Poe, Nabokov, and Three Big Words: Pedophilia, Necrophilia, Intertextuality Elena Martinis and Tamiko Nimura, English

Intertextuality: here, “a conversation between two literary texts” Lolita, Nabokov (Pedophilia) “Annabel Lee”, Poe (Necrophilia?)

“Annabel Lee” It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea: But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me.

“Annabel Lee” And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me— Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

“Annabel Lee” But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we— Of many far wiser than we— And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulcher there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Annabel Lee=Annabel Leigh: A few Poe allusions in Nabokov Nabokov almost gave Lolita the title The Kingdom by the Sea. The narrator (Humbert)’s first love is a child named Annabel Leigh, who dies young. Poe: “The angels, not half so happy in heaven,/Went envying her and me—” “I was a child and she was a child/In this kingdom by the sea:/But we loved with a love that was more than love—/I and my Annabel Lee;” Nabokov: “exhibit number one is what the seraphs…envied” (9) “When I was a child and she was a child…We loved each other with a premature love, marked by a fierceness that so often destroys adult lives” (16-7) “I shall probably have another breakdown if I stay any longer in this house, under the strain of this intolerable temptation, by the side of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride” (47)

Poe and Necrophilia Biographical reading: “Annabel Lee” is thought by some biographers to be dedicated to Poe’s “child bride” (who was 13, and died young) Textual reading: The imagery in the final stanza could be interpreted as necrophilic: “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side/Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride…”

Necrophilia: The Poetic and the Perverse

“a morbid obsession such as necrophilia can be a useful, flexible metaphor for complex psychological patterns of desire which are not necessarily pathological, or even perverse.” –Lucy Maddox, “Necrophilia in Lolita”

Necrophilia in Popular Culture Examples of necrophilia in literature / film and how they relate to Poe / Nabokov: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Corpse restored to life through sensual kiss. Snow white’s deathlike complexion attractive. 2.Romeo and Juliet (Romeo describes Juliet as beautiful in her deathlike state) 3. “A Rose for Emily” (Control, refuse to let go) 4. Associated with cannibalism and Dracula / vampirism (Power commentary) “Annabel Lee” Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty www.gutenberg.org allvintagestore.com

History and Studies of Necrophilia Ancient Egyptians Studies of Necrophilia Richard von Kraft-Ebing (1886) Johnathan P. Rosman and Phillip J. Resnick (1989) Have to know brief history / psychology of necrophilia before we apply to Poe and his narrator / Humbert 2. Necrophilia dates back to the ancient Egyptians. Herodotus wrote that wives of distinguished men were kept for 3-4 days to decay before being delivered to embalmers. Afraid embalmers would violate corpses. 3. Legend that King Herod had sex with his wife for seven years after he killed her- Similar legend with Charlemagne 4. Kraft-Ebing one of first studies conducted on necrophilia. Defined necrophilia as perverse behavior. Necrophiles sadistic and psychotic. Lack of adequate research- Conclusions based on a few case studies 5. Rosman and Resnick more comprehensive study. Found that necrophiles not psychotic or sadistic. Intelligent. Mostly male (mean age of 34). Empirical study. We can use their study to better understand Humbert and Poe’s narrator King Herod http://www.notablebiographies.com/images/uewb_05_img0337.jpg

Rosman and Resnick Explain study / differentiation of necrophiles quickly

Pedophilia and Necrophilia

Necrophilia: Lack of Self-Esteem “The passion I had developed for that nymphet- for the first nymphet in my life that could be reached by my awkward, aching, timid claws- would have certainly landed me again in a sanitorium . . .” (Humbert, 56, Italics mine) “I had ceased to be Humbert the Hound, the sad-eyed degenerate cur clasping the boot that would presently kick him away. I was above the tribulations of ridicule, beyond the possibilities of retribution.” (Humbert, 60, Italics mine) Most common motive for necrophilia: Possession of an unresisting and unrejecting partner (68% of study) 2. Stems from low self-esteem. Theory: Necrophile develops poor self-esteem, in part due to a significant loss, and desires a sexual object incapable of rejecting him 3. Discuss Humbert’s poor self-esteem (spider imagery, claws etc.). Lolita quotes: Couch scene.

