Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lolita, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Perversity, Obsession, and Art
Suburbia and American Consumer Culture
Exile, Homelessness and Road Narratives
Life and Literary Representation
Women, Innocence, and Male Fantasy
Patterns, Memory and Fate
Summary
Analysis
Although she doesn’t want to go, Charlotte sends Lolita off to summer camp. Humbert Humbert, distraught, considers leaving the house until she returns. He fantasizes about masquerading as a girl and following Lolita to camp, but quickly dismisses the idea. Just before Lolita leaves with Charlotte, she runs up the stairs to give Humbert a passionate kiss.
Remembering that Humbert is not always a reliable narrator, we must be skeptical. Did Lolita really kiss Humbert? He has good reasons to make up something like this: by calling Lolita’s “innocence,” into question, he excuses his own behavior.
Themes
