Мотив измены в Защите Лужина Владимира Набокова

This paper is devoted to infidelity motif (its function and place in the novel) in one of Russian-language works of V. Nabokov, The Defence. We believe that infidelity motif, each time appearing in a key strategic moments of a story, is a symbol of life deception by a character in favor of chess reality. The world that constantly takes away vital energy, comprehension and makes character a social cripple, subhuman. This motif fulfills supportive function, enriching aesthetic value of main motif (chess), around which whole novel is built. Nabokov masterfully joins both phenomena and silently imply that ideal art does not deny reality, but they tend to coexist in sui generis symbiosis.