Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita: Was Humbert Humbert (HH) a pedophile, a hebephile, or demon possessed; that is, a person with multiple personality?

I have just started Lolita. I am a very slow reader. And I am bogged down at the very beginning over what the protagonist is, sexually speaking.

Hebephile, Not Pedophile

Loosely speaking, HH is a pedophile, since he is sexually attracted to children. However, since his preference is for girls between 9 and 14 who show the first signs of puberty—“bud-stage breast development” and “the first appearance of pigmented pubic hair” (1, p. 20)—he is not a pedophile (who prefer prepubescent), but rather a hebephile (who prefer pubescent), strictly speaking.

But not Hebephile, either

However, HH is not attracted to most pubescent girls, no matter how pretty, but only to girls who remind him of his childhood girlfriend, so he is not really a hebephile, either.

“it was Lilith he longed for”

“But how his heart beat when, among the innocent throng, he espied a demon child…Humbert was perfectly capable of intercourse with Eve, but it was Lilith he longed for” (1, p. 20).

Who is Lilith?

“Lilith…is a Hebrew name for a figure in Jewish mythology…who is generally thought to be in part derived from a historically far earlier class of female demons in Mesopotamian religion…

“The Hebrew term lilith (translated as "night creatures", "night monster", "night hag", or "screech owl") first occurs in Isaiah 34:14…In Jewish magical inscriptions on bowls and amulets from the 6th century BC onwards, Lilith is identified as a female demon…

“In Jewish folklore…Lilith becomes Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time…and from the same earth as Adam. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs…in the 13th century writings of Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she coupled with the archangel Samael. The resulting Lilith legend is still commonly used as source material in modern Western culture, literature, occultism, fantasy, and horror…” — Wikipedia

“Nymphets” attract men who are already “bewitched”

HH says, “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 nymph (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as ‘nymphets’…

“Between those age limits, are all girl-children nymphets? Of course not…Neither are good looks any criterion…”

And the man will “come under a nymphet’s spell” (1, pp. 16-17).

Demons and Spells

Demon possession is an obsolete theory for multiple personality.

Allusions to Edgar Allan Poe

HH’s childhood girlfriend, the fixation on which his attraction to nymphets is based, is named after a poem by Poe, “Annabel Lee.”

HH’s double name not only suggests literary doubles, but reminds readers of Poe’s multiple personality story, William Wilson.

So, what can I do?

Keep reading.

1. Vladimir Nabokov. The Annotated Lolita [1955]. Introduction and Notes by Alfred Appel, Jr. New York, Vintage Books, 1970/1991.