CHAPTER 2: Mlle de Forcheville
To attain a state of indifference, we need to pass backward through all the feelings through which love has first passed; but the process of forgetting is irregular (161). The first stage, an All Saints’ Day in the Bois de Boulogne (162). I think tenderly of Albertine while humming phrases from Vinteuil’s sonata (163). The charms of melancholia depend on the evolution of the process of forgetting (164). I look at girls (165). They all seem to be Albertines (166). I follow, then lose sight of, three girls. I see them again in front of my house and one of them, the blonde one, looks at me. Her sidelong glance, and her name, Mlle d’Éporcheville, set me on fire (167). Certain to have guessed right, I check with the concierge (168) then by telegram with Saint-Loup that the blonde girl who looked at me is none other than the aristocratic girl who frequented brothels (169). I would be sure to meet her at Mme de Guermantes’s (170). Rage and despair when my father proposes to take me away from Paris with him for forty-eight hours (171). Saint-Loup’s telegram reveals my mistake (172). My mother brings me my mail (173); she hurts Françoise’s feelings by preventing her from entering my room (174). My article has appeared in the Figaro (175). It is being read by everyone; I try to put myself in the place of the reader, I am charmed by my article (176). I want to go and check whether others read it in the same way that I do; literary activity could replace my social life (177). I go to see the Duchesse de Guermantes; the attraction of this salon, which is a point of intersection between reality and the dream (178). I am introduced to the blonde girl again: I did not think that I knew Mlle de Forcheville (179). Mistakes in how we represent the world (180). The story of Gilberte Swann, who has become a rich heiress, adopted by Odette’s second husband (181). Swann dreamed of introducing his daughter to the Duchesse, but the pictures we paint never turn out to be true (182). The Duchesse’s refusal and the reasons for her persistence (183). M. de Guermantes obtains an introduction for her (184). Gilberte’s rapid progress with the Guermantes, who appreciate in her the qualities inherited from her father (185). Patronizing comments on their old friend; the Duchesse’s sudden attack of sensitivity; Gilberte’s adoption accelerates her forgetfulness (186). Elstir’s drawings, now fashionable and appreciated by the Duchesse (187). I mention my article; the Duc, greatly astonished, starts to read it (188). The anecdote about the Prince de Laumes and the peasant at Paray-le-Monial (189). Gilberte claims not to know Lady Rufus Israel (190). Ashamed of her parents, she has inherited her faults from them (191). The complex combinations of moral heredity (192). Gilberte behaves like an ostrich; her new signature (193). Her snobbery secretes an intellectual curiosity: her tactful questions about her father’s former friends (194). The Duc’s muted compliments on my article (195). I refuse an invitation because of my mourning (196). Once Gilberte has left, the Duchesse comments on how difficult it is not to mention Swann: the Duc declares that all one has to do is not to think of him (197). I receive two letters congratulating me on my article, one from Mme Goupil, the other from someone unknown to me, and nothing from Bloch (198). I dream of Bergotte admiring my article (199). I am dismayed at the thought of Gilberte hastening her father’s death and oblivion (200). She has a similar effect on me concerning Albertine (201). The disappearance of my suffering leaves me diminished (202). My life seems to lack the support of a stable, individual self (203). The changes in the self are accompanied by fatigue and sadness (204). The second stage of the process of forgetting: a conversation with Andrée, six months after the previous one (205). Mme Sazerat’s misfortune (206). My mother’s visit to the Princess of Parma (207). In my little sitting-room, M. de Charlus quotes love poetry to a soldier who turns out to be Morel (208). Andrée is waiting for me in my room (209). While I caress her I tell her of my curiosity over Albertine’s pleasures (210). She shamelessly contradicts her previous denials (211). Morel used to pick up young working-girls for Albertine (212). Albertine’s terrible remorse, feeling herself in the grip of a kind of criminal folly from which she hoped I would save her (213). I had almost caught her with Andrée on the day of the syringa incident (214). The awful truth emerges too late to touch me deeply (215). A sentence or an idea can always be refuted (216). Andrée might have been sincere because she no longer fears Albertine; on the other hand, for the same reason, she might have been lying in order to hurt me (217). Her kindness and her cunning (218). Anticipation of her marriage with Octave, the Verdurins’ nephew (219); behind the pretentious fool encountered at Balbec, there was an artist of genius (220). His prestige for me; masterpieces do not spring from intellectual merit (221). The real Albertine glimpsed the very first day (222). I did not believe her guilty as long as I loved her (223). Lying is essential to the human race (224). The charms of a person lie in his or her secrets; love is linked to suspicion (225). After Andrée’s departure, Mama tells me of the Princess of Parma’s visit, an exception to her rule (226). I write asking Andrée to return in order to question her again (227). The cause of Albertine’s departure: the Bontemps wanted to marry her to Octave, and it was in order to meet him that she wanted to go to the Verdurins’ (228). Albertine both schemer and victim (229). Mediocre women are suitable for sensitive intellectuals since their lies create for these men a universe in depth (230). The elusive figure of Albertine (231). The innocence of her relations with Mlle Vinteuil and her girl-friend (232). Albertine a wild creature (233). Octave’s friendliness toward me derived from his desire to meet Albertine (234). I pass judgment on him and realize that a similar duplicity filled me with affection for Saint-Loup when I was in love with his aunt (235). Perhaps this young man sincerely sought the friendship of an intellectual (236). My doubts over Andrée’s declarations, over the significance of Albertine’s blushes; my sadness and fatigue (237).
