Some esthetic elements in the novel of MarcelProust, A la recherche du temps perdu

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Authors Platt, Frances Drake, 1876-

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Some Esthetic Elements in the

Novel of Marcel Proust: A la

Recherche du Temps Perdu.

by

Frances Drake Platt

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, of the

University of Arizona

1 9 3 4

Date

/7g,z.

Contents

Chapter Page

Introduction i

I. General Character of the Novel and its Relation

to Proust's Life 3

II. Sensuous Impressions of Beauty in Nature 12

III. Architecture and Sculpture 23

IV. Painting 29

V. Esthetic Basis of Swann's Sexual Emotion . 42

VI. Music 54

VII. Conclusion 67

Bibliography 72

Introduction

Marcel Proust's fame as a writer may be said to rest

solely on his novel, A la Recherche du Tema.Peràu,1 with

its concluding volumes, Le Temps Retrouvé.1 This is a stu-

pendous work in eight parts, seven of which, under various

sub -titles, were published at intervals; the last three, in-

cluding Le Temps Retrouvé, appeared after the author's death

in 1922.

In this novel Proust's world is reproduced and elucidat-

ed: a vast, complex world composed of certain social groups

in the France of his own day and the period just preceding;

a changing world, whose many elements and the forces operat-

ing through and upon each of these are dealt with in detail.

Apart from the various aspects of society thus exhibit-

ed, the work has an amazing scope, extending to each of the

more significant phases of intellectual and artistic achieve-

ment in Proust's life -time. The importance of subject -mat-

ter whose interest derives wholly or in part from its esthet-

ic bearing and the author's competence to deal with this is

attested by the following passages:

Actually his books are filled from end to end with criti-cisms of painting, of literature; not as unassimi-lated chunks in the main stream of the narrative, but as

i These are listed in the bibliography.

2

expressions of the opinions of different characters.'

Proust combines to a degree never before realizedin literature, the qualities of the aesthete and thescientist . Human beauty, the beauty of buildings,of the sea, of the sky, the beauty of transmitted quali-ties in families and in the country -side few peoplehave felt these things as Proust.2

il contentait les amateurs de paysages en lavant -jusqu'á l'extrême perfection - des aquarelles et en s'at-tardant á cet art pour un homme comme lui secondaire,jusqu'á pouvoir laisser croire qu'il était peintre exclu-sivement; il montrait, tout h son aise, - rien ne s'oppos-ant á la prodigalité des hors -d'oeuvre, - sa compét4nceen matière musicale comme son érudition artistique.

The purpose of this study is the consideration of certain

esthetic elements in Proust's novel, with a view to emphasiz-

ing what is typical in his treatment of the material selected.

This includes: impressions of beauty in nature and particular

aspects of architecture, sculpture, painting and music.

1 A Sensitive Petronius, Ralph Wright; in Marcel Proust anEnglish Tribute, collected by C. K. Scott- Moncrieff, p.41.Thomas Seltzer, N. Y., 1923.

2 The Prophet of Despair, Francis Birrell; in op. cit., p.23.3 Premieres réflections sur l' oeuvre de Marcel Prout, RenéBoylesve; in Les Cahiers de Marcel Proust I, p.103. N. R. F.

.Chapter I. General Character of the Novel and its Relation

to Proust's Life.

The work is in the form of an autobiography; the narrator

is the central character - except in the second portion of bu

Cáté de chez Swann, whose hero, a fine type of Jew, is M.I. Swann.

In this part, the "personnage qui dit 'je'" does not appear,

since the events of which it treats transpired shortly before

his birth. Proust's adoption of the autobiographical form for

the remainder of the novel is necessitated by the very nature

of the content: that is, memories, the analysis of successive

states of consciousness and evocations of the narrator's past.

To what extent the author drew upon his own life for this ma-

terial is a question which has been much discussed. There

are many facts to support the theory that Proust is to be iden-

tified with his central character and with Swann. Extra -tex-

tual evidence is of interest from the stand -point of the novel's

autobiographical character and its psychological basis.

Here is the testimony of Robert Dreyfus, who knew Marcel

Proust as a child. Rejecting the idea that A la Recherche du

Temps Perdu is a "roman á clef ", he says:

dans ces mémoires métamorphosés par l'imaginationcréatrice

?le lecteur ne rencontre guère qu'un seul por-

trait fidle, mais celui poussé jusque dans ses nuancesles plus subtiles et profondes, et c'est le portrait de

Proust lui- méme.1

Swann is, obviously, an objective character - study. If

this be a study of the narrator, there is, as both Joseph Col-

lins and Benjamin Crémieux point out, a distribution of Proust's

own personality between the two characters. Benjamin Crémieux,

alluding also to the fact that Proust's mother was a Jewess,

says of this distribution:

Dédoublement qui n'est pas uniquement demandé par quelquecommodité de composition, mais par le besoin d'extériorisercompleternent sa personnalité, où l'hérédité juive du cotématernelle se mélange á l'hérédité catholique et sans doutetourangelle du côté paternel. Swann est la moitié juivede Proust; le héros qui dit "je" est sa moitié catholique.2

The narrator is nameless throughout, except in two places,

where the author permits him to be called "Marcel ".3 The name

will be used here to designate this central character.

It is impossible to understand Marcel's sensitivity to

beauty and its relation to his impulse toward creative work

without taking cognizance of a realm of mystery, the sense of

which is present to his consciousness on rare occasions. At

such times he has intimations of reality as embodied in exter-

nal things. In another work, Proust asserts that "le plaisir

esthétique est précisément celui qui accompagne la découverte

d'une vérité. "4 Por Marcel, too, a perception of beauty, if

1 Marcel Proust aux Chams E1 sées, Robert Dreyfus; in op. cit.,p. 22.

2 Proust, in XXe Siéole, B. Crémieux, p. 50. Première Série,N. R. F., 1921.

3 La Prisonnière I, pp. 99 and 214.4 Cited by A. andieu from Proust's Preface á la Bible d'Amiens;

in Marcel Proust, sa Révélation RA Ishologique, A. Dandieú,pp. 102 -103. Oxford Univ. Press. 1930.

sufficiently intense, has somewhat of a mystical quality,

whose significance he but half senses, with the urge, some-

times frustrated, to give it expression.

Proust himself had, as a mere child, impressions of this

nature. Two examples given by Léon Pierre-Quintl are dupli-

cated in Du Côté de chez Swann. As to one of these, which he

says occurred when the future author was fifteen years old, we

have both his testimony and Proust's own - in the text itself -

that the description resulting from his first successful at-

tempt to grasp with perfect clarity the revelation of a visual

impression is there reproduced with but little change. Only

its general character can be indicated here.

From a moving vehicle, three church steeples are viewed

in a changing sunset light; this with their relative position,

altered as the carriage follows a winding road, arrests the

boy's attention. At first, the fear lest something infinite-

ly precious elude him is uppermost; and he says:

En constatant, en notant la forme de leur flèche,le déplacement de leurs lignes, l'ensoleilment de leursurface, je sentais que je n'allais pas au bout de monimpression, que quelque chose était derriére ce movement,derriére cette clarté, quelque chose qu'ils semblaientcontenir et dérober á la fois; les trois clochers¿talent toujours au loin devant nous, comme trois oiseauxposés sur la plaine, immobiles et qu'on distingue ausoleil. Puis le clocher de Vieuxvicq s'écarta, prit sesdistances, et les clochers de Martinville restèrent seuls,éclairés par la lumière du couchant que mime á cette dis-tance, sur leurs pentes, je voyais jouer et sourire;

1 Marcel Proust, sa vie, son oeuvre, L. Pierre -Quint, p. 30.Simon Kra, 1925.

6

mais la route changea de direction, ils virèrent dans lalumière comme trois pivots d'or et disparurent á mes yeux.Nais, un peu plus tard comme nous étions déjá prés de Com-bray, le soleil étant maintenant couché, je les aperçusune dernière fois de très loin, qui n'étaient plus quecomme trois fleurs peintes sur le ciel au- dessus de laligne basse des champs. Ils me faisaient penser aussiaux trois jeunes filles d'une légende, abandonnées dansune solitude oú tombait déjá l'obscurité.'

In the carriage, still moving, he writes down the sequence

of impressions. His reward is the joy of creation, the relief

of an obligation discharged.

Je ne repensais jamais á cette page, mais á ce moment -lá, quand --- j'eus fini de l'écrire, je me trouvais siheureux, je sentais qu'elle m'avait si parfaitement débar-rassé de ces clochers et de ce qu'ils cachaient derrièreeux, que je me mis á chanter á tue-tgte.2

Yet another aspect of the novel's psychological basis is

the supposed source of its content: the sub -conscious mind -

"rri.émoire inconscient" - the evocative agent being association.

The process is initiated by some sensuous stimulus: for ex-

ample, the odor of a little cake dipped into tea, which re-

calls to Marcel another occasion when the same sort of cake,

moistened in the same beverage, was offered him, as a little

boy, in quite different surroundings. Bit by bit, his con-

scious memory aiding, a section of his past is restored to

him: the delightful Easter and summer vacations spent in Com-

bray, a quaint provincial town. This is but one of several

instances. When, in his middle life, the experience is re-

peated three times, with short intervals, Marcel decides to

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I. pp. 259, 260 -261.2 Ibid. -- pp. 261 -262.

undertake the reconstruction of his past and to perpetuate

this in a work of art.

The idea is not new in French literature. Proust men-

tions three writers who have at least spoken of the same phe-

nomenon: Chateaubriand (Memoires d'Outre- Tombe); Gérard de

Nerval (Sylvie) and Baudelaire. -

Proust's friends and biographers testify to his sensibili-

ty and his love of beauty in general and of flowers in particu-

lar. A keen interest in art, in painting especially, seems

to have developed early.

Léon Pierre -Quint says of him in his fifteenth year: "A

cet age il était d'une sensibilité suraiguë. "2

It was at the age of nine that the boy began to have se-

vere attacks of asthma, from which he suffered the rest of his

life. Henceforth he could not tolerate country air when flow-

ers were in bloom; so he was taken each year to the coast of

Normandy at this season, which had been spent, hitherto, in that

part of the Ile -de- France which is the background of Combray

and Mé ségli se, in the novel.

C'est donc tout enfant qu'il découvrit ces chères aubé-pines lá -bas dans les buissons sauvages du cote de Mé-séglise, aubépines réeles qui fleurissent encore áIlliers.3

Years later, he made a trip in a closed automobile through

1 Le ans Retrouvé, II, p. 82.2 Marcel Proust, sa vie, son oeuvre, Léon Pierre - Quint, p. 24.

Simon Kra, 1925.3 Ibid., pp. 25 -26.

Normandy, when the apple trees were in bloom.1

Robert de Billy gives the following reminiscence of days

when he and Marcel Proust were students together.

Aprés une promenade au Louvre oú il avait été avec moi,poussé, je crois, par la lecture des vers de Baudelairesur les peintres, il avait longuement regardé les VanDyck et les Cuyp; ému par leur grace, leur noblesse etla lumiére dorée dans laquelle se mouvaient les person-nages, il composa, en revenant, les beaux vers qui furentplus tard édités avec la musique dR Reynaldo Hahn, sousle titre de Portraits de peintres.

The period when Proust began to work seriously upon mate-

rial he had spent years in collecting, dates from 1905. In

1910, he renounced society and practically all pleasure, and

gave himself up to the great labor which ended only with his

death. Throughout this period he was a confirmed invalid.

Il se refusa toutes les joies de l'art. La visitequ'il fit au Louvre, en 1921, fut la derniére. Il par-lait encore, á cette époque, de faire venir h domicilele quatuor de Paulet, afin de l'entendre de son lit.Peu h peu, il laissa tomber de lui les derniers plaisirs.

There is much evidence of Proust's admiration for the work

of Vermeer, that marvelous colorist and painter of textures.

Some thought of this perfection must have been in his mind as

he knew his end was approaching. The last night of his life,

he dictated a few details to be added to his description of

the death of Bergotte, the great writer in his novel. It oc-

curs at an exhibition, whither Bergotte has gone to see a

1 Marcel Proust aux Champs-Elysées, Robert Dreyfus; in LesCahiers Marcel Proust I, p. 23. N.R.F. 1927.

2 Une de trente ans, Robert de Billy; in op. cit., p.27.3 Notes, Paul Morand; in op. cit., p. 81.

Certain picture by Vermeer, a street scene, in which a bit of

wall is said to be so beautifully painted as to resemble the

choicest Chinese. porcelains. Desregarding a sudden dizziness,

Bergotte drags himself along until he comes to the .Vermeÿer:

Ses étourdissements augmentaient; il attachait son regard- -- au précieux petit pan de mur. "C'est ainsi quej'aurais dú écrire, disait -il. Mes derniers livres sonttrop secs, il aurait fallu passer plusieurs couches decouleur, rendre ma phrase en elle -même précieuse comme ceetit pan de mur jaune." Cependant la gravité de ses&tourdissements ne lui échappait pas. Dans une celestebalance lui apparaissait, chargeant l'un des plateaux, sapropre vie, tandis que l'autre contenait le petit pan demur si bien peint en jaune. Il sentait qu'il avait im-prudemment donné le premier pour le second.l

Proust's enthusiasm for art extended to medieval architec-

ture and sculpture. This interest, due unquestionably to Rus-

kin's influence, is especially evident in Du Côté de chez Senn

and in A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs. A trip to Venice,

which Proust made in 1900, in the company of his mother and Rey-

naldo Hahn, may have been one result of his admiration for Rus-

kin. Two translations from his works were published subsequent

to this sojourn in Venice: La Bible d'Amiens, in 1904, and Se-

same et les Lys, in 1906. Both are carefully annotated; each

has a long preface written by the translator.

