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

Marcel departs from his story to focus on how Charles Swann fell in love with Odette. Odette is a typical middle-class woman. She is socially ambitious, even if she is not from a prestigious family. Each night, Odette and her friends gather at the salon belonging to the Verdurins. The Verdurins host a painter, a musician, and a doctor among many others each night in their home. These guests flatter the Verdurins, suggesting to them that they are more important than they are. Odette is not regarded as anything more than an ambitious courtesan, though she delights Mademoiselle Verdurin. Swann, whose pursuit of women has earned him a reputation for indiscretion, is invited to the salon. The first time that he meets Odette, he finds himself indifferent toward her. He is not moved by her beauty. However, he learns that she is attracted to him. With this information, he decides to watch her more closely. A friend suggests to him that Odette will be impossible to seduce. Now regarding Odette’s affection as a challenge, Swann feels himself falling for her.

Swann makes a good impression at the Verdurins’ salon; he is an expert on how to raise himself in French society. He can match his words and his behavior to what people want from him. Swann is amused by the Verdurins. Even though Madame Verdurin is superficial and pretentious, she makes Swann laugh. In particular, he is amused by her musical taste. Swann is not well-versed in music. But as a pianist plays a sonata during the salon, he feels drawn to the pleasurable melancholy of the tune. He feels a sense of longing and passion, and eventually, he feels rejuvenated. He mentions this emotional reaction to Odette. Much to his surprise, the composer of the music is Vinteuil. Swann wonders whether this Vinteuil could be related to the one in Combray.

Swann receives a repeat invitation to the Verdurins’ salon. Even though he regularly socializes with aristocrats, politicians, and even members of the British royal family, he keeps this a secret from the middle-class social climbers. He does not want to seem above them. Despite this, he regularly declines to stay for dinner. Even when Odette asks him to stay, he refuses. She tries harder and harder to interest him, but he continues to decline her advances.

Eventually, Swann accepts an invitation to Odette’s house. He visits her and is smitten with her desire to make him happy. On leaving, he deliberately leaves behind his cigarette case. Odette returns the case to Swann, accompanied by a love letter asking him why he did not “forget [his] heart also” (157). Swann’s opinion of Odette changes when he realizes that she looks almost exactly like a figure in a Botticelli painting titled Zipporah. This, to Swann, means that Odette is almost like the idea of beauty itself. From then on, he is completely in love with her. He sees her each night at the salon, and he feels anguish when she is not present one evening. He wanders the Parisian streets, searching for her “in every restaurant upon the boulevards” (162). Eventually, he finds her, and they go back to his house. Following this night, they spend most nights together.

Swann associates the sonata from the Verdurins with Odette. She plays it for him on the piano, but she is unable to perform the piece correctly. Despite her lack of talent, Swann is moved by Odette’s playing. He feels an intense love for her whenever he hears her play the piece. At the same time, however, Odette’s love for Swann occasionally wanes. Swann fears that she has “an existence which [is] not wholly subordinated to his own” (170). Because Odette can manage Swann’s affections in this manner, she can prolong their relationship. Swann occasionally becomes jealous of the other men who enjoy Odette’s company. He is suspicious that she is not faithful to him. When she plays the sonata, however, these feelings are numbed. Despite their love, Odette cannot escape her past. She is aware that many scandalous stories are spread about her, so she asks Swann never to mention her name in company. This way, she hopes to avoid the scandal that she worries is brewing. Swann does everything Odette asks of him. While he believes that he is accommodating her needs, his servility causes Odette to lose respect for him.

Swann changes himself to be more like Odette. Soon, even his habits mimic hers. One way he mimics her is his newfound love for the Verdurins. They love Odette, just like he does, and they provide the setting in which Swann can meet with her every night. The Verdurins do not like Swann as much as he likes them. To the Verdurins, Swann seems like a reserved figure who refuses to share his life with them. They believe that he looks down on them and their friends. Furthermore, rumors have reached the Verdurins that Swann attends other salons hosted by more reputable people. He visits with aristocrats and then seems to lower himself by visiting them. The Verdurins believe that Swann is not a suitable romantic partner for Odette. Instead, they hope she will pair with the Comte de Forcheville. One evening over dinner, Forcheville refers to Swann’s “fashionable friends” (184). His comment embarrasses Swann. Then, Forcheville begins to make romantic overtures toward Odette, referring to her as a “specimen of the female form” (186). She leaves with Swann in a “moody and irritable” state (188).

Swann begins to suspect that Odette and Forcheville are engaged in a romantic relationship. He feels himself becoming angry at Odette but is unable to say something. He buys her gifts, such as jewelry, or agrees to lend her money. He hopes that these gestures will endear him to her. He fears that she may believe that he no longer loves her if he stops buying her gifts. Whenever Swann becomes angry, Odette only needs to avow her love to calm his mood. One night, she asks Swann to leave her house as she is not feeling well. Swann suspects that she plans to host a male guest. Brimming with jealousy, he leaves but returns later in the evening. While he tries to spy on Odette, he remembers that she told him how much she despised jealousy in her romantic partners. Swann becomes convinced that Odette and an unseen person are staying up late in her house because he sees a light in her room and hears a man’s voice. However, he then realizes that he is standing outside the wrong house. He feels overjoyed but his jealousy and his suspicions continue as he notes the inconsistency in her excuses for her strange behavior.

Later, Odette asks Swann to post a letter. She does not realize that the letter is addressed to Forcheville, which causes Swann’s jealousy to erupt once again. He takes the letter and holds it up to the light, allowing him to read Odette’s words. The letter informs him that Odette spent the previous evening in the company of Forcheville, just as he imagined. He feels, the narrator says, “heartbroken, bewildered, and yet happy” (201) as Odette’s writing seems less romantic than the letters she once wrote to him. Soon, his jealousy almost takes on a life of its own, and Swann cannot stop thinking about Odette and Forcheville.