Time Regained
Page 49
7 Eponymous hero of a novel by the Comtesse de Ségur.
8 And yet the narrator does not meet her until more than 70 pages later, failing to recognise her at first.
9 The remark occurs later: see preceding note.
10 This passage is also rather surprising, since Rachel has been identified several pages before. All such inconsistencies are attributable to Proust’s endless additions to his original text. He died before he had time to resolve the resulting confusions.
Synopsis
Tansonville. Walks with Gilberte (1). Disenchantment with the scenes of my childhood (2). Gilberte shows me that the Guermantes and the Méséglise ways are not irreconcilable (3–4; cf. i 188) and reveals the meaning of the sign she made to me years ago (4; cf. i 199).
Scene from the window of my room at Tansonville (10). Effects of Saint-Loup’s vice on his behaviour (12). His lies (13). Françoise’s esteem for him (14–5). His feelings towards Gilberte (16). The Guermantes type in Robert (18–9). The Guermantes’ amatory tastes (20). Conversation with Gilberte about Albertine (24).
The Goncourt journal (26). Its description of the Verdurin salon (27–38). My lack of a bent for literature (39).
M. de Charlus during the war. My return to Paris in 1916 (47). Wartime Paris: changes in fashions and in society (47–55). News of the war in the Verdurin salon (55. The new “faithful;” Morel, a deserter, and “I’m a wash-out,” Andrée’s husband (57–8). Mme Verdurin’s overtures to Odette (59–60).
Aircraft in the sky at nightfall (63). Walks in night-time Paris, reminiscent of Combray (64).
Meeting with Saint-Loup in 1914 (67); his secret efforts to get to the front (69). Bloch passed fit for military service (70). Bloch and Saint-Loup (70–1). Ideal of virility among homosexuals (78–81). The manager of the Grand Hotel and the lift-boy (81–2); the lift-boy and the rich young man (82). Françoise and the war (84); tormented by the butler (85–7).
Return to the sanatorium (88). A letter from Gilberte: German occupation of Tansonville (88–9). A letter from Robert (89).
Second return to Paris: another letter from Gilberte, with news of the fighting round Combray (93–4). A visit from Saint-Loup, in Paris on leave (96). Beauty of nocturnal air-raids (98–9); reflexions on strategy (101).
Beauty of night-time Paris (105). Meeting with M. de Charlus (107); Mme Verdurin’s malevolence towards him (107–8); Morel’s ingratitude and scurrilous articles in the press (111–12). Mme Verdurin’s croissant and the Lusitania (120). M. de Charlus’s pro-Germanism (121–30). His sarcasm about Brichot’s articles (130). Morel and women (131). Norpois’s articles (133–4). Odette’s remarks about the war (144). Brichot falls out of favour with the Verdurins (145–6). M. de Charlus’s defeatist harangue on the boulevards (151–9). Aeroplanes in the night sky (161). M. de Charlus and Morel (165–8). Paris and Pompeii (169). M. de Charlus’s admiration for Allied and German soldiers (170–1). His hand-clasp (172–3).
I look for a hotel (173) and find one open from which a familiar figure (Saint-Loup?) emerges (174–5). Conversation between soldiers and workers (176). The patron comes in with some chains (180). I see M. de Charlus being thrashed by a soldier (181). Jupien appears (182). Other clients of the hotel (182–3). The lost croix de guerre (189; cf. 218). M. de Charlus in the midst of the harem (195–201). Jupien’s explanations (202–7).
An air-raid (207). Pompeians in the Métro or in Jupien’s establishment (208). Reflexions on morality, on Jupien, on M. de Charlus and his aberrations (212–8). Françoise and the butler (218–9). The Larivières (224–6).
Saint-Loup’s death (226). Recollections of his friendship (226–9). Parallel with Albertine (228). Françoise in the role of mourner (229). The Duchesse de Guermantes’s unexpected grief (233–4).
Morel’s arrest as a deserter (235); his revelations cause the arrest of M. de Charlus and M. d’Argencourt (235–6). If Saint-Loup had survived … (236).
Reception at the Princesse de Guermantes’s. Return to Paris many years later (238). Train stops in the middle of the countryside (238). My incurable lack of literary talent (239). Invitation to the Princesse de Guermantes’s musical afternoon (240). Cab-drive towards the Champs-Elysées (241); the silent heights of memory (243). Meeting with a greatly aged Charlus (244–5). His greeting to Mme de Saint-Euverte (245–6). His roll-call of dead friends and relations (249). The Duchesse de Létourville, shocked by his mumbling voice (250). Jupien speaks of the Baron’s health, his Germanophilia, his persistent randiness (251).