Proust's life was spent chiefly in Paris, which is the

background likewise of the greater part of his novel. "Com-

bray" is pO s sibly a synthesis of liners, already mentioned,

and Auteuil, where as a little boy, Proust used to stay with

1 La Prisonniére I, p. 255.

10

relatives. "Balbec" corresponds to Cabourg, on the coast ófNormandy; for many years Proust's summers were spent either

here or at Trouville. "Donciéres ", where Marcel visits hisfriend Saint -Loup, stationed there during his military serv-ice, has the same general location as Orléans; it was here

that Proust's military duty was discharged. The sojourn inVenice comes, in the novel, at a time corresponding to that ofthe author's visit: - that is, in his mature years. These are,

with slight exceptions, the only places in which Proust's life

was spent.

Two social groups, both important in the novel, are: that

of the aristocratic Faubourg Saint -Germain, dominated by the

duchesse,de Guermantes, and the "petit clan" whose members en-

joy, regularly, lavish hospitality at the house of a rich bour-geois pair named Verdurin. Here the atmosphere is banal, even

a trifle vulgar, in spite of Mme. Verdurin's devotion to "the

arts ".

The general make -up of this work is unique. There are

no regular chapter divisions. Each volume of a certain partof the novel may be called "Chapitre premier" and "Chapitre

deuxième", respectively; or "Première partie" and " Deuxième

partie"; in some cases, titles may be used. Occasionally, a

break in time or subject -matter is indicated by a space merely.Paragraph divisions in the later volumes especially are rare.This feature, together with Proust's long, involved sentences,

11

may, at first, be disconcerting to the reader. It is calculat-

ed; well suited to part, at least, of Proust's purpose: - that

of showing life in its steady onward flow.

1.2

Chapter II. Sensuous Impressions of Beauty in Nature.

The general character of Proust's evocations has been in-

dicated in the preceding chapter; a number of examples illus-

trating his treatment of Beauty in Nature will be set forth in

this one. These are selected as representative of favorite

subjects or as typical of Proust's method. In so far as such

subjects are recurrent notes in the work and become, for this

reason, factors in its general scheme, they cannot be consid-

ered apart from it. Some of them are, in fact, definite

"motifs."

In content as well as charm, Combray, the first part of

Du Côté de chez Swann, and the two volumes of A l'Ombre des

Jeunes Pilles en Fleurs are especially rich as records of

Marcel's response to beauty in his surroundings. The first

deals with impressions of childhood; the second with those of

adolescence. Taken together, this material contains many

typical examples of Proust's artistic sensibility. If im-

agination, an important ingredient of the rare combination of

gifts which was Proust's natural endowment, is especially in

evidence in the picture of Combray and the countryside belong-

ing to it, the manner of its exercise has certain character-

istics which may be traced throughout the work; and since im-

agination frequently colors, even transmutes, his sensuous

impressions, it goes without saying that their character is

1,3

largely the result of the particular form or direction it may

take. This fact, though psychological rather than esthetic,

cannot be ignored in the consideration of Proust's artistic

sensibility.

If evocation is, throughout, the basis of their content,

the dynamic quality of sensuous impressions thus called up is

due, in a large measure, to the continuation of this process.

One such impression evokes another or others; so that its in-

terest, its beauty, often consist in what it suggests. The

citations which follow can give but a faint notion of the

richness and variety resulting from Proust's use of poetic

devices. Two passages describing hawthorn blossoms exemplify

not only his use of images, but also a characteristic inter-

change of objects evoked. Seen on the church altar, these

flowers, as if still vibrating with life, suggest a hedge in

bloom. At another time, it is the flowering hawthorn hedge

which evokes a church interior and the decorations of its

altar.

Elles faisaient courir au milieu des flambeaux etdes vases sacrés leurs branches attachées horizontale-ment les unes aux autres en un apprêt de fête, et qu'enjolivaient encore les festons de leur feuillage surlequel étaient semés a profusion, comme sur une traînede mariée, de petits bouquets de boutons d'une blancheuréclatante. Mais, sans oser les regarder qu'á la dé-robée, je sentais que ces apprêts pompeux étaient vivantset que c'était la nature elle -même qui, en creusant cesdécoupures dans les feuilles, en ajoutant l'ornementsuprême de ces blancs boutons, avait rendu cette décora-tion digne de ce qui était á, la fois une réjouissancepopulaire et une solennité mystique. Plus haut s'ou-vraient leurs corolles ç'a et l'a avec une grâce insouci-ante, retenant si negligemment comme un dernier et va-poreux atour le bouquet d'étamines, fines tommes des

14

fils de la Vierge, qui les embrumait tout entières, qu'-en suivant, qu'en essayant de mimer au fond de moi leçgeste de leur efflorescence, je l'imaginais comme si

'avait été le movement de tète étourdi et rapide, au re-gard coquet, aux pupilles diminuées, d'une blanche jeunefille, distraite et vive . Malgré la silencieuseimmobilité des aubépines, cette intermittente odeur étaitcomme le murmure de leur vie intense dont l'autel vibraitainsi qu'une haie agreste visitée par de vivantes antennes,auxquelles on pensait en voyant certaines étamines pres-que rousses qui semblaient avoir gardé la virulence prin-tanière, le pouvoir irritant, d'insectes aujourd'hui mé-tamorphosés en fleurs.1

La haie formait comme une suite de chapelles qui dis-paraissaient sous la jonchée de leurs fleurs amonceléesen reposoir; au- dessous d'elles, le soleil posait á terreun quadrillage de clarté, comme s'il venait de traverserune verrière; leur parfum s'étendait aussi onctueux, aussidélimité en sa forme que si j'eusse été devant l'autel dela Vierge, et les fleurs, aussi parées, tenaient chacuned'un air distrait son étincelant bouquet d'étamines, fineset rayonnantes nervures de style flamboyant comme cellesqui á l'église ajouraient la rampe du jubé ou les meneauxdu vitrail et qui n'épanouissaient en blanche chair defleur de fraisier.

On a large scale, a similar reversal in the order of evo-

cation is developed. Time after time, visions of Venice,

which Marcel has never seen, visions born of his desire to go

there, are called up, in Paris, Combray or Balbec, by some

fleeting impression.3 When, however, he finds himself in

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, pp. 164 -166.2 Ibid., p. 199.3 Du C de chez Swann, II, p. 245.

Ibid., pp. 248 -253.A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, I, p. 108.Le CCôt de Guermantes, I, p. 128.Lá: Pri sonniere, I, pp. 261 -262.Ibid., p. 273.La Prisonnière, II, pp. 283 -284.Albertine Disparue, I, p. 139.

15

Venice for a few weeks, the order of . evocation is reversed,

and he is constantly reminded of Combray. Comparing his

general impressions, he says:

comme il peut y avoir de la beauté aussi bien quedans les choses les plus humbles, dans les plus précieuses -j'y goûtais des impressions analogues á celles que rairaissi souvent ressenties autrefois á Combray, mais trans-posées selon un mode entiérement différent et plus riche

These he goes on to specify:

ce rôle de maisons projetant un peu ambre h leurspieds était h Venise confié á des palais de porphyre etde jaspe, au- dessus de la porte d'entrée desquels la têted'un Dieu barbu (en dépassant l'allignement, comme le mar-teau d'une porte á Combray) avait pour résultat de rendreplus foncé par son refleA, non le brun du sol, mais lebleu splendide de l'eau.

Spots of shade cast by Venetian blinds recall the awnings of

certain Combray shops, even though those in Venice are hung

upon Gothic windows. The fresh, indoor coolness is likewise

reminiscent of a Combray interior.

mais á Venise c'était un courant d'air marin quil'entretenait non plus dans un petit escalier de boisaux marches rapprochées, mais sur les nobles surfacesde degrés de marbre, éclaboussées á tout moment d'unéclair de soleil glauque, et qui á. l'utile leçon deChardin, reçue autrefois, ajoutaient celle de Véronése.3

Black marble becomes in Venice a veritable touchstone; by its

magic, the spire of Saint- Hilaire, the Combray church, whose

dark slates after a rain used to be turned to marble, rises

before Marcel.

This spire is ever a dominant feature of the town and its

1 Albertine Disparue, II, p. 110.2 Ibid., p. 110.3 Albertine Disparue, I, p. 114.

16

environs; the means by which Proust makes this dominance felt

are characteristic of his method in general. The church

tower, with its bells, is treated as the center of interest

in many descriptive bits, to which either visual or auditory

impressions contribute. Variety is achieved by means sug-

gestive of the description of the spires of Martinville, inas-

much as Marcel's position in relation to his subject varies

and brings about new combinations. In such combinations,

Saint -Hilaire is associated with first one, then another fa-

miliar aspect of the town or its life. It is the focal point

in many complex impressions and becomes, later, a symbol of

Combray. Proust develops this into a veritable Combray

"motif ", whose recurrence, at intervals, gives the perspec-

tive of time, so important an element in the general scheme

of his work. The last example of such recurrence will be

noted here. It is taken from Marcel's account of the only

visit made to Combray after his childhood, - a visit which

brings out but too sharply his changed world. The citation

is the last of several, selected as typical of the treatment

of this subject.

The tower of Saint- Hilaire is first in the order of

Marcel's early Combray impressions.

On reconnaissait le clocher de Saint -Hilaire de bienloin, inscrivant sa figure inoubliable á l'horizon oúCombray n'apparaissait pas encore, quand du train qui,la semaine de Pâques, nous amenait de Paris, mon pérel'apercevait qui filait tour á tour sur tous les sillonsdu ciel, faisant courir en tous sens son petit coq defer, il nous disait: "Allons, on est arrivé. t1

17

Quand on se rapprochait et qu'on pouvait apercevoir lereste de la tour carrée et á demi détruite qui, moinshaute, subsistait á côté de lui, on était frappé surtoutdu ton rougeâtre et sombre des pierres; et, par un matinbrumeux d'automne, on aurait dit, s'élevant au- dessus duviolet orageux des vignobles, une ruine de pourpre presquede la couleur de la vigne vierge.'

Frequently his grandmother shows him this tower from the family

town house.

mais c'était dans son clocher qu'elle semblaitprendre conscience d'elle -même, affirmer une existenceindividuelle et responsable. C'était lui qui parlaitpour elle.

C'était le clocher de Saint- Hilaire qui donnait átoutes les occupations, á toutes les heures, á tous lespoints de vue de la ville, leur figure, leur couronnement,leur consécration.3

From two points, one of them the nearby market -place, the sound

of the bells of Saint -Hilaire reach Marcel; the direction of

his auditory impression is indicated in each case in terms of

visual impressions.

il faisait si beau et si tranquille que, quand son-nait l'heure, on aurait dit non qu'elle rompait le calmedu jour mais qu'elle le débarrassait de ce qu'il contenaitet que le clocher avec l'exactitude indolente et soigneused'une personne qui n'a rien d'autre á faire, venait seule-ment - pour exprimer et laisser tomber les quelques gouttesd'or Sue la chaleur y avait lentement et naturellementamassees - de presser, au moment voulu, la plénitude dusilence.4.

Avant de repartir nous restions longtemps á manger desfruits, sur l'herbe oú parvenaient jusqu'a nous,horizontaux, affaiblis, mais denses et métalliques encore,des sons de la cloche de Saint -Hilaire qui ne s'étaient

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 95.2 Ibid.,-p.3 Ibid., p. 97.4 Ibid., p. 239.

18

pas mélangés á l'air qu'ils traversaient depuis si long-temps, et côtelés par la palpitation successive de toutesleurs lignes sonores, vibraient en rasant les fleurs, ános pieds.

From a window of the country house, formerly Swann's, now his

daughter's, Marcel looks into the verdure of the park and sees

once more the beloved tower.

dans le vaste tableau verdoyant, je reconnus, peintlui, au contraire, en bleu sombre, simplement parce qu'ilétait plus loin, le clocher de l'église de Combray, nonpas une figuration de ce clocher, ce clocher lui-même,qui mettant ainsi sous mes yeux la distance des lieux etdes années, était venu, au milieu de la lumineuse verdureet d'un tout autre ton, si sombre qu'il paraissait presqueseulement dessiné, s'inscrire dans le carreau de ma fenetre:2

From the painter's view- point, the sea is, on the whole, the

dominant note at Balbec; it serves likewise as a background for

the lovely description of a band of young girls first seen on

the beach, like a living, moving frieze.