CHAPTER 3: Staying in Venice
My third moment of awareness of the process of forgetting: traveling to Venice. Venetian analogies and transpositions of my former impressions of Sunday mornings in Combray (238). Mama no longer hides her affection (239). Her sweet smile is now forever linked in my memory with a jewel of medieval architecture, an ogive in the Arabic style (240). Comparisons between the splendors of Venice and the poverty of Venice: the lesson learned from Veronese comes to complete the lesson learned from Chardin (241). In the afternoon, without Mama, I explore the back-streets of Venice looking for working-girls (242). At sunset I ride in a gondola with my mother; urban and social impressions in the city of art and the sea (243). Dinner with Mme Sazerat in a palazzo converted into a hotel (244). The waiters’ disdainful comments on an old couple: who turn out to be Mme de Villeparisis and M. de Norpois (245). Their conjugal behavior (246). M. de Norpois is interested in the international situation (247). He introduces Prince Foggi to the Marquis (248). Mme Sazerat discovers a little old woman instead of the femme fatale who had ruined her father (249). The Marquis’s diplomatic arts and secret ambitions. The press mentions this conversation and provokes his ire (250). How he manipulated public opinion in 1870 (251). Albertine enclosed within me (252). My inheritance is severely depleted (253). Nobody in Combray would be able to understand how I had allowed myself to be ruined by Albertine (254). Might I be able to take home to Paris a girl I had found selling glassware in Venice (255)? Elusive reminders of Albertine (256). A telegram arrives: Albertine is alive and wants to discuss marriage (257). I can no more resuscitate Albertine than I can the past self who used to love her; oblivion has devoured my love (258). I say that the telegram was not addressed to me (259). Study trips with Mama, when I work on Ruskin at St. Mark’s (260). She remains in my memory, cloaked in her mourning, like the old woman in Carpaccio’s painting (261). Albertine’s coat, recognized in a different painting, momentarily revives my love (262). I visit the Arena Chapel in Padua, with its Giotto frescoes (263). Like the allegorical figures which Swann had given me in Combray, the angels perform real actions (264). An Austrian girl on holiday in Venice attracts me through what she has in common with Albertine (265). Solitary
, nocturnal walks through enchanted streets (266). When I learn of the imminent arrival of Mme Putbus, I refuse to leave Venice with my mother (267). Under the influence of my anguish, Venice ceases to be Venice (268). I rush to the station (269). In the train I read my mail (270). Gilberte informs me of her marriage to Saint-Loup; the telegram was from her; her handwriting explains the confusion (271).
CHAPTER 4: A New Side to Robert de Saint-Loup
My mother’s emotion on hearing the news (272). She informs me of the marriage between the young Cambremer and Mlle d’Oloron, that is, between Legrandin’s nephew and Jupien’s niece (273). Transgressions of caste boundaries which shock the bourgeoisie (274). My mother tries to imagine what my grandmother would have thought (275). The intrigues which precede a marriage (276). My sadness as my past recedes; but it would be wrong to interpret this sadness as prescience (277). Gilberte becomes a salon celebrity. The awkwardness caused by social matches (278). The consequences of marriages. Snobbery (279). Legrandin yields to a less artificial taste, but one rendered platonic by age (280). Mme de Cambremer grows indifferent to the amiability of Mme de Guermantes (281). Gilberte, thinking that she has attained the summits of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, is filled with contempt for high society and her salon falls from favor (282). Mlle d’Oloron dies shortly after her marriage (283). The pitfalls awaiting the uninitiated reader of the obituary notice (284). Charlus appreciates the young Cambremer (285). Return to our family commentary in the train, then in Paris (286). The lore of families and the Muse of history (287). The people of Combray make fun of Saint-Loup’s marriage (288). I go to see Gilberte since I no longer love her (289). In order to leave for Tansonville, I entrust my mistress to a friend who is not attracted to women (290). Gilberte, deceived by Robert, is unhappy (291). Jupien informs me that the letters signed by Bobette are from Morel, who has left the Baron for Saint-Loup (292). Jupien’s indignation (293). Mme de Marsantes enforced a reconciliation between Gilberte and Robert (294). Robert could have married Albertine, for the same reasons as mine, but with the opposite intention (295). Conversation with Aimé in Balbec where I met Saint-Loup (296). My friend’s tastes may be long-standing: the liftboy scandal (297). Who was lying (298)? A new interpretation of Saint-Loup’s blushes (299). He finds something of Rachel in Charlie (300). Gilberte attempts to resemble Rachel, believing that Saint-Loup is still in love with her (301). Having found a protector in Robert, Odette, at first hostile to the marriage, works to support it (302). Saint-Loup’s deplorable behavior during his liaison with Morel (303). I shed tears for my lost friendship (304). I go to stay at Tansonville. Walking and talking with Gilberte at nightfall (305). I am devastated to realize how little emotion I feel on revisiting Combray and the neighborhood: my childhood visions are overturned (306). Gilberte reveals her desires: I had misinterpreted the look in her eyes, the first time we met, at Tansonville (307). I had understood it well enough, on a second occasion, the day before we were introduced at Mme de Guermantes’s (308). My grief having disappeared, I no longer try to linger over the circumstances of our parting (309). But I am obliged to modify my views of our first meeting and to convince myself that the happiness I dreamed of then was not inaccessible (310).
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
The Fugitive Page 37