Definition of Mood
Key Examples in Lolita
Despite the often ironic and detached tone of Humbert’s narration, the overall mood of Lolita is passionate, fervent, and obsessive, reflecting Humbert’s perverse fixation with Dolores “Lolita” Haze, the adolescent daughter of his second wife, Charlotte Haze. When he describes his life prior to meeting Lolita, his language is unsentimental. However, when he describes Lolita and the time that he spends with her, the mood of the novel becomes fervid and zealous. Reflecting upon his actions in the days following the death of Charlotte from his prison cell many years later, Humbert writes:
This daily headache in the opaque air of this tombal jail is disturbing, but I must persevere. Have written more than a hundred pages and not got anywhere yet. My calendar is getting confused. That must have been around August 15, 1947. Don’t think I can go on. Heart, head—everything. Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita. Repeat till the page is full, printer.