Abstract
Humbert’s mumbling in prison shows the readers his true inner world and his tragic fate. Throughout Lolita, it is evidently clear that Humbert’s ethical choice is inextricably linked with his depressed heart and tragic fate. Based on ethical literary criticism proposed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao, this paper analyzes Humbert’s life, which is a life full of ethical choices. This article, based on Humbert’s ethical choice of Charlotte Haze, Lolita and Quilty, and his ultimate ethical redemption, reveals his ethical dilemma in ethical choice, his Sphinx Factors, the interweaving of his free will and rational will, and his ultimate ethical choice. Humbert’s ethical choices eventually led to his tragic fate.
Highlights
Vladimir Nabokov was an important figure in both literary and critical circles
Based on ethical literary criticism proposed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao, this paper tries to analyze Humbert’s tragic life under his different ethical choices, from the ethical dilemmas full of natural will in his marriage with Charlotte Haze, to the different representations of the sphinx factor in Lolita’s emotion, to the outburst of Quilty’s free will and rational will and the confession of his own ethical value
In Humbert’s ethical consciousness, Quilty is the incarnation of evil. It is an ethical choice made by Humbert in the call of human nature factors to punish evil. This free will with a purpose and the moral requirement to punish the harm it does to Lolita leaves Humbert make the ethical choice of killing Quilty
Summary
Vladimir Nabokov was an important figure in both literary and critical circles. “Nabokov is an alternative presence in the American literary tradition” (Wang, 2017, p. 102). “Nabokov is an alternative presence in the American literary tradition” “There is a wealth of content and directions behind what at first glance looks like a popular novel” Humbert’s life is full of tangled ethical choices, and every ethical choice further leads to the tragic fate of the protagonist. Based on ethical literary criticism proposed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao, this paper tries to analyze Humbert’s tragic life under his different ethical choices, from the ethical dilemmas full of natural will in his marriage with Charlotte Haze, to the different representations of the sphinx factor in Lolita’s emotion, to the outburst of Quilty’s free will and rational will and the confession of his own ethical value
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