Proust's descriptions of the sea are marvellously rich;

their variety is due chiefly to his perception of the exact

quality of each of its moods. They are not colored in any

marked degree by his own; so he avoids "the pathetic fallacy"

and his descriptions are purely esthetic. The use of images

in them does not contradict this fact, but rather bears it

out. Alluding to the endless variety of the sea, Marcel

says:

Car chacune de ces mers ne restait jamais plus d'un jour.Le lendemain il y en avait une autre qui parfois lui

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 245.2 Le Temps, Retrouver, Ì, pp. 7 -8.

19

ressemblait. Fais je ne vis jamais deux fois la même.Par quel privilège, un matin plus qu'un autre, la

fenêtre s'entr'ouvrant découvrit -elle á mes yeux émer-veillés la nymphe Glaukonoméné, dont la beauté paresseuseet qui respirait mollement, avait la transparence d'unevapoureuse émeraude á travers laquelle je voyais affluerles éléments ponderables qui la coloraient? Elle faisaitjouer le soleil avec un sourire alangui par une brume in-visible qui n'était qu'un espace vide réservé autour de sasurface translucide rendue aussi plus abrégée et plussaisissante, comme ces déesses que le sculpteur detgchesur le reste du bloc qu'il ne daigne pas dégrossir.

Two years later, during a second sojourn at Balbec, the sense

of this variety of the sea's aspects is expressed; but there

is a difference in the general character of the two sets of im-

pressions. The change in his own view -point to which he alludes

is due to a painter's influence. This influence will be dis-

cussed in the next two chapters.

Comme la première année, les mers, d'un jour á l'autre,elles étaient rarement les mêmes. /fais d'ailleurs ellesne ressemblaient guère á celles de cette première année,soit parce que maintenant c'était le printemps avec sesorages, soit parce que même si j'étais venu a la mêmedate que la première fois, des temps différents, pluschangeants, auraient pu déconseiller cette côte á cer-taines mers indolentes, vapoureuses et fragiles que j'a-vais vues pendant des jours ardents dormir sur la plageen soulevant imperceptiblement leur sein bleuâtre d'unemolle palpitation, soit parce que mes yeux, instruits parElstir á retenir précisément les éléments que j'écartaisvolontairement jadis, contemplaient longuement ce que lapremière année ils ne savaient pas voir.

Among the loveliest of Proust's descriptions is that of the

string of very young girls seen advancing along the Balbec

beach against the background of blue sea. Marcel, watching

their progress, notes at once the diversity of types, all

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Fi lles en Fleurs, II, p. 8.2 Sodome et Gomorrhe, II, p. 215.

20

beautiful, and the homogeneity of the group. The diversity

is due chiefly to the variety of individual coloring; the homo-

geneity to the perfection of the lovely young bodies. Com-

plete unity is effected by color harmony and the rhythm of

their motion.

quand (dans l'ordre dans lequel se déroulait cetensemble merveilleux parce qu'y voisinaient les aspectsles plus différents, que toutes les gammes de couleursy étaient rapprochées, mais qui était confus comme unemusique oú je n'aurais pas su isoler et reconnaître aumoment de leur passage les phrases distinguées, maisoubliées aussitot après) je voyais émerger un ovale blanc,des yeux noirs, des yeux verts, je ne savais pas si c'é-tait les mêmes, qui m'avaient déjá, apporté du charme touth l'heure, je ne pouvais pas les rapporter á telle jeunefille que j'eusse séparée des autres et reconnue. Etcette absence, dans ma vision, des démarcations quej'établirais bientôt entre elles, propageait h traversleur groupe un flottement harmonieux, la translation con-tinue d'une beauté fluide, collective et mobile.

One of these young girls, Albertine Simonet, who is one day to

have an important place in his own life, is early recognised as

the leader of the young band. Yet Marcel continues to con-

sider it as a whole, to see it "en peintres'. Here is another

glimpse:

A ce moment, comme pour chue devant la mer se multipliâten liberté, dans la varieté de ses formes, tout le richeensemble décoratif qu'était le beau déroulement desvierges h la fois dorées et roses, cuites par le soleilet par le vent, les amies d'Albertine, aux belles jambes,á la taille souple, mais si différentes les unes desautres, montrèrent leur groupe qui se développa, s'avan-çant dans notre plirection, plus près de la mer, sur uneligne paralléle.

A series of sunset effects over the sea is described during

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 84.2 Ibid., p.

21

Marcel's first sojourn at Balbec. The sunset light, or any

changing light, has a peculiar fascination for Proust, who

takes cognizance not only of his subject but its mutations.

His passion for flowers is reflected many times in his work.

Flowering trees, such as hawthorn, cherry and apple blossoms

are among the favorites. Water- lilies on the Vivonne, a

stream near Combray, and buttercups along its banks are the

subjects of exquisite bits of descriptive writing. The first

of a few citations selected describes apple -blossoms seen in

a country walk, on a showery day of Marcel's second stay at

Balbec.

des flaques d'eau que le soleil qui brillaitn'avait pas séchées faisaient du sol un vrai marécage

. Mais dés que je fus arrivé á la route ce futun éblouissement. La ou je n'avais vu - -- au moisd'août que les feuilles et comme l'emplacement despommiers, á perte de vue ils étaient en pleine floraison,d'un lux inouï, les pieds dans la boue et en toilette debal, ne prenant pas de précaution, pour ne pas gâter leplus merveilleux satin, rose qu'on eût jamais vu et quefaisait briller le soleil; l'horizon lointain de la merfournissait aux pommiers comme un arrière -plan d'estampejaponaise; si je levais la tete pour regarder le cielentre les fleurs qui faisaient paraître son bleu rassé-réné, presque violent, elles semblaient s'écarter pourmontrer la profondeur de ce paradis. Sous cet azur,une brise légère mais froide faisait trembler légèrementles bouquets rougissants. Des mésanges bleues venaientse poser sur les branches et sautaient entre les fleurs,indulgentes, comme si c'eût été un amateur d'exotisme etde couleurs qui avait artificiellement créé cette beautévivante. Mais elle touchait jusqu'aux larmes parce que,si loin qu'on allât dans ses effets d'art raffiné, onsentait qu'elle était naturelle, que ces pommiers étaientlá en pleine campagne comme des paysans, sur une granderoute de France. Puis, aux rayons de soleil succédèrentsubitement ceux de la pluie; ils zébrèrent tout l'horizon,enserrèrent la file des pommiers dans leur réseau gris.Mais ceux -ci continuaient h dresser leur beauté, fleurieet rose, dans le vent devenu glacial sous l'averse qui

22

tombait: c'était une journée de printemps.1

At a place where the Vivonne flows through an estate whose

proprietor has had made in the stream itself, "gardens' of

water -lilies, Marcel sees them repeatedly and reports his im-

pressions at length. The following is but an extract:

Comme les rives étaient á cet endroit très boisées, lesbrandes ombres des arbres donnaient á l'eau un fond quietait habituellement d'un vert sombre mais que parfois,quand nous rentrions par certains soirs rassérénés d'après -midi orageux, j'ai vu d'un bleu clair et cru, tirant surle violet, d'apparence cloisonnée et de goût japonais.e et là, á la surface, rougissait comme une fraise, unefleur de nymphéa au coeur écarlate, blanc sur les bords.Plus loin, les fleurs plus nombreuses étaient plus pales,moins lisses, plus grenues, plus plissées, et disposéespar le hasard en enroulements si gracieux qu'on croyaitvoir flotter á la dérive, comme après l'effeuillementmélancolique d'une fate galante, des roses mousseuses enguirlandes dénouées.

Although the first half of Proust's work is richer than

the second half in the type of material considered in this

chapter, such material is present in each of its eight parts.

During the war, when the absence of artificial lights alters

its twilight and nocturnal aspects, Paris furnishes Marcel

with ample material for esthetic enjoyment - an enjoyment

quite legitimate for one who is unfit for military service.

He discovers "elements of nature" in this war -time Paris ; so

that in Le Tema Retrouvé, the final portion, there is abun-

dant evidence of the hero's constant joy in the beauty of his

visible world.

1 Sodome et Gomorrhe, I. , pp. 211 -212.2 Du C té de chez Swann, I, p. 243.

23

Chapter III. Architecture and Sculpture.

Among the arts which engage the attention of Proust's

hero, architecture and sculpture have some importance; and it

is but natural that his artistic curiosity should be especially

attracted by certain medieval churches of northern France, so

typical of the French genius.

Proust's own interest in medieval architecture and sculp-

ture is attested by his long preface' to his translation of

Ruskin's "The Bible at Amiens ". There seems to be no doubt

that his enthusiasm was largely due to Ruskin's influence;

but, apart from this question, his somewhat detailed treat-

ment of the beauties of Amiens, in the preface just mentioned,

shows him to be no mere amateur.

In the novel, there are many allusions to specimens of

medieval church architecture, with some discussion of these as

examples of art. The ancient church of Saint- Hilaire, at Com-

bray, rich in associations of the town's romantic past, has,

however, an historic rather than an artistic interest. The

statues of saints in Saint -André- des -Champs, near by, remind

Marcel of persons in Combray. The resemblance between living

peasant or bourgeois types and the saints of medieval sculpture

is mentioned more than once. Proust is especially interested

1 Included in Pastiches et Mélanges, Marcel Proust; 261 éditionde la N.R.F., pp. 91 -209.

24

in the continuity of past and present - a continuity of which

the persistence of racial traits is evidence. He finds a sug-

gestion of this in Albertine, some time after meeting her at

Balbec, when the modelling of her features is at last clearly

defined. In all this Proust shows a sculptor's feeling for

the inherent quality of the individual physiognomy.

Je ne pus qu'admirer combien la bourgeoisie françaiseétait un atelier merveilleux de sculpture la plus génereuseet la plus variée. Que de types imprévus, quelle inven-tion dans le caractère des visages, quelle decision, quellefraîcheur, quelle naiveté dans les traits: Les vieuxbourgeois avares d'oú étaient issus ces Dianes et ces].nymphes me semblaient les plus grands des statuaires.

Dégagés de la vapeur rose qui les baignait, ses traitsavaient sailli comme une statue. Elle avait un autrevisage, ou plutôt elle avait enfin un visage.2

In the following description of Albertine, much later, Proust's

feeling for line and form are still more evident.

Elle s'était endormie, aussitôt couchée, ses draps rouléscomme un suaire autour de son corps avaient prist avecleurs beaux plis, une rigidité de pierre. On eut dit,comme dans certains Jugements Derniers du Moyen Age, quela tête seule, surgissait hors de la tombe, attendant dansson sommeil la trompette de l'archange. Cette tête avaitété surprise par le sommeil, presque renversée, les cheveuxhirsutes.

In the last volume of the novel, Proust's hero speaks of

his conception of certain subjects treated therein - a church,

for instance - as entities, "des individualités ", each one a

synthesis of many impressions of different examples.4 Hence

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 132.2 Le C ~oté de Guermantes, II, p. 41.3 La Prisonniere, II, p. 214.4 Le 'Lems s Retrouvé, II, p. 242.

2.5

the cathedral of Balbec may be considered as such a synthe-

sis, - a type of cathedral of the Norman Byzantine style.

This is the one example which is discussed at any length; and

the discussion deals chiefly with its sculptured ornamentation.

Another church, at Quettenholme, is mentioned, however, for

the unity and noble rhythm of the group of angels in the bas -

relief of its tympan, of which, when at last he and Albertine

see it, Marcel says:

Le tympan seul était uni, et á la surface riante de lapierre affleuraient des anges qui continuaient, devantnotre couple du XXe Siécle á célébrer, cierges en mains,les cérémonies du XIII®.

Marcel's first view of the cathedral at Balbec gives him

keen disappointment due to the discrepancy between the reality

and his preconceived idea. Swann has awakened his curiosity

by speaking of it as a fine example of the Romanesque style,

"almost Persian" in fact, and as beautiful as Sienna. Swann

has described its stained glass, representing the discovery by

fishermen of "a miraculous Christ" - an image evidently, - andits statues of the Apostles.

Situated, not on the sea, as he has imagined it, but five

miles distant from the beach, facing a little square, the termi-

nus of two lines of tramway and marred by a huge billiard sign,

Balbec cathedral suffers from its banal surroundings. In the

mood which is the outcome of this disappointment, Marcel finds

no charm in the fixed expression of the statues nor in the

1 Sodome et Gomorrhe, III, p. 776.

26

famous Virgin, which he had invested with "an intangible beauty ".

Of this statue, incrusted like the church with the same grime

as the neighboring houses, Marcel says:

c'était elle enfin l'oeuvre d'art immortelle et silongtemps désirée que je trouvais, métamorphosée ainsique l'église elle -même, en une petite vieille de pierredont je pouvais mesurer la hauteur et compter les rides.'

