The Proustian Quest

CHAPTER 4 Speed and Desire

CHAPTER 4 Speed and Desire The associatio n o f agitation an d motio n wit h unrequite d desir e appears ofte n i n literature . Wallac e Fowli e point s ou t tha t suc h motifs occu r i n Dante: "i n th e second circl e [o f hell] . . . the sin s of carnality are punished and . . . a continuous wind storm buffet s the spirits . Thi s i s agitation, ceaseles s movement designatin g th e insistence o f sexual demands." 1 Jean Milly reminds u s o f Proust's depiction o f th e rockin g motio n o f slee p i n passage s from Jean Santeuil an d th e openin g page s o f la Recherche. Mill y als o finds French literar y antecedent s i n Flaubert' s eroti c oscillation s i n Madame Bovary and L'Education sentimentale, pointing ou t simila r passages in Proust's pastiche of Flaubert as well as in the passage in la Recherche on Albertin e asleep : "C e bercemen t es t auss i lie a u n rythme sexuel , comm e l e montre asse z la suit e d u passage." 2 I n one o f the mos t unusua l eroti c scene s i n literature , th e sleepin g Albertine become s th e incarnatio n o f th e se a a s th e Narrato r embarks upo n th e tid e o f her slee p an d makes love to hi s uncon scious prisoner (III , 72). The us e o f such motifs by Flaubert i s quite differen t from those in la Recherche. Flaubert' s method i s more traditiona l in tha t movement, suc h a s th e carriag e i n Madame Bovary, is a natura l enticement an d accompanimen t fo r th e thrustin g an d undulatin g action o f lovemaking. Ridin g (cheuaucher) ha s ofte n bee n use d i n French a s slan g fo r copulating . I n Proust , however , ther e i s a significant departur e from th e traditiona l associatio n o f motio n and desire : i t i s th e motio n bot h rea l an d metaphorica l tha t 63 64 TH E PROUSTIAN QUEST provokes desir e and makes possession impossible . The greate r th e prize, th e greate r th e spee d acquire d b y th e desire d perso n t o escape. As we have seen, eve n physical contact i s not sufficien t t o slow dow n th e spee d an d may eve n accelerat e it. Onc e a woma n has been possessed or is no longer desired, she loses her speed an d becomes worthless , a s doe s Albertine , "un e pesant e esclave, " a Winged Victory whose wings have been clipped. 3 The othe r majo r characte r whos e spee d take s o n impor tant themati c dimension s i s Rober t d e Saint-Loup . Ther e ar e significant parallel s between him an d Albertine, th e most obviou s of thes e bein g thei r marin e origin s (bot h ar e see n fo r th e first time o n th e beac h a t Balbec ) an d thei r sexua l ambiguity . I t i s especially character s suspecte d o f bein g homosexua l wh o ar e endowed wit h exceptiona l speed : Albertine , Saint-Loup , an d Legrandin. Th e spee d o f thes e thre e i s du e i n larg e par t t o th e ambiguity o f thei r sexua l orientation . Th e confusio n tha t suc h ambiguity cause s the Narrator is expressed in an observation con cerning th e nature o f Albertine's sexuality : 'Tincertitud e moral e est vin e caus e plu s grand e d e difficult e a un e exact e perceptio n visuelle qu e ne serai t u n defau t materie l d e Toeil . . . " (Ill , 140) . •Since he canno t determin e th e exac t natur e o f her sexuality , h e does not...