Nabokov's Ada and Sidney's Arcadia: The Regeneration of a Phoenix

Abstract:

This article argues that an important feature of Nabokov's Ada or Ardor is its evocation of Sidney's romance Arcadia and sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella. Particular echoes and general thematic resonance are investigated, and found to be too pervasive to be coincidental. Reasons are offered why Nabokov might have been secretive about such an ancestry. They concern his political, erotic, and literary self-construction, and underlie his whole uvre, adding a layer of meaning to his chosen nom de plume, ‘Sirin’.