“ To such an extent does passion manifest itself in us as a temporary and distinct character, which not only takes the place of our normal character but actually obliterates the signs by which that character has hitherto been discernible. ”
Marcel Proust, Swann's Way (1913). copy citation
| Author | Marcel Proust |
|---|---|
| Source | Swann's Way |
| Topic | passion character signs |
| Date | 1913 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7178/7178-h/7178-h.htm |
Context
“In a restaurant, or in the country, his manner was deliberately and directly the opposite of that by which, only a few days earlier, his friends would have recognised him, that manner which had seemed permanently and unalterably his own. To such an extent does passion manifest itself in us as a temporary and distinct character, which not only takes the place of our normal character but actually obliterates the signs by which that character has hitherto been discernible. On the other hand, there was one thing that was, now, invariable, namely that wherever Swann might be spending the evening, he never failed to go on afterwards to Odette. The interval of space separating her from him was one which he must as inevitably traverse as he must descend, by an irresistible gravitation, the steep slope of life itself.”
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Meaning and analysis
