Remembrance of Things Past 891ProuST, marCEL Remembrance of
Things Past (À la recherche du temps perdu)
(1913–1927)
Remembrance of Things Past consists of seven semi-
autobiographical novels published between 1913
and 1927. The work has a complicated publication
history. Marcel Proust (1871–1922) initially had
difficulty finding a publisher and eventually released
the first volume, Swann’s Way, at his own expense.
While Swann’s Way received little fanfare, the sec-
ond volume, Within a Budding Grove (1919) was
awarded the prestigious French literary prize, the
Prix Goncourt. Volumes 3 and 4 appeared between
1920 and 1922, when Proust died. The three final
volumes, including Time Regained, were published
posthumously. The first six volumes of the novel
were translated into English in the 1920s by C. K.
Scott-Moncrieff and revised by Terence Kilmartin in
- A definitive French edition was released in the
1980s. A new English translation appeared in 2002,
with each volume translated by a different translator.
While Remembrance of Things Past as a whole is
known for its descriptions of involuntary memory,
the power of writing, and its portrayal of a dying
society, the first volume, with its famous account of
the tea-soaked madeleine, is now the most widely
known. The work deals with a variety of themes—
including the passage of time, childhood, art, sex
and sexuality, love, and social class—and
reflects the many social and cultural changes under-
way at the beginning of the 20th century.
Katherine Ashley
Love in Remembrance of Things Past
The vision of love that Marcel Proust presents in
Remembrance of Things Past is far from positive, but
it is psychologically insightful. Although love is pre-
sented in many guises, it is rarely benign: It causes
obsessions, delusions, and disappointment, yet the
two main characters, the narrator and Charles
Swann, seem incapable of resisting it.
Familial love is powerfully felt in the novel and
influences the actions of parents, spouses, adults, and
children. The narrator’s great-aunt Léonie seques-
ters herself in her rooms after her husband’s death;
likewise, Swann’s father is inconsolable after his wife
dies. The composer Vinteuil devotes his life to his
daughter and “gradually [dies] of a broken heart”
when she begins her lesbian affair. Even as an adult,
the housekeeper, Françoise, weeps for her long-
dead parents, while the narrator’s attachment to his
mother is so all-consuming that his father considers
it unhealthy. Indeed, the strength of the narrator’s
passion for his mother causes him both physical
distress and extreme elation. In addition, it affects
his relationships later in life: As a child, he used to
“receive, in her kiss, the heart of [his] mother,” but
as an adult he is unable to fully “possess” the heart
of his mistresses. Consequently, romantic love will
always be a disappointment for him.
Both the narrator and Swann engage in child-
ish behavior when it comes to love: They structure
their days around women; Swann saves Odette’s
letters and flowers; the narrator scribbles Gilberte’s
name in his notebook. While this behavior initially
seems harmless, both men are prone to infatuation.
Romantic love is portrayed as a sort of obsessive
“malady”; after a certain point, Swann’s love for
Odette is “past operation.” His “illness” exacer-
bates his jealousy. Proving the narrator’s conten-
tion that it is inevitable to doubt one’s lovers “at
the moment when one believes in them,” Swann
(rightly) questions Odette’s honesty and fidelity.
It transpires that Odette has been unfaithful to
Swann throughout their relationship and has had
numerous lovers, male and female. Nonetheless,
no matter how many times Swann is disillusioned
and disheartened, he persists in loving her. Clearly,
for him, romantic love is an emotion that does not
depend on reciprocity.
It is ironic that Swann slowly begins to reassess
his relationship with Odette once her promiscuity is
revealed. Prior to meeting her, Swann himself—like
the narrator’s uncle Adolphe—was a womanizer,
having pursued women of all stations, and he may
even have impregnated the Combray kitchen maid.
These physical relationships require no emotional
involvement on his part; in fact, “depth of character. . . freeze[s] his senses.” Instead, these relationships
revive in him “a feeling of vanity” that has little to do
with sexual prowess and everything to do with not
having his “social value underrated.” Inevitably, there
are social consequences to his liaisons: Swann’s con-
quests, Odette included, are beneath him socially,