Lens: Feminist Lens
"Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac) ; and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as "nymphets".
It will be marked that I substitute time terms for spatial ones. In fact, I would have the reader see "nine" and "fourteen" as the boundaries-the mirrory beaches and rosy rocks- of an enchanted island haunted by those nymphets of mine and surrounded by a vast, misty sea. Between those age limits, are all girl-children nymphets? Of course not. Otherwise, we who are in the know, we lone voyagers, we nympholets, would have gone insane. Neither are good looks any criterion; and vulgarity, or at least what a given community terms so, does not necessarily impair shifty, soul-shattering, insidious charm that separates the nymphet from such coeval if hers as are incomparably more dependent on the spatial world on synchronous phenomena than on the intangible island of entrances time where Lolita plays with her likes. Within the same age limits the number of true nymphets is strikingly inferior to that of provisionally plain, or just nice, or "cute" or even "sweet" and "attractive" ordinary, plumpish, formless, cold-skinned, essentially human little girls, with tummies and pigtails, who may or may not turn into adults of great beauty... the little deadly demon among the wholesome children; she stands unrecognized by them and unconscious herself of fantastic power."
(nymph)
In this passage, he begins to explain the type of girls he is attracted to. From the get-go he describes the girls he is attracted to as nymphets, but he also includes words such as demoniac to describe Lolita. He says that these nympholets or girls that he attracted to have something special about them that intrigue him to like them. He sees Lolita as a possession and he sees her as sort of a mythical creature instead of the under-aged girl that he should be seeing her as. He is more than twice her age and he does not seem to capture this idea. He uses words as "chosen creatures" to describe the girls that he has been raping.
In any normal situation, a man does not describe his lover or any significant other as creatures who are "chosen", right off the bat we can tell that this is possessive behavior which translates back to who he is and his beliefs. We can connect this back to the fact that he has no respect for females of any kind and continues to use them for his own benefit. In this passage, he also makes it very clear that he has a limit of 9 to 14 more or less making it his "type" and they are no longer attractive to him or again "his chosen creature" if the age does not meet this requirement.
By depicting these young girls as nymphets with demoniac features, he gives a sort of excuse of how it is acceptable. His intention is to try to steer away from the fact that they are only girls who are 9 to 14 years old and he tries to play it as like they are a young age, but then again there is something different about them. However, he is just fabricating this difference in his head. These girls do not have any mystic features or powers, but in reality are just young, pubescent girls .
In this passage, Humbert speaks with a lot of imagery and very whimsical. He makes the writing sound very pretty, when trying to describe the young girl he encounters. To describe the age limits that he prefers, he compares it to beaches and rocks that border an enchanted island "haunted by those nymphets of mine". He uses the comparison of beaches and rocks to capture the idea that inside of these boundaries lie wondrous things, much like a castle of sorts. He uses the words "vast, misty sea" to describe the uncertainty when searching for one of his "nymphets". Because he describes that not all girl-children are nymphets, it is important to keep in mind that these boundaries and similes are almost real to him. These are the things pictured in his head to succeed towards finding a nymphet.
Lastly, he ends this off with distinguishing differences between "human little girls" and his nymphets. He says that even in the pool of children from these age limits the number of nymphets does not meet his liking he describes the number as "inferior". Humbert says that human girls are ordinary, but that nymphets carry a fantastic power. Although, in a normal person's eye they would all look like young girls, Humbert knows how to tell this difference which then leads him to develop this attraction. He genuinely believes that there is a difference between human girls and nymphets and he thinks it's unique that he is able to capture that. He seems almost repulsed by the idea of being with this regular human little girl because being with an nymphet is a totally different story. All in all, these are all young girls and he is fabricating these comparisons and differences in his mind to excuse his pedophilic behavior.
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