Millions of readers looking for a quick thrill in Nabokov’s novel by going straight to the illicit sex scenes have been woefully disappointed because the story of the older man who wants his romantic partner to be forever trapped in immaturity and adoration is symbolic throughout and through. And therein lies the big difference which separates Vogel’s story from its obvious source of inspiration.Īlthough certainly some will argue the point-a long history of being one of the most banned novels in the country supports that contention-Lolita is not really about pedophilia. Li’l Bit’s admirer is named Uncle Peck, but he is not a blood relation any more than Humbert Humbert both men play at being related in perhaps a twisted desire to make their relationship more poisonous than it already is. Lolita’s mother is killed off as a matter of necessity for Humbert Humbert to whisk her away on the road trip. In addition to these similarities, the character of the mothers of both young girls are similarly constructed as being barely there. This obsession with Americana is further intensified by the theatrical intrusion of an off-stage voice announcing a sort of subtitle to certain sequences subtitles such as “Driving in First Gear” and “You and the Reverse Gear.” Despite being limited by stage convention and as well as much more restricted setting than Lolita, cars loom large in both stories. There is no road trip per se in Vogel’s play, but the title indicates that automobiles also play a part here. While most infamous as a (wildly misapprehended) story of pedophilia, much of the satisfaction for the serious reader of Lolita comes from its satirical crazy-quilt portrait of America as seen through a road trip with stops at cheap motels along the motels. They don’t exactly sound the same, but they are close enough that the relationship becomes obvious. The underage object of the desire of a middle-aged man in Nabokov’s story is known as Lolita and the underage object of desire of a middle-aged man in the play is known as Li’l Bit. One need not necessarily have read Vladimir Nabokov’s novel that is so controversial that even people who do not know Lolita is a novel are familiar with the general idea in order to appreciate Paula Vogel’s play How I Learned to Drive, but it certainly does not hurt. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
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