Vladimir Nabokov's Lolit Sexual Deviance And Normality

I was warned that if I I went in to reading Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita expecting to bring out some deeper purpose, that I would be sorely disappointed; however, it is human nature to search for meaning. “‘Knowing’ Lolita: Sexual Deviance and Normality in Nabokov's Lolita,” may not bring a full meaning to Nabokov infamous novel, but Eric Goldman’s interpretation brings forth an important argument that the text makes. Goldman’s article addresses the way that Lolita challenges conservative ideas that American society holds in regards to female, particularly adolescent female, sexuality by discussing the representation of Dolores Haze in the novel, alongside the cultural setting caused by the “Kinsey Reports (87).” Specifically, Goldman zeroes in on the way, “Nabokov suggests that the concepts of ‘deviance’ and ‘normalcy’ are disturbingly fluid, contingent upon out social perspective, and shaped by our own prejudiced and desires (89).” This means that Nabokov wrote his novel as he did in order to show how “deviance” and “normalcy” are potentially a result or perspective, and through Humbert Humbert, we get a biased view of Dolores’ normal sexuality as deviant (88).
Additionally, the article discusses the “Kinsey Reports,” which disputed the concept of sexual innocence in adolescent girls and married women, to show the cultural context surrounding women’s sexualities at the time (Goldman 95). Ultimately, Goldman comes to the conclusion that Lolita, like the “Kinsey Reports”, aims to challenge societal notions of female innocence by positioning Dolores’ sexually behavior a normal part of development rather than a rather than a sign of amorality, as the unreliable