Humbert Humbert, the narrator of Vladimir Nabokov's infamous but well-written Lolita, is considered by most readers to be a pedophile because of his adoration of underage girls, which call 'nymphets'.” The eponymous nymphet, Lolita, is, of course, Humbert's primary fixation, so the majority of the text is devoted to describing his interactions with her. However, some descriptions of other adult women can be found in the first part of Lolita. Two of the most important female characters in the novel, besides Lolita, are Valeria, Humbert's first wife, and Charlotte Haze, Lolita's mother and Humbert's second wife. Humbert's descriptions of these women ultimately reveal him to be a misogynist as well as a pedophile. Not only does Humbert seem to feel a sense of utter contempt for women, but he sees them only in two ways: as irritating obstacles in the way of his desires, or as objects that can be used to help him get what he really wants. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Humbert's portrayal of Valeria in chapters seven and eight of Part One is an early sign of his contempt for women. Shortly after Valeria's introduction, Humbert not-so-humbly mentions that he "could obtain with a snap of [his] fingers any grown woman" as his wife (25, emphasis added). Aside from the off-putting and self-serving nature of this statement, the word “get” seems to suggest that women are objects and not people. Furthermore, the fact that Humbert uses the term “adult female” instead of “woman” is quite significant. That phrase is most commonly used to describe an animal, not a human. Therefore, this short passage establishes that Humbert sees women as subhuman. At first it seems that Humbert is somewhat impressed by Valeria; maybe women aren't as horrible as he'd once thought. He himself, however, soon admits that this initial attraction for Valeria is only due to the "imitation he made of a little girl" (25). He takes it a step further by having her wear a girl's nightgown on their wedding night. But Humbert soon realizes that his imitation can only go so far; she is still a woman and not a nymphet. After this initial fantasy, Humbert's true feelings towards women are again revealed when he refers to Valeria as an “idiot” who has “big breasts and practically no brains” (26). It is worth noting that Humbert specifically points out Valeria's large breasts because the girls he is really interested in are, obviously, not fully developed and therefore do not have sizable breasts. Humbert makes several other significant observations about Valeria in chapter eight. He states that his “only resource was a silent nature” (26, emphasis added). The word “silenced” alludes to the inherently patriarchal notion that women should be silent or even silent, an idea to which Humbert certainly subscribes. He also refers to Valeria as a “stock character” and says she has a “poodle head,” both of which add to his characterization of her as decidedly inhuman (27). Finally, it is important to note that these scathing remarks are made in an extremely casual manner, as if they seem perfectly normal to Humbert and as if he makes these types of comments quite frequently. Despite Humbert's contempt for her, Valeria serves her purpose. , which consists of helping Humbert deal with his “fantastic situation” in a “legal” way, at least for a few years, (26). Once she proves to be an obstacle forhe, is more than happy to get rid of her and head to the United States. There he meets Charlotte Haze, with whom he will have a similar but even more blatantly misogynistic relationship. From the moment Humbert meets Charlotte, he seems to have made up his mind about her. Early on, when he details her physical appearance, he describes her more sympathetically as a "poor lady" with "not unattractive features."(37). But, at the end of the paragraph, he harshly categorized her as "one of those women whose refined words may reflect a book club...but never her soul" and who is "utterly humorless" (37). Even though he has just met her, Humbert assumes he knows everything about Charlotte because she is one of "those women." However, his remarks about other female characters suggest that he views all women in a similarly disparaging light. Indeed. Valeria was described as humorless and also unintelligent. Humbert has no intention of embarking with Charlotte due to his immediate dislike for her, but this resolution quickly changes once he meets her nymphet daughter, Lolita. After this event, his initial dislike for Charlotte turns into complete hatred towards her, as she becomes an obstacle between him and Lolita. Notably, he refers to her simply as "Haze" rather than by her first name. This manner of address not only shows his refusal to be friendly to her, but also emphasizes the meaning behind the name. A “mist” is something that obscures vision, and Charlotte's presence is similarly a sort of screen between Humbert and Lolita, as she constantly interrupts their interactions. Humbert also refers to Charlotte as “Mother Haze,” which reveals another of his misogynistic notions (43). By using only the word "mother" and not her name, she insinuates that motherhood is her only defining characteristic. One particular scene in which Humbert reveals his disgust for Charlotte occurs in chapter eleven. He is attempting to orgasm simply by looking at Lolita, but is interrupted by "fat Haze" who attempts to strike up "a fictitious conversation with him about a fake book by a popular trickster" (43). Here he sees Charlotte as an obvious obstacle between him and his pleasure, which causes him such anger that he lies about her in a strange internal outburst. He calls her "fat," but nothing in his initial description suggested she was overweight. Perhaps it is simply because she is the size of an adult, and not a child like Lolita, that he sees her this way. He also insults his intelligence by completely ignoring the book he wanted to discuss. Instead of simply stating its name, Humbert calls it a “false book” written by an “impostor,” implying that Charlotte is a fool to be interested in such a book. This passage also highlights a clear difference between Valeria and Charlotte. While Valeria was “silenced,” much to Humbert's satisfaction, Charlotte is not. He has opinions and very often expresses them, which Humbert despises, calling her "odious" (55). Furthermore, he often ridicules her attempts to speak French, without even bothering to try to correct her. This pattern of behavior shows that Humbert places very little intellectual value on women. It is only when Charlotte stops being an obstacle to him and becomes a way for him to get closer to Lolita that Humbert begins to show the slightest respect for her. Once he receives her love letter and decides to marry her, he begins to speak of her in slightly kinder terms, calling her a "woman of principle" and even using her given name instead of "Haze" (70, 75). However, this should not be seen as a change in his outlook towards.