A.Sklyarenko:... some commentators
deny Quilty the independent existence as a character and believe him to
be a figment of mad Humbert's imagination. Considering
Humbert's constant appeals to the jury, perhaps the name Quilty, of the
man who looks like Humbert's alter ego and double, is a play on
"guilty"? In that case the title of Vivian Darkbloom's biography, "My
Cue," would have a different meaning yet (hinting at the fact that Q
was substituted for G by Nabokov, Vivian's anagramatic alter ego).
JM: Could
you explain how Vivian substituted the Q for the G? In Russian Humbert
became Gumbert, fine. But how should I to proceed to the next step?
EDNote/commentary:
It might be worth listing some of the various interpretations of what
is "real" at what level of the novel Lolita. Here are a few
that I remember; attributions are incomplete and based on foggy memory
at this point; apologies in advance for any errors:
John Ray, Jr. himself may lack "independent existence"--He may (like
Quilty) be a double of H.H. as well. In this reading, H.H. may have
created the "Foreword" (why? In order to "finalize" Lolita the
character; to create outer control over his narrative and over his
victim (s?)--including Q's biography by VD; etc. etc.) Parts of this
approach have appeared in Julian Connolly's article in Nabokov Studies
No. 2.
George Ferger (among others?) has drawn attention to the curious
parallel between Claire Quilty's initials and the first and final
letters in the name/title of Ray's 'good friend and relation' (and
H.H.'s lawyer) Clarence Choate Clark, Esq. Allegedly,
Clark's name is as "real" as Ray's.
A side note on "My Cue": the title in Nabokov's Russian translation
becomes "Kumir moi", which draws its "Ku" from "Kuil'ti", and means "My
Idol"--and punningly evokes the phrase "Ku--mir moi", or "Ku [Q] is my
world" (as Alexander Dolinin pointed out to me). An additional note
for non-Russianists: The construction "My Cue" very slightly evokes
1920s and '30s books on Pushkin, one by Marina Tsvetaeva and one by
Valerii Briusov, entitled "Moi Pushkin" (My Pushkin).
~SB