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Alienation and struggle for power in Richardson's "Clarissa", Nabokov's "Lolita", and Fowles's "The Collector"

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Date Issued:
1989
Summary:
Alienation causes the characters in Clarissa, Lolita, and The Collector to contend for control of each other. All three male protagonists deny the women they love of freedom; all three women respond vehemently despite their isolation and despair. The resultant struggles for power link these novels and irrefutably solidify the sisterhood among the women. First-person narration further strengthens the bond among the three works. Richardson's Lovelace writes letters in order to tell his story; Nabokov's Humbert relates his account by use of his memoir; Fowles's Clegg records his thoughts daily in his journal. Each man tells of his vengeance and sexual domination over his innocent teenage victim. Ironically, none of the girls' strong wills can be defeated; each triumphs spiritually.
Title: Alienation and struggle for power in Richardson's "Clarissa", Nabokov's "Lolita", and Fowles's "The Collector".
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Name(s): Helgeson, Christine Peters.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Peyton, Ann, Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1989
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 87 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Alienation causes the characters in Clarissa, Lolita, and The Collector to contend for control of each other. All three male protagonists deny the women they love of freedom; all three women respond vehemently despite their isolation and despair. The resultant struggles for power link these novels and irrefutably solidify the sisterhood among the women. First-person narration further strengthens the bond among the three works. Richardson's Lovelace writes letters in order to tell his story; Nabokov's Humbert relates his account by use of his memoir; Fowles's Clegg records his thoughts daily in his journal. Each man tells of his vengeance and sexual domination over his innocent teenage victim. Ironically, none of the girls' strong wills can be defeated; each triumphs spiritually.
Identifier: 14525 (digitool), FADT14525 (IID), fau:11323 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1989.
Subject(s): Richardson, Samuel,--1689-1761--Clarissa
Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich,--1899-1977--Lolita
Fowles, John,--1926---Collector
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14525
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.