What makes Charlotte Haze so repugnant to Humbert? Does the author appear to share Humbert’s antagonism? Does he ever seem to criticize it? In what ways does Charlotte embody the Russian word poshlust which Nabokov translated as “not only the obviously trashy but also the falsely important, the falsely beautiful, the falsely clever, the falsely attractive?” (Cited by Alfred Appel, Jr., in The Annotated Lolita. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970, pp. xlix-1.)
REVISED POST: Everything about Charlotte repulses and disgusts Humbert. From her age to her appearance, her tastes, her obvious advances to Humbert, her personality. The term poshlust (new to me) does exactly describe Charlotte.
Because the book is, after all, Humbert’s confession, I didn’t see any criticism from Nabokov as he let Humbert speak for himself. Occasionally Humbert lightly questions his own antagonism.
The only reason Humbert was even living with Charlotte was because of Delores. I think Charlotte was repugnant to Humbert because she stood in the way of him and Lolita.
Humbert couldn’t like Charlotte because she did project any worthiness to him. She only existed in his world because of Lolita. Nabokov was not making any judgment on Charlotte; I think he was making a judgement on Humbert.
I agree. She was a means to an end–him getting Delores.
I felt that Numbers did not like Charlotte because she was older and not attracted to her because she was not a nymphette. That is the feeling I got reading it. Plus, she wss not exactly big on housekeeping, she seemed have a more relaxed attitude toward housekeeping than Humbert . I agree,Charlotte was a means of getting at Delores.
I agree! He was with Charlotte to be close to Delores.
Charlotte is repugnant to Humbert because she is everything Lolita is not: an adult, ordinary, and she is in his way. But Nabokov does not share Humbert’s view; rather, he subtly critiques Humbert by giving Charlotte traces of dignity, sadness, and humanity, which Humbert refuses to acknowledge.
Karen great comment thanks for sharing!
And it’s not just Charlotte. He was also dismissive of Valeria. There are a lot of similarities between the way he viewed them - he found both coarse and intellectually inferior.
Humbert had only one focused attraction, and that was Lolita. The intervals when he spoke with flattery about Charlotte Haze was when he was trying to convince himself that he could be with her as a means to his goal - always Lolita. Humbert seems incapable of determining what was “false” since his perception was filtered through the qualities of a child.