In this book the reader is finally given the narrator's name, or possibly given it since he only makes a side mention that it might be the same as the author, and that for the sake of the passage he's writing to think of it as Marcel. The nature of art is a motif in the novel and is often explored at great length. For differences between Freud and Proust, see "...the by now authentically banal exposure of Proust's narrator as a closeted homosexual" Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. He ponders the intermittencies of the heart and the ways of dealing with sad memories. Saint-Loup passes on an invitation from Charlus to come visit him. With Norpois's intervention, the Narrator is finally allowed to go see Berma perform in a play, but is disappointed by her acting. It's a little weird that possibly a couple of thousand pages went by before him having to even give cause to use his name. One day, the Narrator returns from the Guermantes and finds Andrée just leaving, claiming to dislike the smell of their flowers. During the train ride, his grandmother, who only believes in proper books, lends him her favorite: the The Narrator's family has moved to an apartment connected with the Guermantes residence. Marcel Proust vu par sa gouvernante Céleste Albaret; ... Depuis qu’elle est « prisonnière », Albertine a perdu à ses yeux beaucoup de son charme et de son attirance. The Narrator begins by noting, "For a long time, I went to bed early." I'm not in that camp quite yet, but leaning toward it. See also Malcolm Bowie, "Freud, Proust, and Lacan: Theory as Fiction," Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. On the way he sees Charlus, now a mere shell of his former self, being helped by Jupien. Now a committed Dreyfusard, he is very sick and nearing death, but the Guermantes assure him he will outlive them. He showers Mme Swann with flowers, being almost on better terms with her than with Gilberte. The Narrator tells his mother: he must marry Albertine. Gilberte also tells him she was attracted to him when young, and had made a suggestive gesture to him as he watched her.
Aime reports back: Albertine often engaged in affairs with girls at Balbec. In Search of Lost Time (French: À la recherche du temps perdu), also translated as Remembrance of Things Past, is a novel in seven volumes by Marcel Proust (1871–1922). The entirety of chapter 2, during the Verdurin gathering with de Charlus infuriating Mme. Epistemology of the Closet.
The Narrator continues to go to the Champs-Élysées and play with Gilberte. Both characters are living in a pretend world which is chilling and often creepy: they are indeed both captive to perceived expectations of an outside world. It is his most prominent work, known both for its length and its theme of involuntary memory, the most famous example of which is the "episode of the madeleine," which occurs early in the first volume. It is the shortest book of La Recherche I believe and there was a beautiful French movie made from it with Romain Duris. As in a neural network or a mind-map, the madeleine linked his aunt to his mother, who in turn was linked to Albertine through jealousy, which also connected Marcel with Saint Loop and Swann, who, as with his (Marcel’s) grandmother, linked his childhood and adolescence. Desperate, he begs Albertine to return, but receives word: she has died in a riding accident. The Narrator gives him a draft of his writing, but Norpois gently indicates it is not good. He learns more about the Guermantes: their hereditary features; their less-refined cousins the Courvoisiers; and Mme de Guermantes's celebrated humor, artistic tastes, and exalted diction (although she does not live up to the enchantment of her name). The description of Albertine’s imprisonment of and the mystery of her secret life, along with the state of mind of the narrator, struggling between jealousy, indifference and the fear of being betrayed without never been certain, (a parallel of his beloved tale of Swann and Odette) were one of the most vivid parts of the novel: a deep dive into relationships and love an how it wears out and ends, or survives, for the pain of everyone involved.