No doubt fatigue has contributed to the mood which prevents

Marcel from seeing those Oriental features to which Swann al-

luded. Not until he meets at Balbec -Plage a painter named

Elstir - a man with fine taste and a knowledge of medieval art,

does Marcel get any light on his failure to appreciate the near-

by church. Elstir, surprised by Marcel's confession of disap-

pointment, tells him that the portal is "the most beautiful of

historiated Bibles ". He generalizes thus:

Cette vierge et tous les bas- reliefs qui racontent sa vie,c'est l'expression la plus tendre, la plus inspirée de celong poème d'adoration et de louanges que le moyen âgedéroulera á la gloire de la Madone. Si vous saviez ácôté de l'exactitude la plus minutieuse á traduire letexte saint, quelles trouvailles de délicatesse a euesle vieux sculpteur que de profondes pensées, quelledélicieuse poesie:'

A comprehensive idea of the elaborate composition carried

out by unknown medieval sculptors is given in Elstir's summary

description. The central theme is the Assumption of the Vir-

gin; but the following are symbolized: the Eucharist on the one

hand, the end of the Old Testament on the other; the Resurrec-

tion; the last Judgment, with the celestial and the infernal

i A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 211.2 Ì b i d. , p. 128.- --

_

27

regions.

C'est fou, c'est divin, c'est mille fois supérieur átout ce que vous verrez en Italieoú ce tympan a étélittéralement copié par des sculpteurs de bien moinsde génie.

Elstir credits with greater subtilty than Redon ever achieved

the genius who conceived "cette vaste vision céleste, ce gi-

gantesque poéme théologique. "2 He explains also the avenue

of statues which represent, those on one side the ancestors

of Jesus according to the flesh, those on the other the ances-

tors according to the spirit. He informs Marcel that certain

portions are of purely Oriental character: for example,

un chapiteau reproduit si exactement un sujetpersan, que la persistance des traditions orientales nesuffit pas á l'expliquer. Le sculpteur a du copierquelque coffret apporté par des navigateurs.3

Elstir produces a photograph of one such, on which are repre-

sented "des dragons quasi chinois qui se dévoraient." But

this "morceau" had escaped Marcel's attention because, as he

says, the ensemble of the monument did not correspond to what

the words "église presque persane" had suggested to him.

On various occasions, Marcel experiences disappointment

such as attended his first visit to the church at Balbec.

In each case, Proust shows how inevitably one's impression of

a work of art is merged in accompanying impressions, or its

character determined by reactions set up by images previously

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 129.2 Ibid., p.3 Ibid., p. 130.

28

formed in the beholder's mind. However complex his analysis

may be, Proust's fidelity to the truth of actual experience,

gives validity to all that response to esthetic appeal which

plays so important a part in the inner life of his hero.

29

Chapter IV. Painting.

The reconstruction of a period which, characterized by

rapid change, bore rich fruit in literature and art: this is

an essential part of Proust's purpose. As the supremacy of

French painters in his time is generally recognized, it is

necessary here to emphasize only the importance of their a-

chievement as innovators. They developed a new technique;

but, what is still more significant, they revealed to their

own generation a fresh point of view toward the visible world.

It is with this latter aspect of contemporary painting that

Proust deals.

This is not to say that his interest in painting is lim-

ited to his time or to the work of the French school; but

since his treatment of the painting of certain old masters is

incidental rather than direct, its consideration here will be

very brief. It consists chiefly of mere allusions and com-

parisons, scattered throughout the work; and these are so

numerous that to trace them is beyond the scope of this study,

even if it were not for the fact that each is so related to

some other field of interest as to have little significance

apart from that. In the aggregate, however, these allusions

have importance. It is worth noting, certainly, that so

many of the painters frequently mentioned are identified with

either the Venetian or the Dutch school, both of which may be

30

said to stand in the light of forbears of Impressionism - a

name which in Proust's day included practically all of the

modern painters to whose work he alludes. Titian, Veronese,

Giorgione, Rembrandt, Vermeer, - all are pre - eminent as color-

ists. In their rendering of humid atmosphere shot through

with light, the Venetian and the Dutch schools surpassed allothers, prior to modern times; it is in this that their direct

influence upon the Impressionists is seen.From the standpoint of technique, the work of two other

painters mentioned by Proust represents an influence even more

direct, - Watteau and Turner, great colorists both, and each

in his own country an example of genius practically isolated.

Watteau obtained some of his richest effects by a masterlyuse of a pure color, juxtaposed with its complementary color.

Turner carried the use of pure color even farther; and in his

later work, painted in a "higher key ", - that is, with a scale

of values involving the use of lighter, more brilliant colors

than had been used up to that time. The two painters who

perhaps best exemplified the principles of Impressionism,

Monet and Pissarro, went to England to study Turner's pictures, -

a fact which is mentioned merely in support of the statement

that his influence was direct.

Benozzo Gozzoli, a Florentine, and Carpaccio and Veronese,

Venetians, are among the painters for whom Marcel shows a

strong predilection. It is the pageant, having sometimes a

religious subject, but always a Tuscan or a Venetian setting,which appeals to him. Proust's readers can hardly fail to be

31

struck with the similarity of these gorgeous scenes to his

elaborate accounts of such social gatherings as the fête giv-

en by the princesse de Guermantes, which he compares, in fact,

to a picture by Veronese or Carpaccio.1 That Proust uses the

latter for illustrative purposes as well will be shown in the

discussion of modern painting.

Certain works by the great Florentines, Giotto and

Botticelli are introduced, each for a special purpose; in that

of Botticelli, it is a certain figure, a detail in one of his

paintings, which Proust uses as a motivating factor in an e-

motional experience in Swann's life. This will be discussed

in the next chapter. Giotto's frescoes in the Arena Chapel

at Padua are the basis of two features of Proust's method: the

psychological analysis of first impressions (so often distort-

ed) of a work of art; and the re- appearance, toward the close

of his novel, of some element introduced in its opening volume.

This latter is one of the means by which its unity is sus-

tained.

Among some reproductions of masterpieces which Swann

brings back from Italy to Marcel, in Combray, is a series of

photographs of Giotto's "Virtues" and "Vices". In spite of

the admiration Swann professed for these symbolic figures, for

a long time the little boy gets no pleasure from them. He is

quick to see a resemblance, suggested by Swann himself, between

1 Sodome et Gomorrhe, I, p. 23.

32

their kitchen -maid, pregnant at the time, and "ces vierges,

fortes et hommasses, matrones plutôt, dans lesquelles les

vertues sont personifiées á 1'Aréna ".1 Then he adds:

Mais plus tard, j'ai compris que l'étrangeté saisissante,la beauté spéciale de ces fresques tenait á la grandeplace que le symbole y occupait, et que le fait qu'ilfut représenté non comme un symbole puisque la penséesymbolisée n'était pas exvrimée, mais comme réel, commeeffectivement subi ou materiellement manié, donnait á lasignification de l'oeuvre quelque chose de plus littéralet de plus précis, h son enseigne .ent quelque chose deplus concret et de plus frappant.

Then, in after years, Marcel visits Venice, he runs up to Padua,

to see the frescoes. A mere allusion to his first acquaintance

with them recalls the episode to Proust's reader. It is still

his own impression that Marcel gives; only a portion is cited:

j'entrai dans la chapelle des Giotto oú la voûteentière et les fonds des fresques sont si bleus qu'ilsemble que la radieuse journée ait passé le seuil, elleaussi, avec le visiteur et soit venue un instant mettreá l'ombre et au frais son ciel pur, á peine un peu plusfoncé d'etre débarrassé de dorures de la lumière.3

Proust's general purpose with regard to the introduction

of many allusions to Renaissance painters is to build up grad-

ually a background for his hero; with a great economy of means,

this background is precisely that appropriate to the assimila-

tion of modern painting, which, beginning at Balbec, is to con-

tinue, both there on a second visit, and at Paris, for many

years.

Proust's ingenuity in weaving new elements into his enormous

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 120.2 Ibid., p. 121.3 Albertine Disparue, II, p. 145.

composition is well illustrated by his introduction of the paint-

er Elstir. On the train going to Balbec, Marcel becomes absorb-

ed in the Letters of Madame de Sévigné; of these he says:

Na grand'mbre m'avait appris N, en aimer les vraiesbeautés . Elles devaient bientôt me frapper d'autantplus que Mme. de Sévigné est une grande artiste de la meurefamille, qu'un peintre que j'allais rencontrer á Balbec etqui eut une influence si profonde sur ma vision des choses,Elstir. Je me rendis compte a Balbec que c'est de la meinefaçon que lui, qu'elle nous présente les choses, dans l'ordrede nos perceptions, au lieu de les expliquer d'abord parleur cause.

This is precisely what Proust himself does.

is with the impression and its mutations.

It has been shown how through the artistic sensibility of

his hero, Proust first brings in important elements of beauty

to be observed in the Balbec milieu; but with the introduction

of Elstir, he enlarges his means at once, by transforming these

same elements; as works of art they may be analysed in new

terms. Moreover, Proust establishes a logical basis for the

consideration of many "subjects" from the painter's angle.

Through this very process, theories of the Impressionist school

are brought out and, under the guise of Elstir's successive

"manners ", a variety of qualities, corresponding in fact, to that

personal element which distinguishes the work of certain of its

exponents.

Many pages are devoted to the hero's education in contempo-

rary art, and new aspects of nature revealed therein. Neverthe-

less, this is made incidental and at the same time vital to the

His chief concern

,i A l'Ombre des Jeunes Pilles en Fleurs, I, p. 205.

34

author's general aim: the reproduction of a period which,

characterized by rapid change, bore such rich fruit in liter-

ature, music, and the plastic arts.

Fully aware that the startling break with the past which

Impressionism made in its day, would be gradually obliterated

by the perspective of time, Proust makes his hero, recording

all this at a subsequent period, pause to remark that certain

laws which Elstir was the first to discover were verified lat-

er by photography. He then makes this generalization: "Dans

la mesure oú l'art met en lumière certaines lois, une fois

qu'une industrie les a vulgarisées l'art antérieur perd rétro-

spectivement son originalité. -

An analysis of those qualities in Elstir's painting which

constitute his originality, gives as their basis a metamorphosis0

of things represented - a procedure somewhat analogous to meta-

phor in poetry. This may be accomplished in various ways, all

calculated to force the beholder to follow the very process by

which the painter translates a visual impression directly into

the language of painting, - his aim being to eliminate from

the beholder's mind all attempt to explain this impression by

any intellectual process, even that of naming objects represent-

ed. For, as Marcel puts it, "Les noms qui désignent les

choses répondent toujours h une notion de l'intelligence, é-

trangère á nos impressions véritables et qui nous force á

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 126.

35

éliminer d'elles tout ce qui ne se rapporte pas á cette notion.'

The means used may be the merging of the elements in a

picture by conferring upon one of them the qualities of an-

other. This much of Impressionism Marcel has already master-

ed. Previous to meeting Elstir, while comparing various sun-

set effects seen from his window at Balbec, he expressed a pre-

ference:

J'avais plus de plaisir les soirs oú un navire absorbé etfluidifie par l'horizon tellement de la même couleur quelui, ainsi que dans une toile apparaissait impressioniste,qu'il semblait aussi de la même matière, comme si on n'eutfait que découper son avant, et les cordages en lesquelselle s'éait amincie et filigranée dans le bleu vaporeauxdu ciel.

The steamer had lost its separate existence, to become identifi-

ed with the ocean at its apparent edge, - had lost those proper-

ties of bulk and solidity inseparable from the concept for

which its name stands. Hence these are eliminated, and the

object, endowed with other qualities, has taken on a new sig-

nificance such as Elstir, through his art, seeks to reveal.

An example of "substitution" - and this involves still an-

other step - is the "Port de Carquethuite "-wherein a union of

elements is effected through a sort of reciprocity. Earth and

sea are merged in the beholder's mind, not only by the obliter-

ation of all lines of demarcation, but by investing each of these

elements with the characteristics of the other. These two prin-

ciples are carried out at many points, by means of the ingenious

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 123.2 Ìbid., p. 97.

juxtaposition of ships and houses, so that masts of ships an-

chored behind a row of houses on a narrow neck of land rise a-

bove them like spires or chimneys, while across the water, the

towers of a distant town, itself invisible, seem to rise from

the waves. By the use of aerial perspective, optical illusionE

and the apparent transference of physical qualities noted above,

the life of town and habor are so combined as to result in "cett

multiforme et puissante unité"1 which Elstir's admirers feel

without analysing, perhaps. By thus indicating that the paint-

er's methods are not too obvious, Proust allays any question in

the reader's mind as to the merits of a picture with so much de-

tail, and so many effects of light, due to a clearing sky.

Later, when the treatment of this type of subject, combin-

ing boats and houses, is discussed, an interesting comparison

is made with the Venetian painters, Carpaccio in particular,

with the observation that the heavy, sea -going boats shown in

scenes of pageants, such as Carpaccio painted, have an archi-

tectural quality and that this seems to unite them with the

edifices alongside of which they are drawn up.

The description of yet another canvas illustrates more

clearly the painter's selection of a subject in which one im-

portant element is practically obliterated and its identity

restored by the presence of an object invariably associated

with it. In this picture, the perfect reflection of rose -

colored granite cliffs in the waters of an inlet appears to

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 124.

