A Freudian Psychoanalytical Interpretation Of The Protagonist Humbert In Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov,a Russian-born American,is considered as one of the most remarkable and influential novelists in the 20^th American literature.He is an outstanding poet,translator,and critic at the same time.Nabokov,as a prolific writer,has composed numerous works in his lifetime.Among them,Lolita is the most controversial and the most influential one,winning him great fame in the whole world.Lolita has been profusely commented upon since its first appearance in print.Many scholars have explored it from a variety of theoretical perspectives,most of them mainly concentrating on postmodern narrative techniques,moral issues of the novel,aesthetic and philosophical viewpoints of the author.However,few researchers have conducted a profound investigation on this novel from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis,which is regarded as one of the most influential types of contemporary literary theory.Therefore,this thesis attempts to interpret the protagonist Humbert Humbert in the light of Freud’s personality structure theory,aiming to dig out the inner psychological factors contributing to his tragic destiny and urge people to throw more concern on a harmonious personality and the negative effects of the superego on individual psychology as well.This thesis falls into six parts which are introduction,four main chapters and conclusion.The introduction comprises a brief introduction to Vladimir Nabokov and Lolita,and the literature review at home and abroad.The significance of the study is pointed out in this part as well:by employing the theory of Freudian personality structure as a point of departure,the thesis respectively analyzes the three parts of Humbert’s personality and thus clarifies that it is Humbert’s unbalanced personality that eventually determines his life tragedy.Chapter one illustrates the theoretical framework of this thesis,in which the theory of Freud’s personality structure is expounded systematically.In Freud’s view,an individual’s personality is composed of three parts,namely the id,the ego and the superego.The id is driven by the“pleasure principle”;the ego takes actions based on the“reality principle”;the superego follows the“morality principle”.The three parts interact and coordinate with each other,forming the organic whole of personality.Chapter two focuses on the analysis of Humbert’s id.Humbert’s id embodies the image of a sexual hedonist.The former part of this chapter analyzes Humbert’s endless pursuit of physical pleasure as a boy and an adult under the mask of“love”.The latter part points out that Humbert tries to rationalize his immoral desire in the spiritual plane by distorting the ideas of nymphet and pedophile,thus unconsciously covering his true identity as a hedonist of sex.Chapter three contains the analysis of Humbert’s ego.Humbert’s ego is a slave of the id,incapable of restraining the id’s impulses and satisfying its desires in a socially acceptable way.The ego has to submit to the id.Driven by the sexual instinct,Humbert becomes obsessed with nymphets without considering the reality and morality and shows a resentful attitude towards adult females.A lot of his choices are made under the threat of the id.When he chooses his life companion and marriage partner,he takes the id’s wishes into account.The id also urges him to make the selection of pursuing Lolita,putting the social norms and moral restraints aside.Chapter four explores Humbert’s superego.Humbert’s superego is a punisher of the ego.He suffers moral anxieties as a punishment of his choices as a pedophile,the stepfather and the lover of Lolita.Meanwhile,Humbert has been tortured by guilty conscience during his whole life.He gets trapped in a psychic prison and becomes a prisoner of conscience.Under the stress of the guilt towards Lolita,he commits the murder of Quilty which converts him into a prisoner in a physical prison.By interpreting the three aspects of his personality exhibited in life,the conclusion points out that the cause for Humbert’s tragic fate lies in the unbalanced distribution of his psychic energy in personality.The id’s powerfulness leads to the ego’s inferior position in the structure.The ego fails to follow the reality principle and gratify the id’s desire in a reasonable way.The relatively strong superego does not take its responsibility as a positive leader in social life,only carrying out a series of punitive measures.