Swann's Way: In Search of Lost Time, Volume One

Swann’s Way is set in France in the early 20th century. Though the adult narrator is unnamed, later novels in the In Search of Lost Time series imply that he may share his name with the novel’s author, Marcel. Thus, many critics use the name Marcel for the narrator of this novel.

Marcel describes how as a child he used to “go to bed early” (3). As a young man, however, he had problems falling asleep. He describes himself waking up to discover that he fell asleep while reading a book. Now an adult, he is no longer afraid of the “shifting kaleidoscope of the darkness” (4). Instead, he fears losing his perception of time. Sleep, he says, steals “the most rudimentary sense of existence” (5) from people and causes them to forget their true selves when they wake up. On waking, they try to reassemble their identity. Nevertheless, Marcel finds the night to be inspirational. He feels his memories returning to him, particularly his childhood days spent in the fictional French town of Combray, as well as visits to Paris, Venice, and Balbec.

Marcel and his family spent many summers in Combray in the north of France. There, his family gives him a “magic lantern” (7) which they hope will combat his insomnia. The lantern casts pictures on the wall, telling the story of Genevieve de Brabant. Marcel loves the images and the story of Genevieve, whose noble family is supposedly related to aristocrats named Guermantes who come from Combray. As much as Marcel loves the lantern, it does not help his insomnia. Instead, he longs for his mother’s goodnight kiss. He knows that this wish is childish, and he fears being criticized by his strict father. His mother is less concerned, and she tolerates her son’s needs. Marcel tries to hide his longing from his family. But he feels the need for a kiss so strongly that he is preemptively worried about the moments afterward when the kiss will end and his mother will leave him alone in the dark.

When Marcel’s parents host guests, his mother sometimes cannot kiss him goodnight. One of their guests is a man named Charles Swann, an old family friend who visits often. He sends occasional gifts to Marcel’s family, though he does not know that Marcel’s parents disapprove of his wife. Recently, Swann has been socializing with the upper ranks of Parisian nobility, including members of the royal family. Because they do not know about Swann’s social advances, Marcel’s parents still treat him with little ceremony. They consider him to be a slightly comic figure and beneath them in social position. Despite their somewhat rude brusqueness, Swann is always welcome in the house. Marcel’s parents enjoy his stories and his company, even if they disapprove of his wife. For Marcel, however, Swann’s visits mean he will not receive a kiss from his mother.

During one of Swann’s visits, Marcel overhears his family and Swann discussing society and culture. Later, Marcel’s father forbids his son from kissing his mother on the cheek, declaring that “these exhibitions are absurd” (20). Marcel asks the maid to take a note to his mother, even though she is still entertaining Swann. In the note, Marcel asks his mother to visit his room. As Marcel waits for his mother, he overhears his family discussing the scandalous reputation of Swann’s wife. As his parents prepare for bed, Marcel leaps unexpectedly at his mother. She is surprised and then notes her son is obviously upset. She decides to spend the night in his room. Much to Marcel’s surprise, his father agrees to it. Though he initially feels that he has won a victory against his father, Marcel comes to realize that his father’s comments are damning. His parents believe that he is suffering from a medical condition that makes him nervous. This realization only makes Marcel even more nervous, and he breaks down in tears. To calm her son, Marcel’s mother reads him a novel by George Sand bought by his grandmother for his birthday. Marcel knows the night will never be repeated. Nevertheless, he falls asleep to the sound of his mother’s voice.

Marcel returns to his adult life. Though he does not typically do so, he decides to drink tea and eat a madeleine (a type of small cake). He dips the madeleine in the tea and the taste sparks an “exquisite pleasure” in his mind (32). The taste ignites his memories, taking him back to his childhood in Combray when he often ate madeleines dipped in tea. Previously, “this memory, this old, dead moment” (33) felt inaccessible to his adult self. The connection between the past and the present fascinates Marcel. He delves deeper into his memory, astonished by his mind’s ability to conjure old thoughts and feelings suddenly, unexpectedly. He reflects on the memories of his time in Combray.