The uneven paving-stones in the Guermantes courtyard (255); sensation of felicity similar to that of the madeleine, etc. (255); resurrection of Venice (256). Further exhilarating sensations (256–7). “The true paradises are the paradises that we have lost” (261). Impressions “outside time” (262). Reflexions on time, reality, memory, artistic creation (262 et sqq.). Futility of literary theories (277). Absurdity of popular art or patriotic art (279). François le Champí (281). Bibliophilia (286). Celibates of Art (293). Aberrations of literary criticism (295).
Further reflexions on literary and artistic creation (297 et sqq.). The raw material for literature: my past life (304). A Vocation? (304). The importance of dreams (322). The influence of Swann (328). The role of jealousy (330). Chateaubriand, Nerval and Baudelaire (334–5).
Back to the Guermantes reception: a coup de théâtre (336–7). M. d’Argencourt as an old beggar (338). Bloch (347). The Duchesse de Guermantes (349). The meaning of old age (354). M. de Cambremer (356). Legrandin (358). The Prince d’Agrigente (359). Various effects of Time (361). Odette: a challenge to the laws of chronology (377); “a rose that has been sterilized” (380). Bloch’s English chic (384); I introduce him to the Prince de Guermantes (385). Mme Verdurin has become the Princesse de Guermantes (387). Society and the chemistry of Time (389 et sqq.). Following the stream of memory back to its source (412 et sqq.). “Who’s dead?” (422–5).
The Princesse de Nassau (425). Gilberte: “You took me for Mamma” (428). Conversation about Robert (428) and the art of war (429). Her friendship with Andrée (432). My determination to avoid social life (435–6). The Duchesse de Guermantes and Rachel (444).
Berma’s tea-party (450). Her daughter and son-in-law (451). Rachel’s performance (456). She runs down Berma (462). Mme de Guermantes in old age: her social decline (464). Berma’s daughter and son-in-law received by Rachel (478).
The Duke’s liaison with Odette (481). “A magnificent ruin” (483). Odette’s amatory reminiscences (488). A new Mme de Saint-Euverte (494). Mme de Guermantes’s malevolent remarks about Gilberte (497). Gilberte introduces her daughter (501, 506). Mlle de Saint-Loup and the idea of Time (502–6). A spur to me to begin my work (507). How to set about it (507); Françoise’s help (509–10). Indifference to death, except insofar as my work was concerned (515). My social self and the self that conceived my book (518). The idea of death takes up permanent residence within me (523). Working by night (524). “Is there still time?” (525). The garden bell at Combray (526, 529, 530). “Profound Albertine …” (530). Men in Time: my resolution (531–2).
A GUIDE TO PROUST
Foreword
This is intended as a guide through the 4,300-page labyrinth of In Search of Lost Time not only for readers who are embarking on Proust’s masterpiece for the first time but for those too who, already under way, find themselves daunted or bewildered by the profusion of characters, themes and allusions. It also aims to provide those who have completed the journey with the means of refreshing their memories, tracking down a character or an incident, tracing a recurrent theme or favourite passage, or identifying a literary or historical reference. Perhaps, too, the book may serve as a sort of Proustian anthology or bedside companion.
The task of compiling the Guide would have been infinitely more laborious without the pioneering work of P. A. Spalding, whose Reader’s Handbook to Proust (that is, to the twelve-volume translation of the novel then current) was published by Chatto & Windus in 1952 and reissued
, in a revised edition edited by R. H. Cortie, by George Prior in 1975. I must also acknowledge a debt to the editors of the Pléiade edition (1954) of A la recherche du temps perdu, whose very detailed index was an indispensable aid, especially in identifying historical personages and literary allusions.
The Guide consists of four separate indexes: of Proust’s characters; of real or historical persons; of places; and of themes. Since the places index is comparatively short, it includes both the real and the fictional, the latter being indentified by the symbol (f). The present edition of the translation contains a synopsis at the end of each volume, and so I have not included one here. Page references are to the six volumes, as indicated by Roman bold numerals.
I have referred to the narrator throughout by the initial M, for Marcel. Proust is careful, almost from the beginning to the end of the novel, to avoid giving the narrator a name. But twice he allows his guard to slip: first, teasingly, early in The Captive, when Albertine on awakening murmurs “My darling———” and the blank is then filled in with the name Marcel, “if we give the narrator the same name as the author of this book” (Vol. V, p. 91), and the second time, later in the same volume, when Albertine addresses him unequivocally as “My darling dear Marcel” in her note from the Trocadéro (p. 202).
