King, Queen, Knave
| Company type | Novel |
|---|---|
| Industry | Literature |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Founder | Vladimir Nabokov (as V. Sirin) |
| Products | Novel |
King, Queen, Knave represents Vladimir Nabokov's second novel, penned under the pseudonym V. Sirin between 1927 and 1928 while residing in Berlin and various Baltic resorts. Initially released in Russian as Король, дама, валет (Korol', dama, valet) in October 1928, it was subsequently rendered into German by Siegfried von Vegesack. Decades later, Nabokov’s son Dmitri undertook an English translation that incorporated substantial revisions from the author himself. The narrative also inspired a loose film adaptation released in 1972.
Plot summary
Originating from a provincial town, Franz Bubendorf is dispatched to work at a department store in Berlin owned by his affluent "uncle" Kurt Dreyer—actually his mother’s cousin. During the train journey, Franz unknowingly shares a compartment with Dreyer and his strikingly attractive young wife Martha, whose allure immediately captivates him. Shortly after commencing his employment, Franz and Martha embark on a clandestine affair.
Martha’s dissatisfaction with her husband intensifies over time, leading her to demand increasingly from Franz. As Franz grows physically weaker and psychologically dependent on her despite mounting revulsion, Dreyer remains affectionate yet oblivious to Martha’s growing coldness. Meanwhile, Dreyer pursues other romantic interests and devotes attention to the family enterprise, including financing an inventor’s project involving mechanical mannequins.
Driven by an obsession to kill Dreyer, Martha enlists Franz’s assistance but struggles to formulate an infallible plan until she recalls Dreyer’s inability to swim. The couple travels to a Baltic resort intending to carry out the murder but abandon the attempt upon discovering Dreyer’s plan to sell the mannequin invention to his American associate Mr Ritter.
After returning home, Martha contracts pneumonia; Dreyer leaves to complete the business deal while Franz fails to secure timely medical intervention for her. Martha dies soon after Dreyer’s return, leaving him grief-stricken. In contrast, Franz is overheard laughing uncontrollably, revealing his sense of relief.
Themes, foreshadowings
Nabokov describes this novel as "the gayest" of all his works in the 1968 foreword to the English edition of King, Queen, Knave. At the time of its creation, he neither spoke German nor had German acquaintances or experience with German literature, which allowed him free creative license to satirize and humorously portray what was then considered scandalous middle-class adultery. He acknowledged that Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary served as literary predecessors exploring similar themes. Nevertheless, émigré critics condemned the novel for its perceived "coarseness and lewdness."
The game of fate
In his foreword, Nabokov admits to revising the novel to improve narrative flow and enrich the verbal play that would characterize his later writing. A fictional drama by "Goldemar" plays a central role in the story; it inspires the title and first appears when Dreyer plans a holiday in Grawitz on the Baltic coast. The play’s poster features figures from playing cards—the King clad in a maroon dressing gown, the Knave wearing a red turtleneck, and the Queen dressed in a black bathing suit—attire later adopted by the three holidaymakers themselves. "Goldemar" represents a deity of chance and is referenced again when Martha purchases the black swimsuit and when Dreyer secures his livelihood by selling mannequins to Mr Ritter.
These “automannequins” underscore Nabokov’s recurring doppelgänger motif. Their demonstration before Mr Ritter mirrors the characters’ destinies: the male mannequin performs with flair; the female mannequin’s collapse foreshadows Martha’s demise; while the incomplete third mannequin corresponds to Franz’s failure. Portraying characters as playing cards and mechanical figures further strips them of humanity. In the 1968 English translation, Franz is depicted satirically as a pliable German who relinquishes moral discernment, culminating in a moment where “human speech, unless representing a command, was meaningless.” Written during Nazism’s early ascendancy, Franz is implied to be a “Nazi in embryo,” destined for “sins worse than avunculicide.”
Authorial presences
Near the conclusion of the novel, an unnamed couple—believed to be the author and his spouse—appears as a serene yet "enigmatic" pair enjoying a holiday at a Baltic seaside resort. They converse in an unknown foreign tongue and carry a butterfly net, which other characters initially confuse with a net for mosquitoes or shrimp; the more accurate translation clarifies this detail. This element reflects Nabokov's deep enthusiasm for butterflies, mirroring his personal fascination with lepidopterology—a pursuit he once indicated might have become his profession if not for the upheaval of the Russian revolution. The couple seems to possess insight into Franz’s circumstances, and the name Blavdak Vinomori—an anagram of Vladimir Nabokov—can be found on the hotel’s guest registry.
This authorial figure also takes form as Mr. Vivian Badlook, an English instructor and skier who captures photographs of Dreyer in Davos. His name serves as another anagram of Vladimir Nabokov, further emphasizing the novel’s metafictional dimension.
References
- King, Queen, Knave, First Edition, McGraw-Hill Inc., 1968
External links
- King, Queen, Knave, the movie at the IMDb