37

be but a continuation of these; but gulls wheeling overhead

suggest its real character and establish in the beholder's

mind, its connection with the sea beyond.

The discussion of many subjects which Elstir has painted

or which he points out to Marcel, brings out first one and

then another of the personal qualities of the various Impres-

sionist painters. "Monet and his cathedrals come instantly to

mind when one learns that Elstir loves those morning mists in

which stone assumes the same quality and becomes "aussi vaporeuse

que l' ombre. "1 Again it is of Monet that one thinks when Marcel

speaks of a painting of cliffs with the architectural quality of

a cathedral. Their arches painted on a day of torrid heat are

thus described:

peints par un jour torride, ils (les arceux) sem-blaient réduits en poussibre, volatilisés par la chaleur,laquelle avait á demi bu la mer, presque passée, danstoute l'entendue de la toile, h l'état gazeux. Dans cejour oú la lumière avait comme détruit la réalité, celle -ci était concentrée dans des créatures sombres et trans-parentes qui par contraste donnaient une impregsion devie plus saisissante, plus proche: les ombres.

These, he says, are "blue shadows." The effects of both light

and shade here are entirely characteristic of Monet.

Renoir's pictures of groups of yachtsmen and ladies in

yachting costume are so well known that there can be little

question that Proust had this painter in mind when the beauty

of such subjects as these, regattas, etc., is discussed, or the

race course of which Elstir says:

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Pilles en Fleurs, II, p. 127.2 Ibid., p. 180.

_.__ .___

38

il y avait des femmes d'une extrême élégance, dansune lumiere humide, hollandaise, oú l'on sentait .onterdans le soleil même le froid pénétrante de l'eau.

Or, another scene on the race course might, as described by

Elstir, have been painted by Degas; a scene in which the jock-

eys' caps and the horses' blankets make brilliant spots of

color. A remarkable description of a water -color portrait,

an example of Elstir's earliest work, might serve for a por-

trait by Whistler or Manet; one is at a loss to decide between

them. This bears the date 1872. Proust may easily have had

both painters in mind. His hero states that Elstir's first

manner belonged to the period in which Whistler and Manet were

painting portraits of models now forgotten.2

More than one direct reference is made to each of the

painters mentioned here; Monet in particular. His famous

series of water -lilies and his paintings of cathedrals are

discussed by Mme. de Cambremer and others, as well as his

various manners, evidence of an evolution in his taste.3

This evolution in Elstir's painting may be considered as

typical of the evolution of Impressionism itself. A similar

change in individual taste and public opinion follows. Both

the painter's progress and the recognition of its several

stages are reflected at many points. Only their general

trend can be traced here.

The first effect of Elstir's painting upon Marcel having

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 178.2 Ibid., p. 148..3 Sodome et Gomorrhe, II, 29, 30 -31.

39

been to reveal the meaning of things, he is next aware of a

reaction:

maintenant, au contraire, c'était l'originalité,la séduction de ces peintures qui excitait mon désir etce que je voulais surtout voir, c'était d'autres tableauxd'Elstir.l

He has in mind certain pictures in the possession of H. de Guer-

mantes, and he eventually sees them in the Guermantes' Paris

house, where he is one of several guests. At this time Elstir's

recent work is not understood by any of the "gens du monde" -

not even by the clever IJrme. de Guermantes; but it is precisely

the most extreme examples in this collection that are of primary

interest to Marcel. He sees in them the greatest fidelity to

truth, because here, as he says,

Elstir tachait d'arracher á ce qu'il venait de sentir cequ'il savait, son effort avait souvent été de dissoudrgcet agrégat de raisonnements que nous appelons vision.

In the same house, long afterwards, Marcel is looking at

some Elstir drawings. The painter is now the fashion; but

Mme. de Guermantes' regret over having given so many of his

pictures to her cousin is sincere; Marcel says, "elle les

goûtait maintenant. "3 Their price is now prohibitive; so she

cannot buy bthers. Mme. Verdurin, on the other hand, who has

been for years among Elstir's ardent admirers, has begun long

since to feel her enthusiasm waning. His painting now seems

to her to be lacking in "relief de personnalité." "Il y a de

1 Le Côté de Guermantes, II, p. 112.2 Ibid., p. 101.3 Albertine Disparue, II, p. 47.

40

tout le monde lá- dedans, dit- elle. "1 Yet it is at "La Ras -

peliere ", a place near Balbec, which the Verdurins have leas-

ed, that Marcel has seen other pictures by Elstir; it is near

there that he has studied subjects treated by the painter.

Taken together, studies still in Elstir's possession and

the Verdurin and Guermantes collections furnish examples of

his every manner and type of subject, including the "mytholog-

ical manner" ( "A Youth and a Centaur "), still -life, flower -

studies, and portraits.

In the last volume but one, we learn of the death of M.

Verdurin:

en qui (le peintre Elstir) voyait disparaître, lesyeux, le cerveau, qui avaient eu de sa peinture la visionla glus juste, oú cette peinture á l'état de souveniraime, résidait en quelque sorte. (Les jeunes gens)n'avaient bas comme Swann, comme M. Verdurin, reçu des le-çons de gout de Whistler, des leçons de vérité de Monet,leur permettant de juger Elstir avec justice ce futpour lui comme un peu de la beauté de son oeuvre quis'éclipsait avec un peu de ce qui existait dans l'universde conscience de cette beauté.

At last the Luxembourg Gallery, which exhibits only the work of

living men, includes that of Elstir.

The fact that an original genius must so long remain incom-

prehensible to his own generation is emphasized frequently by

Proust. He says in a preface to Tendres Stocks, by Paul

Morand, "Quand Renoir commence de peindre, on ne reconnaissait

pas les choses qu'il montrait. "3

1 Sodome et Gomorrhe, II, p. 204.2 Le Temps Retrouvé, I, p. 105.3 Cited by Roger Alard, in Les Arts Plastiques, dans l' Oeuvre deMarcel Proust, in Les Cahiers de Marcel Proust, N. R. P. p. 218.

41

Proust's evident intention to embody in Elstir several

painters and as many phases of Impressionism is well express-

ed in the following:

Quand on a été épris d'un peintre, puis d'un autre, onpeut á la fin avoir pour tout le musse une admirationqui n'est pas glaciale, car elle est faite d'amours suc-cessives, chacune exclusive en son tempslet qui á la finse sont mises bout á bout et conciliées.

1 La Pri sonni ére, I, p. 84.

42

Chapter V. Esthetic Basis of Swann's Sexual Emotion.

In his remarkable study of love and jealousy entitled Un

Amour de Swann, Proust shows to what extent the artistic sensi-

bility, given a temperament like Swann's, may contribute to

the development of a passionate love which would seem to have

no basis in physical attraction. So far from responding to

an appeal of this nature, Swann is at first almost repelled by

Mme. de Crécy, a person "presque du demi monde ", who having

passed her first youth is somewhat faded and of a langourous

type, moreover, the opposite of that which has hitherto awak-

ened his desire. That he falls in love with her, notwith-

standing, is made comprehensible, in the light of the psycho-

logical process involved. Two important factors operating

through Swann's artistic consciousness are: a certain musical

phrase in a modern sonata, and a fancied resemblance between

Odette de Crécy and one of the figures in a painting by Botti-

celli. It is Proust's use of these elements that will be

traced briefly, in their relation to successive emotional

stages: in the development of Swann's love and its intensifi-

cation by jealousy; in the anguish of disillusionment.

Swann's enthusiasm for art has found its outlet in col-

lecting antiques and pictures; but he once studied painting

with the idea of devoting his life to that. Natural indolence

explains his failure to make use of exceptional gifts. He has

43

been working in a desultory manner on an essay on Vermeer of

Delft, for the completion of which he should have to visit

collections in various cities in order to examine further the

work of this great painter. The fact that he has given up

so much time to society is one result of this indolence; but

its effect has been to keep his mind occupied with trivial

matters, to the exclusion of any desire, such as he once felt,

to penetrate to the heart of reality.

A year previous to meeting Odette, Swann experienced,

through the rebirth of his inherent idealism, a sort of rejuve-

nation, by means of which his mind was prepared for a new ven-

ture in life. The occasion of this miracle was a new, strange

revelation of beauty through music, of which Swann had, at that

time, little knowledge. At a soirée, he heard a musical com-

position written for violin and piano, wherein a certain re-

current phrase, became gradually distinguishable. It pene-

trated to his inmost soul, to awaken a new joy and revive an

old longing to devote himself to some high endeavor. This

is how Proust describes its effect upon him:

Elle (la phrase) lui avait proposé aussitôt des voluptésparticulieres, dont il n'avait jamais eu l'idée avant del'entendre, dont il sentait chue rien autre qu'elle nepourrait les lui faire connaître, et il avait éprouvépour elle comme un amour inconnu. D'un rhythme lent,elle le dirigeait ici d'abord, puis 1h, puis ailleurs,vers un bonheur noble, inintelligible et précis.l

Before it disappeared entirely, the little phrase, in a

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, 1, p. 301.

44

new movement, brought a suggestion of melancholy, of the un-

known.

Owing to circumstances, Swann was unable, at the time, to

learn anything of the work, except that it was new. The musi-

cal phrase had persisted in his memory, with a longing whose

object is thus personified:

une passante qu'il a apperçue un moment sansqu'il sache seulement s'il pourra revoir jamais cellequ'il aime déjá et dont il ignore jusqu'au nom.l

It is only when, after many futile efforts to identify the

music, Swann hears it again, unexpectedly, that the author goes

back to his introduction to the sonata and furnishes the expla-

nation just outlined. By this means, with something like the

effect of an "inset" in the silent moving picture, he prepares

the ground for a radical change in Swann's emotional life.

Yot only does he bind together the two episodes and bridge the

interval of time by beginning Swann's reaction to this second

hearing of the sonata with an impression similar to that which

ended the first, but in these two passages, so juxtaposed, he

indicates the eventual direction of Swann's emotional excita-

tion; this he achieves by striking the exact note in what has

been termed the "Wagnerian leit -motif of his (Swann's) liaison

with Odette. "2

It is at the Verdurin's where, as one of "the little clan" -

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 302.2 Cited by Dyneley Hussey, in M. Vinteuil's Sonata, in An EnglueTribute, collected by C. K. Scott- Moncrieff, p. 119.

45

composed of Mme. Verdurin's devotees - Odette has the privi-

lege of introducing him - that Swann, listening to the sonata,

recognizes it, by means of the little phrase, as the composi-

tion heard the year before. He now learns that it is a recent

work by Vinteuil, a composer almost unknown to the general pub-

lic, but hailed as a genius by musicians of a certain modern

school.

Proust's method of weaving this little motif in and out

of the drama of Swann's love can be traced only in its general

aspects, by following the important stages in his emotion, as

these are found to correspond to its esthetic stimulus. That

this stimulus is reinforced by one belonging likewise to the

realm of art but emanating from a totally different source,

has been suggested.

Swann now joins the Verdurin group regularly, after dinner;

his appearance soon comes to be the signal for the playing of

a piano arrangement of the sonata; and Mine. Verdurin, by plac-

ing Odette at his side, includes her in this special privi-

lege. These two are thus set apart in a manner which his in-

variable practice of taking her home in his carriage defines

more sharply still. Yet he is careful to preserve a certain

realm of apparent indifference, by not exceeding this limit in

the disposition of his time.

For Swann and for the others, doubtless, the little phrase

is no longer a thing apart; it now includes both Odette and

himself, seeming to unite them with its smile, in which,

46

nevertheless, there is a suggestion of disillusion, of regret.

Frequently, Swann arrives just in time to hear "notre mor-

ceau" as Odette calls the little phrase; and those portions of

the sonata in which it does not appear are omitted. Immedi-

ately afterward, Swann departs accompanied by Odette, with a

sense of something akin to exclusive possession.

This is the point perhaps where Swann's story most nearlyapproaches the banal: the portion in which its emotional ele-

ments seem to be supported by mere sentimentality. Before

lifting it from this sort of dead level, Proust exhibits fur-

ther Odette's mediocrity by means of her "personal" surround-

ings. A somewhat studied exotic atmosphere pervades her small

house in a quiet street. Yet Swann feels nothing false in this;

it appeals to him as an expression of Odétte's personality. At

this stage she gives Swann repeatedly, assurance that he has at-

traction for her.

Swann's fancy for seeing in persons about him resemblances

to figures in well -known pictures is mentioned many times.

This has always seemed to satisfy a sense of obligation toward

the masters he loved - as though the discovery of living repre-

sentatives of types which they had created gave these latter

the stamp of authenticity. He considered that his recognition

of conformity to any type famous in a work of art conferred up-

on an individual rare distinction. Now, as if in response to

his yearning to find beauty in Odette, she is thus glorified

in his eyes.

47

Clad in a mauve négligée of soft clinging stuff, her loos-

ened hair following the curve of her neck, with one knee bent,

as she leans forward to examine a picture which Swann has

brought, Odette remihds him suddenly of the figure of Zipporahl

in Botticelli' s fresco, illustrating the Life of Moses, in the

Sistine Chapel. The discovery brings him a deep satisfaction.

