Swann's Way: Swann in Love: Rose: 09/25/09
I'm on my 13th week of reading Swann's Way (Du côté de chez Swann). I'm up to page 390.

Last week I compared Odette to Hyacinth Bucket. This week I'm keeping on that theme but looking at Hyancinth's past as hinted by two of her sisters: Daisy and Rose.

As Odette and Swann become a couple and host dinner parties together and all those other niceties of society, some of shine comes off from Odette. She's crasser and less refined than the image created in Swann's head (in part from Vinteuil's sonata).

If Odette is staying true to Swann, she might be a Daisy. Faithful, loving and low class. If Swann is just a means to an end, a conquest among a long line of conquests, then she is like Rose. Things will come to a head. Can Swann keep his jealously and unhealthy obsession in check with Odette? Probably not. Can he survive being treated the way he's treated countless women? I don't know.

Previous posts: Lisa's First Word, Baby Mine, I Sing the Body Electric, The Lady in Pink, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Caturday, Cherry Blossoms, Marge Simpson, Liana Telfer, Bender in Love, Margaret Dumont, Hyacinth Bucket.

books | fiction | Marcel Proust | 1913

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