Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
"Pale Fire" is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov presented as a scholarly edition of a poem by fictional American poet John Shade. The book includes an editor's foreword, the poem itself, extensive commentary, and an index, all compiled by the character Charles Kinbote. Kinbote, a former colleague of Shade, introduces a complex narrative that intertwines his life story with that of Shade, who writes an autobiographical poem reflecting on his life, his love for his wife Sybil, and the tragic death of their daughter. Kinbote, who is portrayed as an outsider in academia and struggles with his identity, believes he is the inspiration behind Shade's poem, yet he ultimately misinterprets its themes.
The narrative unfolds within a backdrop of personal and political intrigue, revealing that Kinbote is actually Charles Xavier, a deposed king from the fictional land of Zembla. The plot thickens with the arrival of Jack Grey, who mistakenly believes Shade to be the judge responsible for his imprisonment. This tragic misunderstanding leads to a violent climax that intertwines the fates of Shade and Kinbote. Nabokov's "Pale Fire" is notable for its intricate structure and themes of identity, interpretation, and the relationships between authors and their works, inviting readers to explore the boundaries of narrative and meaning.
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
First published: 1962
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Parody
Time of plot: Late 1950’s and early 1960’s
Locale: Northeastern United States and Zembla
Principal Characters
Dr. Charles Kinbote , a scholarJohn Francis Shade , a poetSybil Shade , John Shade’s wifeGerald Emerald , a university instructorJack Grey orJacob Gradus , a madman and assassin
The Story
Pale Fire purports to be a scholarly edition of the poem Pale Fire by the American poet John Shade. There is, as part of the novel, an editor’s foreword, then the poem itself, followed by five times as many pages of editorial commentary as there are pages to the poem, and finally an index. The editor, Charles Kinbote, was a one-time colleague of Shade at Wordsmith University in New Wye, which is in Appalachia. Kinbote tells a story, or rather a number of stories, all by indirection because there is no simple “and then” of events in the novel.
The primary story is realistic, introduced by Kinbote in the foreword and carried on in the rest of the editorial apparatus and in Shade’s poem. In the poem, an autobiographical meditation written in loose, rhymed couplets, Shade recounts not only his own life and his love for his wife, Sybil, but his daughter’s life and death. His daughter was an unattractive, intelligent girl, too sensitive for the world, who ended up ostensibly commiting suicide. Kinbote may actually have been named V. Botkin. Newly arrived as a teacher at Wordsmith, he rents the house of Judge Goldsworth, next to Shade’s house. Kinbote does not fit well into the academic world. Most of his colleagues, especially a young teacher named Gerald Emerald, make fun of his appearance and his manners. Moreover, Kinbote, who is homosexual, has a series of unfortunate love affairs. An admirer of Shade’s work, Kinbote forces himself upon Shade and his wife, Sybil. Shade is working on his new poem. Kinbote believes he has provided Shade with the major subject for the poem, but he is to be cruelly disappointed.
Jack Grey, once sentenced to prison by Judge Goldsworth but having escaped from an asylum for the criminally insane, arrives in New Wye, intent upon revenge. Grey mistakes Shade for the judge and shoots him. Kinbote believes, and Mrs. Shade accepts that Kinbote tried to save Shade. She gives Kinbote permission to edit the poem. Grey commits suicide in prison. Kinbote flees to the western United States, taking the poem with him. Here, he writes the notes and the index.
The most fascinating and perhaps “real” story in the novel is the one that Kinbote tells in his foreword, commentary, and index. This story is the subject that Kinbote thought Shade was writing about. Kinbote uses his scholarly apparatus (the foreword, commentary, and index) to give his autobiography or, at least, what he believes is his autobiography. Disappointed to find that the great story he gave Shade is not the obvious matter of Shade’s poem, Kinbote, as an artist-reader himself, “rewrites,” or rather interprets, the poem to say what he believes it should have said. Shade’s poem, therefore, is warped into something monstrous.
Gradually it is revealed that Kinbote is Charles Xavier the Beloved, deposed king of Zembla, a “distant northern land,” somewhere in Europe. Zembla is a happy, romantic place with a comfortably rigid social hierarchy composed of a king, nobles, a small and efficient middle class, a happy peasantry, and the usual malcontents who cause trouble. Charles Xavier pretends to be merely an American academic to escape the far left, totalitarian revolutionaries who brought about the revolution in Zembla. They fear the king’s return and are intent upon his assassination. Jack Grey, furthermore, is no madman but a man of many disguises and names, among them Jacob Gradus, a committed believer in the revolution, and de Grey, an assassin sent by the revolutionaries who accidentally kills Shade while trying to kill Charles.
Charles Xavier (or Charles Kinbote), tells about his life before he came to Wordsmith and asserts that he is truly beloved by most of his people but regretfully unsuccessful in his personal life, especially as a husband, because he is gay. Charles Xavier is a clever, attractive, learned man, but was harassed by continual palace intrigues. He was brought to marry in hopes of fathering an heir but could not consummate the marriage. The revolutionists, unsupported by the Zemblan people but backed by a giant neighboring state, dethroned and imprisoned the king.
The king, with the aid of friends and courtiers, escaped in a marvelous, operatic fashion, leaving everything behind, including his identity. After he arrived in America, other friends helped him to form a new identity, that of Charles Kinbote, a scholarly authority on Zemblan literature. The Shadows, a secret group inside the Zemblan revolutionaries, sent Grey (Jacob Gradus), and the fate of Shade is intertwined with that of Charles Xavier. One of these Shadows, the one who gives Gradus the American address of Charles Xavier, is named Izumrudov, which is a Russian word for “emerald,” linking Izumrudov with Gerald Emerald.
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