Pale Fire Lesson Plan

What does the Foreword reveal about our narrator, Charles Kinbote?

Ask students to think about what makes a successful artistic commentary: how much should the commentator insert themselves into the work? Presumably, good commentary focuses on the text itself and eliminates the commentator as much as possible, and such is not the case with Charles Kinbote. He spends a great deal of time talking about himself, in fact, to the point that it becomes clear he is narcissistic. He is also extremely confident in his interpretation of Shade's poem, and very defensive about the nature of their friendship.

We also see that Kinbote may not be all that stable: he interrupts his...