He now substitutes for his former image of her this new one, in

which there appears something of the fresco itself.

un fragment de la fresque apparaissait dans sonvisage et dans son corps, que dés lors il chercha toujoursá y retrouver, soit qu'il fût auprés d'Odette, soit qu'ilpensât seulement á elle, et bien qu'il ne tint sans douteau chef -d'oeuvre florentin que parce qu'il le retrouvaiten elle, pourtant cette ressemblance lui congérait á elleaussi une beauté, la rendait plus précieuse.

Now that her person contains that which satisfies his taste

in art, Swann is able to justify his love for Odette; but this

esthetic basis, the thing that represents to him Odette's au-

thentic valuet,is evidence merely of the subjective nature of

his love - of his power to live independent of external signs.

This he is able to do while the glamour of all that transcends

Odette's actual qualities is supplied by his esthetic conscious-

ness. Because this is not always the case, his love is incon-

stant; there are moments when he regrets all that he has sacri-

ficed for such inadequate return. But the little phrase, each

time that he hears it, has the power to detach his spirit from

considerations exterior to itself; to create a state of mind

i Zipporah, the wife of roses; Exodus II, 21; IV, 20.2 Du C©té de chez Swann, II, p. 15.

48

comparable to ecstasy but implicit with that sense of a need,

unsatisfied " cette soif d'un bonheur inconnu ", so potent in

youth (Swann is no longer young) to stir its innate idealism.

With each renewal, in Swann, of a vague desire, the little

phrase continues to supply the idealistic elements necessary

to satisfy it. The habit of associating this satisfaction

with his love becomes fixed during months in which Swann sees

Odette each evening at the Verdurin's or at some café in the

Champs- Elysés or the Bois de Boulogne, where the little phrase

is played by' request. He continues to take her home, remain-

ing with her frequently until a late hour. The first time this

practice is interrupted through the intervention of Mme. Verdurin,

jealousy becomes an important element - one destined to gain as-

cendancy over all else in Swann's love. Several incidents ap-

parently trivial, have given birth to this; circumstances now

contribute to its development. It is necessary to mention on-

ly the following. A new member of the Verdurin coterie, M. de

Forcheville, finds Odette attractive. At first this stirs in

Swann, a certain pride; but he soon surprises in Odette a gleam

of understanding and unspoken approval of Forcheville,then dis-

covers her in a falsehood, as to which he remains silent, con-

tinuing to visit her at her house or taking her to dine with

him at some café, since he is no longer invited by and Yme.

Verdurin to join them.

Increasingly, they monopolize Odette; and Swann's existence

becomes one of constant anguish, partially assuaged while he is

49

with her, but augmented, in her absence, by torturing questions

as to how she spends her time.

As a component part of Swann's emotion, jealousy has thisin common with the esthetic elements already discussed: like

them it is involved in Proust's theory of the subjective nature

of passionate love, in support of which he develops the idea

that love, turned into suffering through jealousy, is intensi-

fied; that not only does it persist independent of any evidence

of reciprocal feeling, but it increases in proportion as this

decreases. If jealousy, then, has such contributive and sus-

taining power, where love is concerned, once this gains suffi-

cient momentum, it can dispense with idealization of its ob-ject. Hence Proust is most logical in allowing the esthetic

stimuli to subside while jealousy is in the ascendancy. Its

culmination, or turning -point is marked by the reappearance of

the Vinteuil sonata. In Swann's psychological response to

the little phrase there is a definite change, both as regards

the direction of his mental process and the final revelationwhich comes through his deeper comprehension of the work it-

self.

The setting for this complex inner drama is elaborate;

and Proust's mastery over his material is shown in the way he

brings out its essential features - first making clear the

situation between Swann and Odette. In proportion as her

presence becomes essential to Swann's peace of mind, his pow-

er to command her time lessens; this is due to a new timidity

5.0

on his part in the face of increasing independence on hers.

The conditions so skillfully assembled for this introduc-

tion of the Vinteuil sonata are briefly these: after exacting

from his friend, the Baron de Charlus, a promise to spend the

evening with Odette, Swann, his mind temporarily eased of its

pain, appears at a large soirée given by Mme. Saint -Euvert.

As he passes up the stairs, after other guests have assembled

below, he encounters only a row of liveried servants - some

unusual types among them. Swann's imagination, stirred to

perform its old tricks, turns out a startling series of resem-

blances - all of which gives him, as he returns to his old

milieu, somewhat of the detachment of a spectator. This im-

pression, dispelled while he mingles with the guests in the

brief interval preceding the concert arranged for the evening's

entertainment, is revived with the cessation of talk when the

music begins. Swann's thoughts now free, return to Odette.

In the midst of these people, his sense of the separation be-

tween him and them is painfully defined for him; it consists

of their inability to regard his love as anything but a piece

of folly.A new number of the program has just begun and Swann, un-

able to escape from this stupid, uncomprehending company, recog-

nizes the opening notes of the little phrase; the climax of his

emotional drama follows.

In this portrayal of all that Swann feels and thinks while

the sonata continues, Proust displays at their best, his unique

51

powers. The bare outline of it here can but indicate a se-

quence in its development and something of its range. One

or two citations are included to show the exactitude of his

analysis, the depth and subtlety of his penetration. He first

invokes memory; then, once more, that sense, akin to mysticism,

of a personal message in the little phrase.

It is that happiness, in the early days of his love that

is now present to Swann's mind. To show how immediate, how

complete is this evocation, the following citation is given:

Au lieu des expressions abstraites "temps oú j'étaisheureux ", "temps oú j'étais aim ", qu'il avait souventprononcées jusque -lá et sans trop souffrir, car son in-telligence n'y avait enfermé du passé que de prétendusextraits qui n'en conservaient rien, il retrouva toutce qui de ce bonheur perdu avait fixe á jamais la spé-cifique et volatile essence;

Certain tokens, preserved as the symbols of Odette's love, to-

kens which he has not lately had the courage to look upon, are

recalled as he listens. His anguish increases until at last,

confronting his old happiness, Swann is stirred with pity as

though it were for someone else.

Suddenly, his despair, the sense of isolation are banished

by the little phrase, implicit for Swann, with sympathetic un-

derstanding like that of a friend who, as the confidante of his

love, knows its intrinsic worth. In contrast to the people

surrounding him, who place it on a level below that of conven-

tional life, he sees it now infinitely above this. As his

love is dignified, his personal suffering sinks to comparative

'l Du Côté de chez Swann, II, pp. 183 -184.

52

insignificance; and in the little phrase he now finds "la

grâce d'une résignation presque gaie. "1

It is in Proust's use of poetic images that the beauty

of each of its evocations consists. The following will il-

lustrate:

Comme si les instrumentistes, beaucoup moins jouaient lapetite phrase qu'ils n'exécutaient les rites exigés d'ellepour qu'elle apparût, et procédaient aux incantationsnécessaires pour obtenir et prolonger quelques instantsle prodige de son évocation, Swann, qui ne pouvait pasplus la voir que si elle avait appartenu á un monde ultra-violet, et qui goûtait comme le rafraîchissement d'unemétamorphose dans la cécité momentanée dont il étaitfrappé en approchant d'elle, Swann la sentait présente,comme une déesse protectrice et confidente de son amour,et qui pour pouvoir arriver jusqu'h lui devant la fouleet l'emmener h l'écart pour lui parler avait revêtu ledéguisement de cette apparence sonore.'

On this occasion, Swann now passes beyond the sense of

his own anguish to lose himself in the beauty of this musical

phrase - so complete, so inevitable. Thinking of Vinteuil,

whose actual sorrow is unknown to him, he realizes that only

through suffering could he have achieved such god -like power.

The analysis that follows is of the music itself as Swann now

comprehends it.

The result of this experience is not healing, but percep-

tion of the truth that Odette's love will never revive. That

his own persists as long as his jealousy endures is consistent

with Proust's theory already stated. Odette's presence suf-

fices to stimulate, alternately, tenderness and suspicion,

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, II, p. 188.2 Ibid., p. 187.

53

which finally subside as a result of her long and repeated ab-

sences from Paris.

Many years later, in Paris, Mme. Swann, once Odette de

Crécy, plays the Vinteuil sonata to the boy, Marcel, who be-

cause he is hearing it for the first time, is unable to under-

stand it. To Swann, sitting by, it recalls, not his love, but

many things associated with it: nightfall under the trees where,

as he tells Marcel, "les arpèges du violon font tomber la frai-

cheur"; moonlight, "le côté statique du clair de lune, qui est

le côté essentiel"; leaves, still, in the moonlight. The

little phrase now sums up that springtime which he was too un-

happy to enjoy as he listened to it in some café under the trees.

Aside from the interest of this evocation, through the sub-

conscious memory, of impressions received almost without his be-

ing aware of them, the occurrence symbolizes perfectly Swann's

relation to the woman he married after ceasing to love her.

It is no longer Odette herself that the little phrase recalls.

54

Chapter VI. Music.

The successive steps in Marcel's musical education are

not recorded as is the case with painting. From the time

when he first hears Vinteuil's little phrase until his emo-

tional life is thrown out of balance in his liaison with Al-

bertine, esthetic satisfaction is found chiefly in visible

beauty, in nature or in art. Proust revives the little

phrase in this relationship with Albertine, but not as a moti-

vating factor. It is, rather, reminiscent of Swann's affair,

but with the recognition of a difference in its relation to

common experience in which suffering is inseparable from love.

When his own experience also is a closed chapter, he says, "Ce

n'était pas tout á fait les mames associations d'idées chez

moi que chez Swann, que la petite phrase avait éveil14es.1

Yet when Marcel's mind is temporarily at rest about Al-

bertine, he turns to the sonata with the eagerness of a real

music- lover, to be carried along by its mysterious charm.

This is what Swann did not do. Armand Dandieu says that the

latter never attained a real comprehension of music.2 His en-

joyment of it came too late for that; and he died without hear-

ing Vinteuil's septuor, which is the complete expression of

1 Albertine Dig crue, II, p. 10.2 Marcel Proust, sa Révélation psycholog ue, p. 113.

55

his genius. It is through this composition that Marcel reach-

es the greatest height of esthetic experience and through this,

intimations of the supra -terrestrial.

Proust's originality in describing first the sonata, then

the septuor, consists in the great variety and beauty of his

images - dynamic at times, with a suggestion of movement. It

is, of course, the listener's impression, a purely psychologi-

cal one, which Proust is recording. A few extracts from much

longer accounts of what the little phrase had called up in

Swann's imagination are added to those in the preceding chap-

ter, to show how totally different in character are these im-

pressions from Marcel's, as he listens for the first time to

Vinteuïl's septuor.

D'abord, il n'avait goûté que la qualité matérielle dessons sécrétés par les instruments. Et ç'avait déjá étéun grand plaisir quand au- dessous de la petite ligne duviolon mince, résistante, dense et directrice, il avaitvu tout d'un coup chercher á s'élever en un clapotementliquide, la masse de la partie de piano, multiforme, in-divise, plane et entrechoquée comme la mauve agitationdes flots que charme et bemolise le clair de lune. Maisá un moment donné, sans pouvoir nettement distinguer uncontour, donner un nom á ce qui lui plaisait, charmétout d'un coup, il avait cherché á recueillir la phraseou l'harmonie - il ne savait lui -même - qui passait etqui lui avait ouvert plus largement l'ame, comme cer-taines odeurs de roses circulant dans l'air humide dusoir ont la propriété de dilater nos narines.'

Or, quelques minutes á peine après que le petit pianisteavait commencé de jouer chez Mme. Verdurin, tout d'uncoup après une note haute lonçuement tenue pendant deuxmesures, il vit approcher, s'echappant de sous cettesonorité prolongée et tendue comme un rideau sonore pourcacher le rnystbre de son incubation, il reconnut, secrète,

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 299.

56

bruissante et divisée, la phrase aérienne et odorantequ'il aimait.'

Sous l'agitation des trémolos de violon qui la proté-geaient de leur tenue frémissante á deux octaves de lá -

et comme dans un pays de montagne, derrière l'immobilitéapparente et vertigineuse d'une cascade, on aperçoit,deux cents pieds plus bas, la forme minuscule d'une pro-meneuse - la petite phrase venait d'apparattre, lointaine,gracieuse, protégée par le long déferlement du rideautransparent, incessant et sonore.2

Il (l'air) commençait par la tenue des trémolos de violonque pendant quelques mesures on entend seuls, occupanttout le premier plan, puis tout d'un coup ils semblaients'écarter et comme dans ces tableaux de Pieter de Hooch,qu'approfondit le cadre étroit d'une porte entr'ouverte,tout au loin, d'une couleur autre, dans le velouté d'unelumière interposée, la petite phrase apparaissait,dansante, pastorale, intercalée, épisodique, appartenantá un autre monde.3

The last image recalls, to anyone familiar with the work of

this Dutch painter, a cool interior beyond which is a vista

into yet another room flooded with brilliant sunlight.

