LOLITA: the masterpiece of Nabokov (and Kubrick), the passion as alienation of the human being.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

“Dolores” by Beatrice Brandini

“I do not think in any language; I think for images “. Vladimir Nabokov.

Vladimir Nabokov published his most famous novel, Lolita, in 1955, the story of a great passion, pure and sinful at the same time.

Investigating and penetrating the human soul, Nabokov put in scene the desperation that only a total love can cause. Not unlike that of Tristan and Isolde, Romeo and Juliet or Anna Karenina.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Boucles d’oreilles

Balthaus, Katia lisant 1968 – 1976

I read the novel in adulthood, I fully understand its greatness; too often, this text has been the victim of misunderstandings and scandals, starting with its first publication. But even if the subject appears scabrous and inappropriate, it is actually a love story.

Remarkable was the difference in age of the two protagonists, even if today the 37 years of Humbert Humbert, the professor who falls madly in love with Dolores, also called Lo La or, precisely, Lolita, make a little ‘less sensation; in fact, if in the fifties it was thirty-seven years meant to be an elderly gentleman, today, at the same age, you are a young man.

Balthus, Portrait d’André Derain, 1936

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Fardeau agréable

I also saw Stanley Kubrick’s film, a masterpiece by direction, atmosphere and photography, nothing to do with the latest revision. Kubrick was able to test himself in any genre and make it a masterpiece (fear Shining; science fiction 2001: A Space Odyssey; war: Full Metal Jacket; psychological thriller: A Clockwork Orange; in costume: Barry Lyndon, etc.).

Movie poster of “Lolita” by Stanley Kubrick, 1962

Nabokov is due to the term Ninfetta (which he attributed to Lolita), a brilliant linguistic interpretation borrowed from Ninfa, to be immortal, which attracted the desire of the Olimpi to the earth and invaded the mind with erotic possession. Did not the same Dolores / Lolita to Humbert? Today this term, deprived of any etymological knowledge, is used negatively and inappropriately.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Avant le bain, 1900

Balthus, Therese, 1938

The art has often represented young or very young women, the two painters who more than others have expressed their beauty, are Jacques Bourboulon and Balthus.

Even fashion, cyclically, presents an idea of a young girl through ethereal dresses, light, floral, lace or St. Gall. Inducing the women who will wear them to feel, allusively, a little ‘Lolite.