Motives for Necrophilia Examples of Motives in Lolita: “I broke her spell by incarnating her in another.” (Humbert, 15) “My very photogenic mother died in a freak accident (picnic, lightning) when I was three” (Humbert, 10) Motives Cited by Rosman and Resnick: Reunion with a romantic partner Attempt to gain comfort / overcome feelings of isolation Conscious sexual attraction to corpses Attempt to gain self-esteem / total control Fusion of aggressive and libidinal drives An attempt to deal with loss or the fear of loss Identification with the mother. Attempt to deal with separation anxieties Only mention other relevant motives briefly. Mother: “Picnic, lightning.” Loss of female figures (Poe’s narrator and Humbert) 2. Loss of Lolita to Quilty. Poe’s narrator traumatized by loss, which stemmed from angels’ jealousy

Humbert: Metaphorical Necrophile “I wish this memoir to be published only when Lolita is no longer alive.” (Humbert, 309) “What I had madly possessed was not she, but my own creation, another, fanciful Lolita- perhaps, more real than Lolita . . . floating between me and her, and having no will, no consciousness- indeed, no life of her own.” (Humbert, 62) “it was always my habit and method to ignore Lolita’s states of mind while comforting my own base self.” (Humbert, 287) “she would be dead in his arms.” (Humbert, 116) “It was something quite special, that feeling: an oppressive, hideous constraint as if I were sitting with the small ghost of somebody I had just killed.” (Humbert, 140) Dead bride (Annabel Leigh) comes alive again in Dolores. Explain 2. Humbert’s story itself is a type of necrophilia- Meant to preserve the nymphet, the eternal, idealistic Lolita against her fading looks / death / reality 3. Ironically, Humbert metaphorically kills her, feels like Lolita is the “small ghost of somebody I had just killed” (377). Control- Ignores her desires, thoughts. Essentially “kills” her and then violates her. Control, power v. freedom. Tehran views Lolita as a tale about individual freedom 4. “It would have been instrumental in wrenching open the zipper of her nylon shroud had she been dead”

Sources Bronfen, Elisabeth. Over her Dead Body: Death, Femininity and the aesthetic. New York: Routledge, 1992. Burg, B.R. “The Sick and the Dead: The Development of Psychological Theory on Necrophilia from Kraft-Ebing to the Present.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 18 (1982): 242-254. Coviello, Peter. “Poe in Love: Pedophilia, Morbidity, and the Logic of Slavery.” ELH 70 (2003): 875-901. Kennedy, Gerald J. Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987. Maddox, Lucy. “Necrophilia in Lolita.” In Harold Bloom ed., Lolita (New York: Chelsea House, 1993), pp. 79-89. Nabokov, Vladimir. The Annotated Lolita. New York: Vintage Books, 1991. Ed. Alfred Apple. Proffer, Carl R. Keys to Lolita. London: Indiana University Press, 1968. Rosman, Johnathan P. and Philip J. Resnick. “Sexual Attraction to Corpses: A Psychiatric Review of Necrophilia.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 17 (1989): 153-163.

Intertextuality: what does it mean here? Lolita, Nabokov (Pedophilia) “Annabel Lee”, Poe (Necrophilia) For me, a couple of possibilities: For Nabokov: Nabokov wanted to be an American writer; the road trip in the journey is Humbert and Lolita’s loving and painful reconquest of Americana: seedy motels and tourist traps, the highways themselves. By claiming Poe as a literary ancestor, Nabokov is claiming the tradition of American literature itself. The willful power of love, even if it is a childish or immature love, to transcend all boundaries, life and death, youth and age The power of Poe and Nabokov, using pedophilia and necrophilia, two inviolable taboos in our society, to illustrate something about the complexity of humanity: how far can we reach into ugliness, only to find beauty?