Elements of the sonata are embodied in the septuor, a

far more ambitious work; and as he listens to this for the

first time, parcel's familiarity with the earlier composi-

tion enables him to keep their respective elements distinct

and to note at once the contrast between their qualities.

For the septuor contains elements of its own, combined at

times with those of the sonata.

Tandis que la sonate s'ouvrait sur une aube liliale etchampêtre, divisant sa candeur légère pour se suspendreá l'emmêlement léger et pourtant consistant d'un berceaurustique de chevrefeuilles sur des géranéums blancs,c'était sur des surfaces unies et planes comme celle de

1 Du Côté de chez Swann, I, p. 304.2 Ibid., p. 71.3 Ibid., p. 313.

_.._ ._.._.

(57

la mer que, par un matin d'orage dé j á tout empourpré, com-mengait au milieu d'un aigre silence, dans un vide in-fini, l'oeuvre nouvelle, et c'est dans un rose d'auroreque, pour se construire progressivement devant moi, cetunivers inconnu était tiré du silence et de la nuit.Ce rouge si nouveau, si absent de la tendre, champêtreet candide sonate teignait tout le ciel, comme l'aurored'un espoir mystérieux. Et un chant perçant déjá l'air,chant de sept notes, mais le plus inconnu, le plus dif-férent de tout ce que j'eusse jamais imaginé, différentde tout ce que j'eusse jamais pu imaginer, á la fois in-effable et criard, non plus un roucoulement de colombecomme dans la sonate, mais déchirant l'air aussi vif quela nuance écarlate dans laquelle le début était noyéquelque chose comme un mystique chant de coq, un appelineffable mais suraigu, de l'éternel matin.

Both the sonata and the septuor express aspiration: "prière

espérance ". That of the sonata is serene, aloof, philosoph-

ic; that of the septuor anxious, urgent, imploring even - yet

attaining through struggle an ineffable joy.

une joie aussi différente de celle de la sonateque d'un ange doux et grave de Bellini, jouant duthéorbe, pourrait etre, vetu d'une robe d'éçarlate, quel-que archange de Mantegna sonnant du buccin. 22

The comparison is between an assured serenity and spiritual

power in action. Mantegna's archangel is indeed expressive

of that vitality with which Proust endows Vinteuil's dominant

motif. For there is in this great Paduan's painting of re-

ligious subjects a nervous quality which seems charged with

intense, concentrated emotion. This figure, then, repre-

sents the septuor's climax, in which the note of joy triumphs

over other elements, - elements whose development has been

traced through Marcel's psychological processes as he listens.

1 La Prisonnière, II, p. 65.2 Ibid., p. 79.

11

53

What he describes is his successive emotional reactions; their

increased intensity, when the unfamiliar portions come in, is

due to the fact that memory is not involved, and the impres-

sions are purely sensuous. This point has been discussed

previously in connection with Swann's first hearing of the

sonata.

Ce qui était devant moi me faisait éprouver autant dejoie qu'aurait fait la sonate si je ne l'avais pas coln-nue, par conséquent en étant aussi beau, était autre.

Alluding now to Swann's earlier experience,

Peut -être est -ce parce qu'il ne savait pas la musiquequ'il avait pu éprouver une impression aussi confuse,une de ces impressions qui sont peut -être pourtant lesseules purement musicales, inétendues,entierement ori-ginale §, irréductibles é, tout autre ordre d'impres-sions.

The character of each composition is distinct, however,

from the other; the interplay of their separate rôles consti-

tutes the drama of the work.

Sans doute le rougeoyant septuor différait singulière-ment de la blanche sonate; la timide interrogation alaquelle répondait la petite phrase, de la supplica-tion haletante pour trouver l'accomplissement de l'é-trange promesse qui avait retenti, si aigre, si sur-naturelle, si brève, faisant vibrer la rougeur encoreinerte du ciel matinal, au- dessus de la mer.3

Yet the difference between the earlier and the later elements

is not basic. They represent different phases: the first,

intimations of genius; the second, a definite impulse toward

creative work. The unity of Vinteuil's composition is

1 La Prisonnière, II, p. 64.2 Du Co éwde chez Swann, I, 300.3 Lá, Pri sonñiérë, ÌI, p. 71.

5,9

achieved in the fulfilment of the "strange promise ": the in-

effable joy of inspiration. The triumph of this, "le motif

joyeux" is the climax of the septuor. It sets up vibrations

in Marcel's consciousness.

Je savais bien que cette nuance nouvelle de la joie, cetappel vers une joie supraterrestre, je ne l'oublieraisjamais. Mais serait -elle jamais réalisable pour moi?Cette question me paraissait d'autant plus importanteque cette phrase était ce qui aurait pu le mieux carac-tériser - comme tranchant avec tout le reste de ma vie,avec le monde visible - ces impressions qu'á des inter-valles éloignés je retrouvais dans ma vie comme lespoints de repère, les amorces, pour la construction d'unevie veritable: l'impression éprouvée devant les clochersde Martinville, devant une rangée d'arbres prés de Balbec.J-

From the foregoing it is evident that Proust's treatment

of Vinteuil's composition is not in any technical sense an an-

alysis of its form. Taken altogether, the value of Proust's

discussion of music lies in his analysis of the implications

of music in human experience. This involves the problem of

personality, which he analyses in its psychological aspects

without drawing philosophical conclusions as to individual

persistence. For this analysis he takes concrete examples

from Wagner and his music, while with Vinteuil and his work

he is free to deal with the inherent power of a musical genius

and the possibilities of his form of expression. Vinteuil's

creation is typical of modern music, which, being a fresh reve-

lation, has the power to raise Marcel to a state bordering up-

on ecstasy. Here we see as much of mysticism as Proust has, -

a mysticism which is the basis of his theory as to the source

i La Pri sonni'ere, II, p. 79.

-60

òf Marcel' s creative power. Of these mystic states Dandieu

says,

L'importance de la musique ne saurait donc être surestimée:elle est vraiment l'élément catalyseur, parmi ceux dumoins que l'historien peut saisir.

Each of the two volumes of La Prisonnière contains reflec-

tions on the significance of art for the individual: first, as

a revelation of that individual's world; second, as a channel

for the flow of genius from the personality of a great musi-

cian, with whose soul direct communication is established;

third, as a means of individual participation in reality.

This last establishes in Proust's mind the validity of person-

ality itself.

La musique, bien differente en cela de la society d'Alber-tine, m'aidait á descendre en moi -même, á y découvrir dunouveau: la diversité que j'avais en vain cherché dans lavie, dans le voyage, dont pourtant la nostalgie ri' étaitdonnée par ce flot sonore qui faisait mourir á coté demoi ses vagues ensoleillées. Comme le spectre extériorizepour nous la composition de la lumière, l'harmonie d'unWagner, la couleur d'un Elstir nous permettent de connattrecette essence qualitative des sensations d'un autre oi;l'amour pour un autre être ne nous fait pas pénétrer.

Taking Wagner as an example, Proust shows the relation of

the means used by a creative artist to the personal quality in

his work which is the expression of his own genius.

Même ce qui est le plus indépendant du sentiment qu'elle(une impression éveillée par l'oeuvre qu'on écoute) nousfait éprouver, garde sa realité extérieure et entièrementdéfinie; le chant d'un oiseau, la sonnerie du cor d'unchasseur, l'air que joue un pâtre sur son chalumeau,

1 Marcel Proust, sa Révélation icholo i ue, p. 117.2 La Prisonnière, I, 217. ---

6.1

découpent á l'horizon leur silhouette sonore. CertesWagner allait la rapprocher, s'en servir, la faire en-trer dans un orchestre, l'asservir aux plus hautes idéesmusicales, mais en respectant toutefois son originalitépremibre comme unhuchier les fibres, l'essence particu-lière du bois qu'il sculpte.1

It is through the work which Proust considers the greatest of

all Wagner's operas, that Marcel enters into some comprehen-

sion of the joy of artistiq creation.

Avant le grand mouvement d'orchestre qui précède le re-tour d'Yseult, c'est l'oeuvre elle -même qui a attiré ásoi l'air de chalumeau á demi oublié, d'un pâtre. Et,sans doute, autant la progression de l'orchestre á l'ap-proche de la nef, quand il s'empare de ces notes duchalumeau, les transforme, les associe á son ivresse,brise leur rhythme, éclaire leur tonalité, accélère leurmovement, multiplie leur instrumentation, autant sansdoute Wagner lui -même a eu de joie quand il découvritdans sa mémoire l'air d'un pâtre, l'aggrégea á son oeuvre,lui donna toute sa signification. Cette joie du restene l'abandonna jamais. Chez lui, quelle que soit latristesse du poète, elle est consolée, surpassée - c'está dire malheureusement vite détruite - par l'allegressedu fabricateur. Mais alors, autant que par l'identitéque j'avais remarqué toute á l'heure entre la phrase deVinteuil et celle de Wagner, j'étais troublé par cettehabileté vulcanienne. Serait -ce elle qui donnerait chezles grands artistes l'illusion d'une originalité foncière,irréducible en apparence, reflet d'une réalité plusqu'humaine, en fait produit d'un labeur industrieux? Sil'art n'est que cela, il n'est plus réel que la vie et jen'avais tant de regrets á. avoir. Je continuais á jouerTristan. Séparé de Wagner par la cloison sonore, je l'en-tendais exulter, m'inviter á partager sa joie, j'entendaisredoubler le rire immortellement jeune et les coups demartel de Siegfried, en qui, du reste, plus merveilleuse-ment frappées étaient ces phrases, l'habileté techniquede l'ouvrier ne servait qu'á leur faire quitter la terre,oiseaux pareils non au cygne de Lohengrin, mais á cetaeroplane que j'avais vu á Balbec changer son énergie enélévation, planer au dessus des flots, et Oe perdre dansle ciel.

1 La Prisonnière, If2 Ibid., pp. 220-221.

62

In another place, Proust bases on Vinteuil's music his

statement of what constitutes original genius and insures the

permanence of its creations.

Car h des dons plus profonds, Vinteuil joignait celui quepeu de musiciens, et même peu de peintres ont possédéd'user de couleurs non seulement si stables mais si er-sonelles que pas plus que le temps n'altére leur frai -cheur, les élèves qui imitent celui qui les a trouvées,et les mattres même qui les dépassent, ne font pallirleur originalité.

Comparing Vinteuil's sonata with Wagner's music, Marcel notes

the resemblance of a certain theme in this early composition

of Vinteuil's to something in the work of his predecessor; but

the two are not in any sense identical. This observation is

important as showing the continuity of the trend of art in

Proust's day; and it emphasizes as well the likeness to each

other which men of genius who are contemporaries exhibit.

The resemblance between one great musical composer and

another is discovered in the more obvious features of their

work: those precisély which are external to their genius.

Entirely superficial also is the charm of those passages in

which Vinteuil, striving for originality, obtained new ef-

fects, - in the elaborate development of a theme, for example.

This, Marcel says, is a product of the intelligence; but origi-

nality, the soul of genius, is reflected unconsciously in all

a man's work.

Pribre espérance qui était au fond la même, reconnaissablesous ces déguisements dans les diverses oeuvres de Vinteuil,

1 La Pri sonniére, II, p. 69.

63

et d'autre part qu'on ne trouvait que dans les oeuvresde Vinteuil. Ces phrases -lá, des musicographes pour-raient bien trouver leur apparentement, leur généologie,dans les oeuvres d'autres grands musiciens, mais seule-ment pour des raisons accessoires, des ressemblances ex-térieures, des analogies plutôt ingénieusement trouvéespar le raisonnement que senties par l'impression directe.Celle que donnaient ces phrases de Vinteuil était dif-férente de toute autre, comme si en dépit des conclusionsqui semblent se dégager de la science, l'individuelexistait.

c'est bien un accent unique auquel s'élévent, au-quel reviennent malgré eux ces grands chanteurs qui sontles musiciens originaux, et qui est une preuve de l'exis-tence irréductiblement individuelle de l'ame. Que Vin-teuil essayât de faire plus solennel, plus grand, ou defaire plus vif et plus gai, de faire ce qu'il apercevaitse réflétant en beau dans l'esprit du public, Vinteuil,malgré lui, submergeait tout cela sous une lame de fänd quirend son chant éternel et aussitôt reconnu. Ce chant dif-férant de celui des autres, semblable á tous les siens, ohVinteuil l'avait -il appris, entendu?2

Through his art, the musical genius transmits somewhat of

his personality to the listener; but this is not all. He re-

veals to him as well, the true nature of his own. After al-

luding to the "patrie perdue" whence the musician has issued

and of which the recollection finds unique expression through

artistic creation, Marcel says:

il délire de joie quand il chante selon sa patrie,la trahit parfois par amour de la gloire, mais alors encherchant la gloire il la fuit, et ce n'est qu'en la dé-daignant qu'il la trouve quand il entonne, quel que soitle sujet qu'il traite, ce chant singulier dont la mono-tonie - car quel que soit le sujet traité, il reste iden-tique h soi -même - prouve la fixité des éléments com--éosants de son âme. Mais alors n'est -ce pas que de cesléments, tout le résidu réel que nous sommes obligés de

garder pour nous -mêmes, que la causerie ne peut trans-mettre meure de l'ami a l'ami, du maitre au disciple, de

1 La Pri sonnf bre, II, p. 72.2 Ibid., p. 73.

64

l'amant á la maîtresse, cet ineffable qui différenciequalitativement ce que chacun a senti et qu'il est obli-gé de laisser au seuil des phrases oh il ne peut commu-niquer avec autrui qu'en se limitant á des points ex-térieurs communs á tous et sans intérêt, l'art, l'artd'un Vinteuil comme celui d'un Elstir, le fait apparaître,extériorizant dans les couleurs du spectre la compositionintime de ces mondes que nous appelons les individus etque sans l'art nous ne connaîtrions jamais ?1

From the consideration of personality, Marcel is led to

the question of the validity of all esthetic experience and

the reality of art as its basis; and the relation of all thisto individual persistance.

