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TRIVIA: Goldsworth chronology
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I didn't* *remember Carolyn Kunin's suggestion "that John Shade is the
young miscreant that was judged by Judge whatsisname (next-door neighbor)
with the alphabetic daughters, for having offed his parents when he was but
a *wee bairn*." This runs into problems with the timing. The more
important one, probably, is that Kinbote's statement that the little
parricide was seven (n. 47-48) would contradict his statement that Samuel
Shade died in 1902 (n. 71), which is when John was three or four.
Also, If Goldsworth was a judge when Shade was seven, Goldsworth must have
been at least twenty years older, and even that small a difference seems
unlikely. However, he generally seems to be Shade's age or younger--they
resemble each other, Goldsworth's daughters are much younger than Hazel,
Kinbote doesn't mention any age difference between the "Medusa-locked"
Goldsworth and his wife, etc. If we assume that Goldsworth was only 27
when he sentenced little John Shade, then he would have been 66 when Dee
was born and 71 when Alphina was. It's not impossible, but it would be
unusual enough to merit some comment from Kinbote. And where do
27-year-old judges try cases like that?
Jerry Friedman
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young miscreant that was judged by Judge whatsisname (next-door neighbor)
with the alphabetic daughters, for having offed his parents when he was but
a *wee bairn*." This runs into problems with the timing. The more
important one, probably, is that Kinbote's statement that the little
parricide was seven (n. 47-48) would contradict his statement that Samuel
Shade died in 1902 (n. 71), which is when John was three or four.
Also, If Goldsworth was a judge when Shade was seven, Goldsworth must have
been at least twenty years older, and even that small a difference seems
unlikely. However, he generally seems to be Shade's age or younger--they
resemble each other, Goldsworth's daughters are much younger than Hazel,
Kinbote doesn't mention any age difference between the "Medusa-locked"
Goldsworth and his wife, etc. If we assume that Goldsworth was only 27
when he sentenced little John Shade, then he would have been 66 when Dee
was born and 71 when Alphina was. It's not impossible, but it would be
unusual enough to merit some comment from Kinbote. And where do
27-year-old judges try cases like that?
Jerry Friedman
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/