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JF to MR on split personalities in PF
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Matthew Roth wrote:
> Several folks have recently argued that basing a Shadean
interpretation
> of
> Pale Fire on the idea of a split personality would be too Freudian and
> would never have interested Nabokov. This makes very little sense to
me,
> since the most traditional reading of the novel relies on the very
> notion
> that Kinbote is really a delusional V. Botkin. Clearly, Nabokov DID
see
> multiple personalities as a valid plotting device. The only
alternative
> is
> to actually believe that Kinbote really is the king of Zembla.
I think the objection, as Sergei hinted, is to Carolyn's specific
theory: the Kinbote personality manifests traits that Shade
repressed, namely homosexuality and "Russianness". That does
sound rather Freudian to me, for what little my opinion on Freud
is worth.
I think this objection is weaker than others (especially the
ones I've made, coincidentally [and I thank the people who've
said they found my arguments interesting]). A Freudian origin
for Shade's MPD would be like the Freudian story Humbert tells
about the origin of his pedophilia, usually said to be a parody.
Technically, by the way, I don't believe the Botkin reading is
MPD. Botkin acquires the delusion that he's Kinbote the ex-king,
but we don't see him switch back and forth between B. and K.
Jerry Friedman
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> Several folks have recently argued that basing a Shadean
interpretation
> of
> Pale Fire on the idea of a split personality would be too Freudian and
> would never have interested Nabokov. This makes very little sense to
me,
> since the most traditional reading of the novel relies on the very
> notion
> that Kinbote is really a delusional V. Botkin. Clearly, Nabokov DID
see
> multiple personalities as a valid plotting device. The only
alternative
> is
> to actually believe that Kinbote really is the king of Zembla.
I think the objection, as Sergei hinted, is to Carolyn's specific
theory: the Kinbote personality manifests traits that Shade
repressed, namely homosexuality and "Russianness". That does
sound rather Freudian to me, for what little my opinion on Freud
is worth.
I think this objection is weaker than others (especially the
ones I've made, coincidentally [and I thank the people who've
said they found my arguments interesting]). A Freudian origin
for Shade's MPD would be like the Freudian story Humbert tells
about the origin of his pedophilia, usually said to be a parody.
Technically, by the way, I don't believe the Botkin reading is
MPD. Botkin acquires the delusion that he's Kinbote the ex-king,
but we don't see him switch back and forth between B. and K.
Jerry Friedman
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm