An Intertextual Study Of How I Learned To Drive And Lolita

How I Learned to Drive,the winner of Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1998,is a homage to the novel Lolita.Within the framework of intertextuality and on basis of Kristeva’s theory of text,this thesis conducts a close reading of Drive and analyzes the intertextual relations between this play and Lolita in plot,narration as well as certain themes.To begin with,the thesis examines the intertextual relations of both works in their plots.Both derive from the same love story where a middle-aged man falls in love with a young girl,but both Vogel and Nabokov endow their works with peculiar meanings by their unique characterizations.Next,the thesis reveals Vogel’s references and innovations in narration by uncovering the similarities and differences of both works in narrative focalization,timeline and structure.Finally,the thesis discusses the car as a closed space of power shifts and the trauma of characters in both works.From the re-descriptions of the two themes,Vogel’s unique qualities as a female writer stands out.On basis of the analyses above,the thesis reaches a conclusion that there lie intertextual relations of both works in certain respects.By the inheritance and innovations,Vogel extends the meaning of the play in limited length,and creates the work of her own.Meanwhile,Lolita is vested with new life and meanings through rewriting,and consolidates its status as one of literary classics.Hence,intertextuality is no simple imitations between texts,but provides a new space for extension and interpretation of texts.