Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0026657, Thu, 26 Nov 2015 09:46:36 -0200

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RES: [NABOKV-L] Lolita, Mona Dahl
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Michael Marcus: I think no further than Mona Lisa and Arlene Dahl, since Nabokov was fond of composite names, and Dolores was a movie buff. Then you look for a common denominator, which would be, as far as I can see, that they both had a natural mole on their upper lip. So far so good. Much later in Lolita you read that Mona Dahl had a mole on her back, so there you are. What is it with the mole? Since Lolita alludes quite regularly Shakespeare, especially Hamlet, you think of "some vicious mole of nature” which undermines the character; and you look askance, as you are supposed to, at Mona Dahl. Someone more erudite than me might look elsewhere for “Mona” and “Dahl”.

Jansy Mello: Comparing moles in Lolita and Ada, we find a passing reference to lesbians and to Greta Garbo. I don't think the indicators are clear or sufficient, but this might inspire further links…

Mona: Her hands trembled. She was burdened with a 150 I.Q. And I also knew she had a tremendous chocolate-brown mole on her womanish back which I inspected the night Lo and she had worn low-cut pastel-colored, vaporous dresses for a dance at the Butler Academy. (Lolita)

Cordula: a man can recognize a Lesbian, young and alone (because a tailored old pair can fool no one), by a combination of three characteristics: slightly trembling hands, a cold-in-the-head voice, and that skidding-in-panic of the eyes if you happen to scan with obvious appraisal such charms as the occasion might force her to show (lovely shoulders, for instance)Nothing whatever of all that (yes — Mytilène, petite isle, by Louis Pierre) seemed to apply to Cordula, who wore a ‘garbotosh’ (belted mackintosh) over her terribly unsmart turtle and held both hands deep in her pockets as she challenged his stare.(Ada, or Ardor)


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