Index of Characters
ACTRESS (from the Odéon). Forms an exclusive group at Balbec with her rich young lover and two aristocratic friends: II 352–55. Invites M to dinner: 726. Her lover an invert, according to Charlus: V 411 (cf. VI 1)
ACTRESS-SINGER (novice), “tortured” by Rachel: III 229–30.
ACTRESS (ex-) with whom Bloch’s sister causes a scandal in the Casino at Balbec: IV 326–27, 337–38. (Not to be confused with Lea.)
ADOLPHE, Uncle. His sanctum at Combray and his study in Paris: I 99. M visits him and meets the “lady in pink,” thereby precipitating a breach with the family: 104–10. Swann visits him to talk about Odette, who provokes a quarrel between them: 444. The pavilion in the Champs-Elysées recalls his room at Combray: II 91. After his death, his photographs of actresses and courtesans brought to M by Charles Morel, son of his former valet: III 357–61. His generosity: IV 418. Morel’s devotion to his memory; his house in the Boulevard Malesherbes: 620–22.
AGRIGENTE, Prince d’ (“Grigri”). Visits the Swanns: II 130, 239–40, 246. At the Guermantes dinner-party; introduced to M, on whom he makes a bad impression: III 592–93. Unable to disguise his ignorance of Flaubert: 671. Drinks M’s fruit-juice: 703. Discusses genealogy with the Duc de Guermantes: 735–36. Related to the Duke of Modena: 743. Invited to the Saint-Euverte garden-party: IV 96–97. In Mme Swann’s box: 198. Regarded as a flashy foreigner by a club servant to whom he owes money: 410. Gilberte’s interest in him; his illness: V 794–96. The nickname Grigri: VI 2. Did he marry Mlle X?: 326. At the Guermantes matinée, “embellished” by age: 359.
AIMÉ. Headwaiter at the Grand Hotel, Balbec: II 347–48, 363, 366–67, 373–74. Charlus sends for him at night: 473–74. His views on the Dreyfus Case: 527–28. Headwaiter at a restaurant in Paris: III 201; waits on M, Saint-Loup and Rachel; his attractive and distinguished looks; Rachel’s interest in him, and Robert’s jealousy; Charlus’s ploy: 218–25. Back in Balbec: IV 233; the Princesse de Parme’s tip: 254–55; his appreciation of moneyed clients: 306–7. His role in Nissim Bernard’s relations with a young waiter: 330–31, 343–44. Conversations with M; relations with clients (“business first”); his letter from Charlus: 527–34. His familiarity with the chauffeur: 536–37, and interest in the chauffeur’s tip: 576. His pleasure in M’s special dinners: 658. His remembered remarks about Albertine exacerbate M’s jealousy; M sends him a photograph of Esther Levy for identification: V 103–7, 491–92. Sent by M to Balbec to make inquiries about Albertine’s behaviour in a bathing establishment: 664; his letter: 692–702. Sent by M to Touraine; second letter with revelations concerning Albertine’s relations with the laundry-girls: 706–8, 714. His revelations concerning Saint-Loup: 926–28.
A.J. See Moreau, A. J.
ALBARET, Céleste. Lady’s-maid in the Grand Hotel, with whom M strikes up a friendship during his second visit to Balbec: IV 331–37. Brichot gives the etymology of her name: 448. Her grief at M’s departure: 716. Her strange linguistic genius: V 12–13, 167.
ALBERT. See Guastalla, Albert, Duc de.
