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John Shade
King Charles the Beloved is the former king of Zembla. Recently overthrown in a revolution, he escaped to America where he lives in disguise as a professor. Charles Kinbote, the novel’s narrator, believes that he is the exiled King Charles living in disguise, but Nabokov implies that both King Charles and Kinbote are actually delusions; Zembla does not exist, and the novel’s protagonist is, in truth, the mentally ill professor V. Botkin who sincerely believes that he is the exiled king of a nonexistent nation. Despite being imagined, King Charles has a robust backstory. He grew up in the ornate Zemblan palace and knew from an early age that he was gay. His extravagant affairs with uncomfortably young boys were an open secret in Zembla that didn’t generate much scandal. While he married Queen Disa because he felt obligated to produce an heir, he was unable to consummate their marriage and, after treating her cruelly, he sent her back to her home in the South of France so that he could continue his lavish affairs. When leftist revolutionaries toppled the Zemblan monarchy, they held King Charles captive in a lumber room in the palace. After realizing that he knew of a secret passage in the back of the room’s closet, however, Charles fled the palace and escaped Zembla with the help of his friend Odon and hundreds of admirers who all dressed like the King to throw off the police. After relocating to an American university and assuming the disguise of a professor, King Charles was hunted down by the Zemblan extremist Gradus, although Gradus was too incompetent an assassin to kill Charles; he missed and hit John Shade instead.
King Charles Quotes in Pale Fire
The Pale Fire quotes below are all either spoken by King Charles or refer to King Charles. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Commentary: Lines 149-214
Quotes
In its limpid tintarron he saw his scarlet reflection but, oddly enough, owing to what seemed to be at first blush an optical illusion, this reflection was not at his feet but much further; moreover, it was accompanied by the ripple-warped reflection of a ledge that jutted high above his present position. And finally, the strain on the magic of the image caused it to snap as his red-sweatered, red-capped doubleganger turned and vanished, whereas he, the observer, remained immobile. He now advanced to the very lip of the water and was met there by a genuine reflection, much larger and clearer than the one that had deceived him. He skirted the pool. High up in the deep-blue sky jutted the empty ledge whereon a counterfeit king had just stood. A shiver of alfear (uncontrollable fear caused by elves) ran between his shoulderblades. He murmured a familiar prayer, crossed himself, and resolutely proceeded toward the pass. At a high point upon an adjacent ridge a steinmann (a heap of stones erected as a memento of an ascent) had donned a cap of red wool in his honor.
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King Charles Quotes in Pale Fire
The Pale Fire quotes below are all either spoken by King Charles or refer to King Charles. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Commentary: Lines 149-214
Quotes
In its limpid tintarron he saw his scarlet reflection but, oddly enough, owing to what seemed to be at first blush an optical illusion, this reflection was not at his feet but much further; moreover, it was accompanied by the ripple-warped reflection of a ledge that jutted high above his present position. And finally, the strain on the magic of the image caused it to snap as his red-sweatered, red-capped doubleganger turned and vanished, whereas he, the observer, remained immobile. He now advanced to the very lip of the water and was met there by a genuine reflection, much larger and clearer than the one that had deceived him. He skirted the pool. High up in the deep-blue sky jutted the empty ledge whereon a counterfeit king had just stood. A shiver of alfear (uncontrollable fear caused by elves) ran between his shoulderblades. He murmured a familiar prayer, crossed himself, and resolutely proceeded toward the pass. At a high point upon an adjacent ridge a steinmann (a heap of stones erected as a memento of an ascent) had donned a cap of red wool in his honor.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
