Want to learn the ideas in Reading Lolita In Tehran better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Reading Lolita In Tehran by Azar Nafisi here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of Reading Lolita In Tehran

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on Reading Lolita In Tehran, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Azar Nafisi.

1-Page Summary of Reading Lolita In Tehran

Overview

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a memoir about the author’s life and experiences as an Iranian woman. She recounts her memories of living in Iran, including teaching at universities and Allameh Tabataba’i University during the 1970s and 1980s. The novel also discusses her departure from Iran to America after leaving her job at Allameh Tabataba’i University in 1995. In Part I, “Lolita,” Nafisi recalls discussions she had with private students about women’s rights under Islamic law while they discussed Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita. In Part II, “Gatsby,” Nafisi remembers teaching English literature at University of Tehran when she assigned The Great Gatsby for class discussion. Finally, in Parts III and IV, “James” and “Austen,” respectively, Nafisi focuses on the period between 1990 – 1997 while discussing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise (1920) with private students before returning to Iran for a secret class on Western Literature despite its illegality under Islamic law.

“Lolita” (Pages 1-79)

Part I of Reading Lolita in Tehran, called “Lolita” after Russian author Vladimir Nabokov’s most famous novel, begins with the narrator resigning from her job at University of Allameh Tabatabai. She takes a private class for female students and reveals their personalities throughout the book. Later on she mentions that she is leaving Iran by packing two photos: one with them wearing robes and head scarves and another without. In this photo they look different because they changed their appearance due to what was happening around them at that time.

There was a woman named Manna who wore jeans and no headscarf. She made poetry out of things that most people cast aside, such as her husband’s love letters to her, which she kept in an old box under the bed. There were also four other women: Mahshid, Yassi, Azin, and Mitra (who was calm). Sanaz is described only as being pressured by family and society. Finally there are two students missing from the photo: Nima (Manna’s husband) and Nassrin who “didn’t make it to the end.”

In this book, the author takes us back to her days in Iran when she taught a class on literature. She discusses how fiction and reality are connected in many works of Western literature. The women who attended the class would take off their robes and headscarves as soon as they entered Nafisi’s home for class.

The class met every Thursday in Nafisi’s living room. She describes it as symbolic of her nomadic and borrowed life, noting where certain elements came from, calling forth memories of her mother and husband. Her apartment was on the second floor of a building; her mother lived on the first floor and before he moved to England, her brother occupied the third floor.

In the first few chapters of Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi describes both her and her students’ actions and emotions on the first day of class. She woke up early, but she felt excited without being stressed. She often felt that way when she was about to teach at Allameh Tabatabai University, which is one of the most liberal universities in Iran. The university has strict rules for women, especially female students; however, Nafisi resigned from teaching there because they told her not to teach certain books due to their language or content.

In this passage, Nafisi describes the students who entered her house on their first day of class. Mahshid came in first and talked about colors and paradise with Nafisi while helping prepare tea and pastries for them. Manna also came in, discussing colors as well as heaven while preparing the food. Azin arrived next, taking off her hijab to reveal a stylish haircut underneath it; Mitra then arrived wearing makeup but still covering her hair with a scarf (Nafisi notes that she was not sure whether Mitra was doing so out of obedience or rebellion). Finally Sanaz arrives screeching into the driveway because of her brother’s driving; Nafisi notes that Sanaz is controlled by two men: Her overprotective brother and an old boyfriend from childhood whom she saw again during college when he proposed marriage to her (Sanaz refused his proposal at least twice before accepting it).