Thematic And Tonal Echoes Of Annabel Lee

Thematic and Tonal Echoes of Annabel Lee in Lolita

The story of Lolita and the poem Annabel Lee exhibit similar themes and parallel one another significantly. Although both pieces were written by separate authors, there is an identical tone initially set by both Nabokov and Poe. This continues throughout the story of Lolita and as the audience, we begin to see that the characteristics of Lolita correspond to those of Annabel Lee. Throughout Lolita, there is much textual evidence to support the conjecture that both pieces have numerous amounts of similarities. It is believed that Nabokov was inspired by Poe’s poem and that the original title for Lolita was The Kingdom By The Sea. This is an interesting comparison because the phrase
This can be seen when he first meets Lolita and states, “All I want to stress is that my discovery of her was a fatal consequence of the ‘princedom by the sea’ in my tortured past.” This only further proves the speculation that the narrators of both pieces see and describe their loves in similar ways. Another topic discussed was that in this magical world the narrator of both stories might imagine themselves as the king of their fantasy world and therefore have a controlling power over Annabel and Lolita. With this being said, there is textual evidence to support the hypothesis that both narrators take on the role of being controlling and obsessed with their lovers. The word “my” is used numerous times in both Lolita and Annabel Lee to foreshadow their fixation and
It is when Humbert Humbert is speaking about Lolita and says, “She trembled and twitched as I kissed the corner of her parted lips and the hot lobe of her ear. A cluster of stars palely glowed above us...that vibrant sky seemed as naked as she was under her light frock. I saw her face in the sky, strangely distinct, as if it emitted a faint radiance of its own.” This can be directly related to the phrase in Annabel Lee which states, “For the moon never beams without bring me dreams of the beautiful Annabel Lee; and the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes of the beautiful Annabel Lee.” In both phrased, there are many overarching themes but the one that is most similar is the way in which the authors compare Lolita and Annabel Lee to aspects of nature, specifically the moon and the stars. Finally, one of the major overarching themes presented throughout both pieces of literature is love versus death and everlasting love. This is portrayed in Annabel Lee when Poe states, “That the wind came out of the cloud by night, chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.” After Poe affirms Annabel’s death, he continues to speak of his love and passion for her just as Humbert does for Lolita right before he dies. This is a theme that is also seen in many other literary pieces and proves that love can be everlasting, even when death is a