrested. But I will make allowance for your natural anger. Leave
> the room at once as you came, and I will say no more."
>
> Quilty has many such moments:
>
> "You need not roar at me."
>
> "I did not!" he cried. "You're all wet... Show me your badge
> instead of shooting at my foot, you ape, you. Where is that badge?"
>
> "My dear sir," he said, "stop trifling with life and
> death..."[Ellipsis mine]
>
> "Get out, get out of here."
>
> 6) The repeated accusations just before the shootings:
>
> CAM:
> "You will ruin no more lives as you ruined mine. You will wring
> no more hearts as you wrung mine."
>
> Compare with Humbert's poem.
>
> 7) What actually put me on the track was the repeated shooting.
>
> "She had drawn a little gleaming revolver and emptied barrel
> after barrel into Milverton's body...Then he staggered to his feet,
recieved
> another shot, and rolled upon the floor...She looked again, but there was
> no sound or movement."[Ellipses mine]
>
> Humbert's description is similar but much more detailed.
> 8) Finally, Quilty at being shot sits down and says "ah!".
>
> CAM:
> "You've done me," he cried and lay still.
>
> The clues are few, but, I think this was an intentional allusion. However,
> considering the flimsiness of the evidence I might be wrong. I am not
> suggesting an "influence", but a deliberate allusion, or at worst
> something that was at the back of the master's mind as he wrote Lolita.
>
> yours
> Kiran
>
>
>