ALBERTINE Simonet. Niece of M. and Mme Bontemps; at school with Gilberte; “the famous Albertine”: II 116. Her insolence, according to her aunt: 237–38. M misses the opportunity of meeting her: 277–78. Her first appearance among the “little band” at Balbec—“a girl with brilliant, laughing eyes and plump, matt cheeks, a black polo-cap … pushing a bicycle”: 503–12. The name “Simonet”: 520–21, 528, 540–41, 579–80. Is she the girl M sees with an English governess?: 557–58. M sees her from a window of Elstir’s studio; her beauty spot; Elstir identifies her; her social position: 577–82. The different Albertines: 596–98. M introduced to her at Elstir’s: 614–22. Location of the beauty spot: 618, 622, 624–25. Conversation with her on the esplanade; her jaunty slang: 623–29. Encounters with Andrée, Octave, the d’Ambresacs; her taste and intelligence: 631–36. Plays “diabolo”: 637 (cf. 695). Her attitude to Gisèle: 637–40. Her hair: 641. Cycling in the rain: 645 (cf. V 658–59). Her craze for amusement: 647. Discusses dress with Elstir: 653–55. Her attitude to Bloch’s sisters: 659. Her voice and vocabulary: 666–68. Her note to M: “I like you very much”: 670. Her reaction to Gisèle’s essay: 670–73. The game of “ferret”: 680–85. Her hands: 680–81. Her ringing laughter, “somehow indecent” like the cooing of doves or certain animal cries: 681 (cf. IV 243, 264, 348, 705; V 152, 165, 226). Her kindness: 687–88. “I knew now that I was in love with Albertine”: 689–94. In her room at the hotel; the rejected kiss: 697–701. Her charm and attraction and social success: 702–7. “The multiple utilisation of a single action”: 707. Explains her refusal to allow M to kiss her; the little gold pencil: 710–11. The moral esteem she inspires in M, and the consequences thereof: 712–13. Her changing face: 718–20. Her abrupt departure from Balbec: 724. Visits M in Paris; changes in her appearance and vocabulary; allows him to make love to her; her frankness and simplicity: III 479–506. Second visit; accompanies M to the island in the Bois and to Saint-Cloud: 529–33. M gives her a box for Phèdre and arranges to meet her after the Prince de Guermantes’s party: IV 61, 138, 148, 168–70. He anxiously awaits her return: 174–77; her telephone call: 177–81; her visit: 181–87. Denies knowing Gilberte Swann: 186 (cf. V 20, 506–7). At Balbec again; sends word to M asking to see him: 220; M refuses: 227. The manager’s annoyance with her: 237. Françoise’s dislike of her: 239, 253. M at last decides to see her: 243–44. Recrudescence of M’s desire for her: 246–47. He sends Françoise and the lift-boy to fetch her: 252–62. Dances with Andrée in the Casino at Incarville; Cottard’s remarks: 262–66. Her secret life, unknown to M: 267–68. The visit to Infreville; her lies: 268–72 (cf. V 137). Observes Bloch’s sister and cousin in a mirror: 273–74. M’s changed attitude towards her: 274–76. Introduced to the Cambremers: 279. Her admiration for Elstir: 283–84. Reveals a knowledge of Amsterdam: 289 (cf. V 518, 529, 580). M “has things out” with her; his spurious confession of love for Andrée; accusations, denials, reconciliation: 302–17. Picnics with M near Balbec: 320; and further afield: 324. His suspicions and her reassurances: 324–26. Her attitude towards young women: 338–42. Flirts with Saint-Loup at Doncières station: 348–49. Reproaches and reconciliation: 350–51, 355–58. M’s mother raises the question of his marriage to Albertine: 442–43. Invited (as M’s cousin) to La Raspelière: 501–2, 505. Expeditions with M; paints the church of Saint-Jean-de-la-Haise: 534–35. The toque and veil: 536. Motor-car drives; visit to the Verdurins: 537–51. The church of Marcouville-l’Orgueilleuse: 561–62. Amorousness after drinks at a farm: 562–63. Lunch at Rivebelle; her interest in the waiter: 563–65. Further outings; nights on the beach; M’s growing jealousy and anxiety: 565–71. Reputed
intimacy with Morel: 586 (cf. V 810–11). Visits to the Verdurins; the little train; her make-up: 590–95, 675. Her clothes admired by Charlus: 618–19 (cf. V 290–95). How she gives herself away when lying: 677–78. Avoids Saint-Loup: 692. M’s decision to break with her: 698–99. Sudden reversal on hearing of her friendship with Mile Vinteuil and her friend; M persuades her to spend the night in the Grand Hotel and return to Paris with him next day: 701–16. “I absolutely must marry Albertine”: 724. Living with M in Paris: V 1–2. Sings in her bath: 3–4. Mamma’s disapproval: 6–9. Changes in her vocabulary and appearance: 12–14. Outings with Andrée; the Buttes-Chaumont: 15–16 (cf. 524, 740, 822–23). M’s feelings for her—jealousy without love: 16–30. Admits having known Gilberte: 20. Her fastidious taste in clothes: 32–33. The syringa incident: 63–65. Her dissimulation: 