Humbert's European adulthood

After Annabel's death, Humbert's youth is marked by a split existence: outwardly, he pursues academic studies in English literature in London and Paris, writing essays and compiling a manual of French literature; inwardly, he is consumed by a secret lust for nymphets, which he never dares to approach. He has relationships with adult women, including paid prostitutes, but finds them unsatisfying. A brief encounter with a young prostitute named Monique in Paris gives him a fleeting glimpse of the nymphet quality he craves. He also attempts to satisfy his desires through a brothel, but the experience is grotesque and humiliating.