Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0020297, Sun, 11 Jul 2010 11:47:26 -0300

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Re: THOUGHTS Flaubert's? Lincoln's? Returning to the Newport
Frill]
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Matt Roth:"Lincoln certainly had a "barbe en collier" but he did not, technically speaking, have a Newgate Frill, since the NF runs entirely below the chin and jawline. Lincoln's beard covered most of his chin and part of his jowls. The composer Richard Wagner had a real one, if you want to see the difference. In any case, despite BB's commendation, I don't see any real reason to think of Lincoln here, since there have been plenty of other famous people with similar (and even more accurate) beard styles. Sorry to be a poor sport."

JM: Thanks for the comments, Matt. Btw, I don't see why you'd be "a poor sport" simply because you are in disagreement with my interpretation.
There's certainly no Richard Wagner lurking in Pale Fire, but a murdered American president, such as Abe Lincoln ( who is often mentioned in Nabokov's works, at least I remember him in "Ada") and his "barbe en collier" makes sense to me, as did Brian Boyd's additional comments on "prickly pear" and the shift from Newport to Newgate.

On another matter (related to a different posting, on "Medusa"): I'm aware that Nabokov's reference to a "medusa" applied to the jellyfish, not directly to the mythological poisonous snakes growing like hair on the head of a mortal gorgon.

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