James Mason as Humbert in the 1962 film

Humbert Humbert is the adopted pseudonym of the main character and unreliable narrator of the 1955 novel Lolita, by Russian-born American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. Humbert is a divorced scholar of French poetry who comes to America and falls in love with twelve-year-old Dolores Haze, who is nicknamed "Lolita." Image File history File linksMetadata Lolita_1962_03. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Lolita_1962_03. ... James Mason in North by Northwest. ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. ... In literature and film, an unreliable narrator (a term coined by Wayne C. Booth in his 1961 book The Rhetoric of Fiction [1]) is a literary device in which the credibility of the narrator, either first-person or third-person, is seriously compromised. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lolita For other uses, see Lolita (disambiguation). ... Vladimir Nabokov This page is about the novelist. ... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse, which can be contrasted with an annulment, which is a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support, child custody... A scholar is either a student or someone who has achieved a mastery of some academic discipline, perhaps receiving financial support through a scholarship. ... French poetry is a category of French literature. ...

Humbert has been enamored of "nymphets," or attractive pubescent girls, ever since his first love, Annabel, died when they were both in their early teens. In Lolita, he sees his dead love come back to life, and will do anything to possess her. A relationship forms beneath the ignorant eye of her mother, Charlotte Haze. He marries Charlotte, just to be close to Lolita, and after Charlotte dies from being struck by a car, he removes his "Lo" from the summer camp she has been attending for a month, and travels around the country with her for over a year. Throughout this journey, Lolita and Humbert begin a strong sexual relationship and personify two contrasting relationships; husband and wife, and father and daughter. When Lolita runs off with playwright Clare Quilty, Humbert becomes even more obsessed, determined to hunt her down, win her back, and kill his rival. When he does find her again years later, however, she is no longer the nymphet of his dreams but a pregnant housewife, living in a dead-end town. Realizing he still loves her and finally feeling guilt for corrupting her, Humbert finds and kills Quilty and goes to prison, where he dies after dictating his life story to his lawyer. A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... Guilt is primarily an emotion experienced by people who believe they have done something wrong. ...

As a narrator, Humbert Humbert is remarkable for his sardonic, satiric wit. Nabokov once said of the name: "The double rumble is, I think, very nasty, very suggestive. It is a hateful name for a hateful person." The name evokes the Spanish hombre, "man," and the French ombre, "shadow" — much as the name of John Shade, a central character in Nabokov's later novel Pale Fire. It also suggests a portmanteau of the English words humbug and pervert. Furthermore, the double name hints at the novel's doppelgänger motif. It has been suggested that Third person limited omniscient be merged into this article or section. ... The World According To Ronald Reagan - a Finnish satirical poster from 1984 Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... Look up Wit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... John Shade is a fictional character in Vladimir Nabokovs 1962 novel Pale Fire. ... Penguin Classics edition of Pale Fire Pale Fire (1962) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, his fourteenth in total and fifth in English. ... Look up Portmanteau word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A doppelgänger ( ) is the ghostly double of a living person. ...

Humbert Humbert in the two films

Humbert Humbert has been portrayed on film by James Mason in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 classic movie adaptation of the novel, and by Jeremy Irons in Adrian Lyne's 1997 film. Book magazine ranked Humbert Humbert third on its list of the 100 Best Characters in Fiction since 1900. James Mason in North by Northwest. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director and producer. ... Lolita (1962) is a film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. ... Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (born September 19, 1948) is an Oscar-winning English actor. ... Adrian Lyne (Born: March 4, 1941 in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) is an English filmmaker and producer. ... Lolita is a 1997 film directed by Adrian Lyne and was the second screen adaptation of the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. ...