Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0025082, Fri, 14 Feb 2014 06:05:56 -0500

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Re: Shades of Grey and "law of degrees"
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Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Shades of Grey and "law of degrees"
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 11:49:28 -0800
From: Carolyn Kunin <chaiselongue@att.net>
To: <nabokv-l@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>

Dear Jansy,

I'm surprised to read of Nabokov's criticism of Jekyll & Hyde since he
himself posited the probable cause. We know that RLS awoke in terror
from a terrifying nightmare and immediately wrote down the essence of
what would turn out to be the famous story.

Very shortly he came up with a first draft which he gave to his wife
Fanny to read. She was so upset that she tore up th ms and told Louis
that he must never attempt to publish it.

What was it so upset her? and why did the story get published after
all? Nabokov believed it was because Hyde's vices were not only
sexual in nature but homosexual. The story does retain a hint of this in
that all characters are in fact male.

So I am confused as to why he would have criticized RLS. Do you have a
reference you can cite?

By the way I would like to take this opportunity to remind tis List that
Hyde's first crime is an assault on a little girl - surely not named
Lolita - but he is in consequence forced - that is Jekyll is forced on
his behalf - to render Kinbote to her family in restitution. Presumably
this was also a sexual crime though in the story he is said to have run
over her (with his body presumably).

I should not have capitalized kinbote.

Carolyn


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