Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov is about a European man named Humbert and his obsession with young, precocious and attractive girls, or ‘nymphets,’ specifically Lolita, or Dolores Haze. While staying with Lolita and her mother, Charlotte, in America, Humbert tries to expand his relationship with Lolita. When Charlotte goes to pick Lolita up from camp, she leaves behind a note telling Humbert of her love for him, and that he must either marry her or move out. To become closer to Lolita, he decides to marry her. Charlotte discovers Humbert’s pedophilic obsession with Lolita and actual hatred for Charlotte, but dies before she is able to run away with Lolita. After that Humbert takes Lolita all around the country, stops in at different motels, and bribes Lolita to have sex with him. Along the way, they run into people who, according to Humbert, seem to question their relationship, which they claim to be a “father-daughter” one. The fact that Humbert and Lolita are sneaking around for the duration of their travels show how the society at that time looks on this situation. While Humbert claims a true and passionate love for the girl above all else, society would look on him only as a sex-maniac pedophile. He also stresses that while society accepts a man of his age in a relationship with a 16 year old girl, when the girls is only a few years younger, it is greatly frowned upon. Another aspect of society that Humbert seems to point out is in his interview with Lolita’s school, where they stress that their specialties and courses taught include things like drama and dance, and not specifically literature. This shows that society believes in the long-standing tradition that a woman’s role is to stay at home.
