Chapter 2: âThe Authorâs Pale Virgin Cheekâ: Nabokov on Austen

Luc Herman

Jump to Content

Chapter 2: âThe Authorâs Pale Virgin Cheekâ: Nabokov on Austen

äºVladimir Nabokovâs Lectures on Literature

èèï¼

Luc Herman

Luc Herman
Search for other papers by Luc Herman in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

ç±»å:: ç« è

Page Range:: 35â43

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004352872_004

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

â¬42.00â¬35.00Â excl. VAT

Add to Cart

æ¾åè®¿é®ä»¤ç

Abstract

In the lecture on Jane Austen, Nabokovâs negative judgments about structural aspects of Mansfield Park are clearly enhanced by the fact that Austen is a woman. What is more, Nabokovâs patronizing attitude toward female authors leads him to an interpretive mistake. When Austenâs protagonist Fanny condemns a play for its dangerous morality, Nabokov all too rapidly decides that Austen disapproves as well. As it happens, there is no reason at all why Fannyâs reaction (in free indirect discourse) should coincide with the authorâs, but Nabokov is only too happy to let his image of the character overlap with that of the author. When discussing Austenâs famous irony, Nabokov describes one of her ironic sentences as âthe dimpled sentence, a delicate ironic dimple in the authorâs pale virgin cheek.â As a pale virgin, occasionally capable of delicate ironic comment, Nabokovâs Austen embodies Fannyâs innocence and finesse, and so they simply must think the same about the potential performance of an allegedly scandalous play.

å¼ç¨ä¿¡æ¯

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share Link

Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/edcoll/9789004352872/B9789004352872_004.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Vladimir Nabokovâs Lectures on Literature

Portraits of the Artist as Reader and Teacher

ä¸ç¼ï¼ Studies in Slavic Literature and Poetics, å·ï¼ 62and Studies in Slavic Literature and Poetics Online, å·ï¼ 62

Cover Vladimir Nabokovâs Lectures on Literature

ISBN:: 9789004352872

åºçç¤¾:: Brill

å°å·åºçæ¥æ:: 07 Dec 2017

Subjects
- Literature and Cultural Studies
- Slavic and Eurasian Studies
  - Literature & Linguistics

Front Matter

ç»è®¡æ°æ®

	å¨é¨æé´	è¿å»ä¸å¹´	è¿å»30å¤©
æè¦æµè§æ¬¡æ°	1788	209	37
å¨ææµè§æ¬¡æ°	164	1	0
PDFä¸è½½æ¬¡æ°	28	0	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

AppBar-Authors 2025

AppBar-Open Access 2025

AppBar-Product Information 2025

AppBar-Company 2025

AppBar-Contact 2025

Chapter 2: âThe Authorâs Pale Virgin Cheekâ: Nabokov on Austen

Abstract

å¼ç¨ä¿¡æ¯

Share Link

Vladimir Nabokovâs Lectures on Literature