Jansy, you
wrote:
it seems that VN was fascinated
by the French Catholic martyr, Saint Joan.
> He wrote, somewhere, that
one of the first names for "Lolita" was to have
> been "Juanita" ( a
"Juanita Dark": Jeanne D' Arc). We alo know that Lolita
> shares with
Lucette a redish "Boticcellian" hair color. Why do you think
> the
"terrible" points to "Ivan", not to something about St.Joan?
Because St. Joan
wasn't so terrible - was she? - that she could to be paired with "Dr. Sig
Heiler" (i. e. Adolf Hitler), while the tsar Ivan (whom Stalin regarded as his
"teacher") is a good company for him. As to "Juanita" as an ur-Lolita, Van
was also "Juan" at first (see Strong Opinions, p. 310). But Lolita and Van
Veen have nothing in common (except, perhaps, their
birthday).
Alexey