MARCEL PROUST - IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME
By: Fereshteh Priou
September 2019
Class distinctions in French society underwent major changes at the turn of the twentieth century. In In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust examines this social upheaval and illustrates the shifting tides as the aristocracy mixed with the rising bourgeoisie.
The origins of the bourgeoisie in Western Europe date back to the Middle Ages, when walled cities offered limited access. Those who lived inside were considered privileged “city people” and were called bourgeois—inhabitants of the bourg or borough—as opposed to the peasants who lived in the countryside. The bourgeoisie consisted mainly of skilled artisans, merchants, and professionals. They served as middlemen between the peasants and the upper classes, which included noblemen, large landowners, and the clergy. Within the bourgeoisie itself, there were several strata based on wealth, occupation, and social position. The lower tier was known as the petite bourgeoisie, while the upper level was referred to as the haute bourgeoisie. In French usage, “petit bourgeois” often carries a derogatory connotation, describing someone with a lower-middle-class mentality whose primary ambition is to emulate the haute bourgeoisie or the aristocracy.
As early as the 17th century, the playwright Molière ridiculed the bourgeoisie, lampooning their manners and social pretensions. Later, Marxist and communist critiques further debased the image of the bourgeoisie, portraying them as selfish, materialistic individuals obsessed with trivial pursuits and lacking intellectual or spiritual depth. Although this mindset can be found across many levels of society, critics and authors directed the stereotype specifically at the bourgeois class—partly because of the intense literary and philosophical scrutiny it received, and partly because the bourgeoisie had become a numerically dominant and visible segment of society.
Proust himself came from a bourgeois family: his father was a physician and the first in his line to receive higher education, while his mother came from a wealthy Jewish background. The novel’s narrator is similarly situated in the upper-middle class. His father works as a civil servant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his mother’s family belongs to the higher bourgeoisie. Notably, the narrator’s maternal grandmother had been a schoolmate of Mme de Villeparisis, a member of the aristocratic Guermantes circle, and the two women remain close friends in old age—highlighting the family’s elevated social standing.
A social climber himself, Proust fills the novel with extensive explorations of France’s different social strata at a time when rigid class boundaries were eroding. He portrays a society teeming with hypocrites who engage in constant one-upmanship, cruelty disguised as wit, and obsessive status-seeking. Snobbery permeates the book; characters freely make snide remarks about others’ backgrounds whenever the opportunity arises.
Like Proust, the narrator is a quintessential bourgeois social climber who seizes every chance to gain entry into the prestigious aristocratic salons. His (and many other characters’) obsession with nobility is a central theme. In social settings, characters carefully position themselves to curry favor with those above them. They often appear fraudulent—wearing social masks to conceal their true selves. For instance, M. Legrandin loudly professes his disdain for the aristocracy while secretly craving their company. Baron de Charlus, a homosexual, publicly denounces homosexuals in social gatherings, seemingly unaware (or unconcerned) that his own inclinations are widely known.
The final volume of the novel depicts the reversal of fortunes that accompanies the fading of the old aristocracy (whose complete disappearance after the French Revolution had never fully occurred) and the blurring of class lines. Wealthy but ordinary Mme Verdurin loses her husband and marries the Duc de Guermantes, becoming the new Princesse de Guermantes and reigning over high society. Odette, a former courtesan who had married Charles Swann, and their daughter Gilberte had been largely excluded from aristocratic salons during Swann’s lifetime—shunned not only by the Guermantes (despite their friendship with Swann) but even by solid bourgeois families like the narrator’s. After Swann’s death, Odette inherits his fortune, marries the nobleman de Forcheville, and Gilberte takes her stepfather’s titled name. Gilberte eventually marries into the Guermantes family, achieving the ultimate social ascent her parents had long desired.
Another key factor in eroding class distinctions was the Dreyfus Affair, the major political scandal of the era. Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French Army, was falsely accused of selling military secrets to the Germans. French society split sharply between Dreyfusards (who believed in his innocence) and anti-Dreyfusards. The latter group consisted largely of aristocrats and conservative functionaries, while the former included many liberals, artists, intellectuals, and segments of the bourgeoisie. Exceptions stood out: the young nobleman Robert de Saint-Loup was a Dreyfusard, to his family’s dismay, while Odette declared herself anti-Dreyfusard despite her Jewish husband— a stance that helped her gain acceptance in circles that had previously rejected her. The Affair played a significant role in weakening the historically rigid class barriers as the 19th century gave way to the 20th.
Reading Proust is enlightening not only for its profound insights into human psychology and the human condition, but also for its vivid portrait of French society at the time—its class distinctions, social codes, and the bourgeoisie’s relentless struggle to ascend.
Article by: Fereshteh Priou - September 2019