66–74. Her elegant clothes; her gold ring; her intelligence: 75–76. Memories of her at Balbec: 81–84. Her sleep: 84–90, and awakening: 90–91 (cf. 521–22). Visits M in his bedroom; her love play; her good-night kiss; makes him promise to work: 91–99. Aimé’s ambiguous remarks about her; a new access of jealousy: 103–7. Her plan to visit Mme Verdurin; renewed suspicions; “a fugitive being;” lying a part of her nature: 108–22. Visits to aerodromes: 132–33. Her lie about Infreville exposed: 137 (cf. IV 268–72). Denies knowing Bloch’s cousin: 140 (cf. 460–61). M kisses her while she sleeps the sleep of a child: 141–46. Her morning visit; plans to go to the Trocadéro instead of the Verdurins’ after a ride with Andrée; M warns her of the danger of riding accidents: 151–53. Her fondness for the street-criers and their wares: 160–63. Rhapsody on ice-creams: 165–66. Visit to Versailles with the chauffeur: 167–71. Journey to Balbec with the chauffeur: 174 (cf. 448–50). Her contradictory lies: 186–88. Lea at the Trocadéro; M’s frenzy of jealous suspicion; sends Françoise round with a note requesting Albertine to return home: 188–98; she complies, and sends an affectionate note (“What a Marcel!”): 201–3. Her new ring: 214. Her knowledge of painting and architecture: 217–18. Expedition to the Bois de Boulogne: 219–28. Feels herself a prisoner; her desire to escape: 228–31. Her technique in lying: 231–35, 247–52. M visits the Verdurins without her: 252. Charlus regrets her absence: 290, 293–95. Vinteuil’s music revives M’s love for her: 235–37, 344–45, 353, 408, 441–42. Her lighted window: 444–45. Her attitude to M’s jealousy: 445–46. Her annoyance on learning of his visit to the Verdurins: 447. Admits that her trip to Balbec with the chauffeur was an invention: 448–50. Denies having been intimate with Mile Vinteuil and her friend: 451–2. Her interrupted phrase (“get myself b …”) of which M finally discovers the meaning: 453–58. Crushed by M’s feigned decision to break with her there and then: 458–60. Her intimacy with Bloch’s cousin Esther: 460–61. Her three-week trip with Lea: 470–73, and her visit to Lea’s dressing room: 480. Reconciliation: 482–84. M visits her in her room and finds her already asleep: 485–86. Does she want to leave him?: 486–89. Attempts to dispel his suspicions: 491. Fears of her departure: 494–95. Her interest in old silver and Fortuny gowns: 496–501 (cf. 237–38, and her plans with M to acquire a yacht). Plays the pianola: 501–3, 513–16. Revelation about Gilberte: 506–7. Conversation about literature: 506–14. Watching her sleep once more: 521–22. Why she had returned to Paris with M; her relations with Andrée; her lie about the Buttes-Chaumont: 523–29. The Fortuny gown: 530–31 (cf. 237–38). Quarrel with M about Andrée; refusal to kiss him: 532–41. Noise of her window being opened during the night: 541–42. Visit to Versailles: 545–48. Makes eyes at a woman in a pastry-cook’s: 548–50. Her sudden departure: 558–59. “Mademoiselle Albertine has gone!”: 563–64. Her farewell letter: 565–66. Her behaviour just before her departure: 574–76. M learns that she has gone to Touraine: 580–81. How to get her back; plan to send Saint-Loup in search of her; Saint-Loup’s reaction to her photograph: 584–96. Her letter from Touraine and M’s reply: 610–21. Her forgotten rings: 623–27. Her third letter: 630–33. Saint-Loup’s report: 635–41. Her death in a riding accident: 641–42. Her two posthumous letters: 643–44. She continues to live in M after her death; his memories and regrets: 645–94. Aimé’s revelations about the bathing establishment at Balbec: 694–702. His inquiries in Tour aine and revelations about the laundry-girl: 706–15. Fragmentation into many different Albertines: 713–21. She appears in M’s dreams: 725–28. Andrée denies having had illicit relations with her: 737–41. M’s love for her survives in his pursuit of women of her type and background: 743–52. Stages on the road to indifference: 754, 801–6. Andrée’s revelations—her own relations with Albertine; Albertine and Morel; the syringa incident: 809–13. Albertine’s reason for leaving M; the Buttes-Chaumont; her relations with Octave: 821–43. M nearing total indifference, in Venice: 844, 848–50. Brief and fortuitous reawakenings of her memory: 866–69. A telegram which M believes to be from her accelerates his return to indifference: 869–74. The Austrian girl who resembles her: 879–81. M’s “reflex” memory of her at Tansonville: VI 3. He discusses her with Gilberte: 24–25. He no longer thinks of her: 117–18. Retrospectively, her exclamation on being caught by Françoise in flagrante delicto: 192. Linked with Saint-Loup in M’s memory: 227–28. Had been of use to him by causing him unhappiness: 319–20. The inspiration of his books: 328.