On The Concept Of Morality In Nabokov’s Art World

The issue of morality has long been consciously or unconsciously neglected in the mainstream Nabokov criticism. At the root of this neglect is the reader’s misreading of Nabokov’s works like Lolita, and some critics’ one-sided view of the author. Both aspects combined to lead to the dominant judgment that "Nabokov takes no heed of morality." However, after reading Nabokov’s other novels and comments, readers can still find that morality is one of the central issues in Nabokov’s artistic world.Right against this background, this thesis forms a relatively systematic research of Nabokov’s morality theory by reviewing the discussion about the issue of morality that scatters over the existing Nabokov studies and in-depth analysis of Nabokov’s self-defense and the texts:morality plays an irreplaceable role in Nabokov’s artistic world. Morality in the Nabokov sense is the combination of personal morality and rational morality. On the one hand, Nabokov pays much attention to personal morality, opposing the group’s oppression and incorporation of the individual; on the other, there exists a dangerous tendency towards solipsism in Nabokov’s artistic theory due to his strong obsession with the individual issues. Yet Nabokov does not endue his characters with absolute privilege. Rational morality helps to curb the tendency towards solipsism, and thus is a significant support for Nabokov’s poetic world. Nabokov’s theory of morality is a mutual combination of personal morality and rational morality. Without personal morality, Nabokov’s aesthetic bliss would lose its root; without rational morality, Nabokov’s art would become brutal and violent. In this sense, to read his characters from the perspective of either personal morality or rational morality would be partial.The first chapter of this thesis makes an in-depth analysis of the relationship between Nabokov’s morality and the reality. His morality has little to do with the secular view of morality of pragmatism. It exists on the level of artistic autonomy for the purpose of expelling evil and preserving the purity and integrity of the artistic world. Nabokov’s theory of morality is characteristic of rejecting didacticism and pragmatism.After clearly explaining Nabokov’s view of morality, the second and third chapters dive into the specific texts to explore his built-in moral judgments. The second chapter analyzes how Nabokov expresses his built-in morality through dispelling the reliability of first-person narration. The third chapter investigates how Nabokov arranges different fates for different characters in order to find out Nabokov’s special preference or text purpose.Although critics like Wayne Clayson Booth criticized Nabokov’s obscure built-in morality, this thesis holds that the built-in morality is an intentional textual arrangement by Nabokov. By this means, he brings every reader into the specific texts and let them realize their blindness so as to provide the readers with a insightful, self-examining artistic feeling.