I was just re-reading the English translation of Nadzieja Kortus’ “Masonic Code in the Works of Vladimir Nabokov” which I mentioned in a previous post (https://thenabokovian.org/node/53688#comment-form). I translated the Russian from google/translate for interested English speakers, so I am uploading a pdf here.
Her conclusion is one I fully endorse, as it is also my conclusion for Pale Fire:
In the course of our analysis, it is worth noting that the personal attitude towards the Masonic theme, i.e., the explicit opposition of the protagonist's spiritual initiation in the novel "Invitation to a Beheading" to the Masonic initiation ceremony, has a direct source in Nabokov's life experience. However, in an artistic sense, the Masonic theme serves as the basis for the writer's conscious and consistent construction of his own initiation path.
As, Kortus also mentions, Nabokov's upbringing was steeped in Freemasonry; his father and Cadet Party cohorts were Masons. She does not mention his father's friend, Vladimir Pohl, a mason and Gurdjiffian who was Nabokv's metaphysical mentor. Nabokov, who seems to have been a natural mystic, with his ecstatic dissociations (like the boy John Shade), according to Pohl was very eager to learn. In fact, his book of poems (Angels) about angelic hierarchies (a Masonic teaching) was dedicated to Pohl.
Many of the Russian Silver Age poets the young Nabokov venerated were Freemasons. Later, in an early letter to Vera he jokes about how he refused the blandishments of the Masons to join the society. I surmise that once Nabokov began to feel the power of his "individual genius," the "egoless" notion of spiritual enlightenment lost much of its attraction. Yet, he spent the rest of his career wrestling with the conundrum of becoming a genius of note vs. becoming a transparent "Nobody" (i.e. Botkin/Nikto).
Once one knows a bit about Freemasonry, it becomes easy to see this influence in Pale Fire, as well as ITAB. Bend Sinister and TRLSK also feature spiritual epiphanies which ironically turn false. The unresolved endings reflect Nabokov's essential ambivalence about duality vs. Oneness.
My thanks and appreciation to Nadzieja Kortus.
I would be very interested to know of any other Russian papers on the subject of Nabokov and Freemasonry.
Mary