D'autre part la phrase qui m'avait paru trop peu mélo-dique, trop méchaniquement rhythmée, de la joie titu-bante des cloches de midi, maintenant c'était elle quej'aimais le mieux, soit que je fusse habitué á sa laideur,soit que j'eusse découvert sa beauté. Cette réaction surla déception que causent d'abord les chefs d'oeuvres, onpeut en effet l'attribuer á un affaiblissement de l'im-pression initiale ou á l'effort nécessaire pour dégagerla vérité. Deux questions, hypotheses qui se représententpour toutes les questions importantes, les questions de larealité de l'Art, de la realité de l'Eternité de l'âme:c'est un choix qu'il faut faire entre elles; et pour lamusique de Vinteuil cg choix se représentait á tout momentsous bien des formes.

cette musique me semblait quelque chose de plusvrai que tous les livres connus.°

He adds that the explanation might lie in the fact that what

he calls the "traduction littéraire" of life, - that is, the

attempt to render in the form of ideas what of life we feel,explains, analyses, but does not recompose it as music does.

La joie que lui avait causée telles sonorités, les for-ces accrues qu'elle lui avait données pour en découvrir

1 La Prisonniére, II, p. 75.2 Ibid., pp. 232-233.3 Ibid., p. 233.

65

d'autres, menaient encore l'auditeur de trouvaille entrouvaille, ou plutôt c'était le créateur qui le con-duisait lui -méme, puisant dans les couleurs qu'ilvenait de trouver une joie éperdue qui lui donnait lapuissance de découvrir, de se jeter sur celles qu'ellessemblaient appeler, ravi, tressaillant, comme au chocd'une étincelle, quand le sublime naissant de lui -mémede la rencontre de cuivres, haletant, grisé, affolé,vertigineux, tandis qu'il peignait sa grande fresquemusicale, comme Michel -Ange attaché â son échelle etlaneant, la tete en bas, de tumultueux coups de brosseau plafond de la chapelle Sixtine. Vinteuil était mortdepuis nombre d'années; mais, au milieu de ces instru-ments qu'il avait animés il lui avait été donne de pour-suivre, pour un.temps illimite, une part au moine de savie. De sa vie d'homme seulement? Si l'art n'étaitvraiment qu'un prolongement de la vie, vallait -il de luirien sacrifier, n'était -il pas aussi irreal qu'elle -mémeiA mieux écouter ce septuor, je ne le pouvais pas penser.

Since in the last analysis conviction rests upon one's own

experience, Marcel returns to the evidence of his own contact

with reality, for corroboration of the emotional manifestations

awakened by art.

I1 n'est pas possible qu'une sculpture, une musique quidonne une émotion qu'on sent plus élevée, plus pure, plusvraie, ne corresponde pas á une certaine réalité spirituelle.Elle en symbolize sûrement une, pour donner cette impressionde profondeur et de vérité. Ainsi rien ne ressemblaitplus qu'une telle phrase de Vinteuil á ce plaisir particu-lier que j'avais quelquefois éprouvé dans ma vie, parexample devant les clochers de Martinville, certains arbresd'une route de Balbec ou plus simplement, au début de cetouvrage, en buvant une certaine tasse de th62

It is inevitable that between the scientist and the mystic

in Proust there should be such a struggle. That the issue

should remain uncertain is proof of his integrity as a psycho-

logist. But as a creative artist he is yet to reach a conclu-

sion as to the reality of art.

1 La Prisonnière, II, p. 70.

2 Ibid., p. 233.

66

je pensais á Vinteuil l'hypothèse matérialiste,celle du néant se présentait h moi. Je me mettais ádouter, je me disais qu'après tout il se pourrait que, siles phrases de Vinteuil semblait l'expression de certainsétats de l'âme analogues á celui que j'avais éprouvé engoûtant la madeleine trempée dans la tasse de thé, rien nem'assurait que le vague de tels états fût une marque deleur profondeur, mais seulement de ce que nous n'avons pasencore su les analyser, qu'il n'y aurait donc rien de plusréel en eux que dans d'autres. Pourtant ce bonheur, cesentiment de certitude dans le bonheur, pendant que je bu-vais la tasse de thé, que je respirais aux Champs- Elyséesune odeur de vieux bois, ce n'était pas une illusion.En tout cas, me disait l'esprit du doute, même si ces étatssont dans la vie plus profonds sue d'autres, et sontinanalysäbles á cause de cela meme, parce qu'ils mettenten jeu trop de forces dont nous ne nous sommes pas renducompte, le charme de certaines phrases de Vinteuil faitpenser á eux parce qu'il est lui aussi inanalysable, maiscela ne prouve pas qu'il ait la même profondeur; la beau-té d'une phrase de musique pure parait facilement l'imageou du moins la parente d'une impression intellectuelle quenous avons eue, mais simplement parce qu'elle est inin-tellectuelle. Et pourquoi alors croyons -nous particu-lièrement profondes ces phrases mystérieuses qui hantentcertains ouvrages et ce septuor de Vinteuil ?1

1 La Prisonnière, II, pp. 243-244.

67

Chapter VII. Conclusion.

It is impossible to show, within the limits set for this

study, the significance for Proust's work as a whole, of sub-

ject- matter with an esthetic bearing. Because of the neces-

sity of isolating those aspects considered here, their rela-

tionships and ramifications, so characteristic of his method,

are obliterated at many points. Yet a part, at least, of

his general plan in respect to this esthetic content has been

indicated, in Marcel's preparation for the final revelation

of the true significance of art, which comes to him in the

concluding volumes, Le Temps Retrouvé. But Proust's work is

a novel, in which the psychological study of passionate love, -

"l'amour tout court" - has a large part; hence the importance

of Swann's experience, the only portion of the work in which

esthetic elements are used as motivating factors.

In Le Temps Retrouvé, especially in the first eighty

pages of its second volume, Proust gives his theories of ar-

tistic creation and of his own method. The discussion deals

chiefly with literature in general and his own undertaking in

particular; but it touches upon other arts. A few general

statements taken from this and other portions of the work are

here cited or summarized. These throw further light on

Proust's estimate of artists and their work, of art and its

relation to life.

68

Fundamental points in his conception are: the material

basis of art and the integrity of the creative genius in re-

spect to this; the evolution of art as a logical consequence

of the foregoing.

Apropos of the inherent charm of a painter's subjects,

Marcel says,

Que de tels objets puissent exister, beaux en dehorsmême de l'interprétation du peintre, cela contente ennous un matérialisme inné combattu par la raison, etsert de contra -poids, aux abstractions de l'esthétique.)

Of wider applicability is the following, which states

the relation of the personal element in artistic creation to

this objective or material basis.

Les données de la vie ne comptent pas pour un artiste,elle ne sont pour lui qu'une occasion de mettre en jeuson génie.2

Each creative genius transforms our world.

le monde (qui n'a pas été créé une fois mais aus-si souvent qu'un artiste original est survenu) nous ap-parait entièrement différent de l'ancien mais parfaite-ment clair.3

Proust is among those who believe that art should reflect

the life of its own period. In that span of years covered

in his novel he portrays a shifting world, one of whose mani-

festations is the World War. His own impressions in Paris,

and Mme. Verdurin's descriptions of the effect of flares seen

against the night sky of Venice at this time reflect a fresh

1 A l'Ombre des Jeunes Filles en Fleurs, II, p. 134.2 Ibid., p. 137.3 Le Cote de Guermantes, II, p. 20.

69

range of interest in one's surroundings.

Ainsi d'âge en âge renaît un curtain réalisme en reactioncontre l'art admiré jusque lá.

Proust does not believe, however, that each renewal of

art is identified necessarily with schools and manifestos;

on the contrary, he pays tribute to "l'art veritable

qui s'accomplit en silence. "2 He himself stood apart from

such groups of writers; his statement of his own procedure

in creative work makes clear the reasons for this. Some

characteristics of his method have been suggested in this

study, by selected passages or brief discussions. Consid-

ered by themselves, they may bring out more sharply Proust's

originality:

1. Evocation, either by means of the subconscious memory

or through imagination, which he calls his "seul organe pour

jouir de la beauté" is fundamental. Proust substantiates

this statement in his concluding volume.3

2. The creation of types - quite apart from his person-

ages - by a synthesis of the qualities of many; for example,

the Norman church, the sonata, the young girls of the "little

band ", who remain nameless.

3. The recurrence of an element viewed each time from

a new angle. This change of perspective may be due to vari-

ations in the distance or the viewpoint, when the beholder

1 Le Temps Retrouvé, I, p. 50.2 Le Temps Retrouvé, II, p. 29.3 Ibid., p. 15.

70

is himself moving, - as when Yarcel describes the three

spires, - or it may involve the passage of time. In this

latter case, Proust cannot be called an innovator; but he

uses this method repeatedly, often with startling effect.

Proust's method of handling so many diverse elements

cannot be judged by his treatment of such as those consid-

ered here. As evidence of his own assurance that the at-

tempt was not a vain one, the following excerpt is given

from his reply to Walter Berry, who had told Proust that he

had in one novel the material for ten:

C'est même contraire au principe de Beethoven, qui nese déclara arrivé á la maîtrise que le jour ou il cessad'accumuler dans une seule sonate les idées qui pou-vaient en nourrir dix. Mais, si beethovénien que jedemeure, malgré la mode, lh-dessus je ne suis pas deson avis, je ne l'ai jamais été.

In Proust's opinion, the function of art is to grasp

and reveal that reality which is life itself:

la vraie vie, la vie enfin d- couverte et éclair-cie, la seule vie par conséquent réellement vécue,cette vie qui en un sens habite á chaque instant cheztous les hommes aussi bien que chez l'artiste

Always he would subordinate all else to the revelation:

car le style pour l'écrivain aussi bien que pourle peintre est une question, non de technique mais devision.

The highest mission of art is its power to lift the soul

into a supraterrestrial realm. He takes his example from

1 Esthétique de Marcel Proust, Walter Berry; in Hommage áMarcel Proust, in Les Cahiers de Marcel Proust, pp. 73 -74.

2 Le Tem s Retrouvé, II, p. 48.3 Ibid., p. 48.

71

music, the least material of all the arts.

je sentais que les rumeurs claires, les bruyantescouleurs que Vinteuil envoyait du monde oú il composait,promenaient devant mon imagination avec insistance, maistrop rapidement pour qu'elle pût l'appréhender, quelquechose que je pourrais comparer á la soierie embaumée d'ungéranium. Seulement, tandis que, dans le souvenir, cevague peut être sinon approfondi, du moins précisé grâceá un repérage de circonstances, qui expliquent pourquoiune certaine saveur a pu nous rappeler des sensationslumineuses, les sensations vagues données par Vinteuilvenant non d'un souvenir, mais d'une impression (commecelle des clochers de Martinville) il aurait fallu trou-ver de la fragrance de géranium de sa musique, non uneexplication matérielle, mais l'équivalent profond, lafête inconnue et colorée (dont ses oeuvres semblaientles fragments disjoints, les éclats aux cassures écar-lates) le mode selon lequel il "entendait" et projetaithors de lui l'univers. Cette qualité inconnue d'unmonde unique et qu'aucun autre musicien ne nous avaitjamais fait voir, peut -être est -ce en cela qu'estla preuve la plus authentique du génie bien plus quedans le contenu de l'oeuvre elle- même.1

i La Prisonnière, II, p. 235.

72

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Crémieux, B. :Proust in XXe Siècle, Première Série.

:d i ti o ns de la Nouvelle Revue Frane a is e . 1924.

Dandieu, A. :Marcel Proust, sá Révélation psychologique.

Oxford University Press. 1930.

Hommage á Marcel Proust. Nouvelle Revue Franaise.

(Les Cahiers de Marcel Proust. )

1. Alard, Roger: Les Arts Plastiques dans l'oeuvre de

Marcel Proust.

2. Berry, Walter: Esthétique de Marcel Proust.

3. Billey, Robert de: Une amitié de trente ans.

4. Boylesve, René: Premières réflexions sur l'oeuvre de

Marcel Proust.

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Moncrieff, C. K. Scott: collector of Marcel Proust: An English

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1. Birrell, Frances: The Prophet of Despair.

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