Swann's Way Literary Elements

Modernist Literature, Autobiography.

The setting of the novel is France, Paris and a small village Combray in the nineteenth century. The novel has been written in the context of social relations and the role of memories.

The narrator of the novel is an unnamed person, who seems to be the author of the book and the story has been narrated from his point of view.

Yearning, Nostalgic, Solemn, Chaotic.

The protagonist of the novel is the unnamed narrator and Charles Swan can also be considered as a second protagonist because the novel revolves around the lives of these two characters. However, the antagonist in the novel is Odette, who betrays Swann.

The major conflict in the story is between the narrator and his memories and between Charles Swann and Odette.

The climax in the story comes when Charles Swann realizes that Odette is betraying him and she is already involve in physical relationships with other men.

Odette resemblance with one of the favorite paintings of Swann foreshadows his obsession with the woman. The anonymous letter foreshadows the end of relationship between Swann and his wife.

The understatement in the novel is that a man gets so much obsessed with his illusions that he starts considering them as reality. Swann gets so much occupied with Odette's beauty that he forgot that she did not appeared to be much attractive to him in their first meeting. She was not as much beautiful as he thinks. Another understatement in the novel is the connection between objects and memories. The smell of the madeleine reminds Marcel about his past. The memories of the past overpower him and he couldn't resist them.

There are allusions to infidelity, social status, love affairs, physical relationships, family ties, motherly love, memories, past, childhood days, frightening and sleepless child, regrets, music, art, aesthetics and unrequited love.

There are images of countryside, mesmerizing landscapes, family bonds, a mother giving a night kiss to his son, a frightened child, a wealthy man obsessed with the love of a woman and a sleepless child. The author has also demonstrated the narrator as moving on different paths and enjoying the beauty around him. There are images of Swann spending time in a salon and listening to music. He is also portrayed as loving art and Odette. The images of Odette's infidelity are also recurrent in the novel. She was involved in physical relationships with Forcheville and other men. The images of various journeys are also present in the novel. Marcel's journey to his grandparents's home in Combray and Swann's journey towards Germany along with Odette and her boyfriends along with a journey towards past in evident in the novel.

The paradox in the story is that Swann strolls in the nights in order to chase Odette and falls intensely in love with her but when she betrays him, he leaves her by saying that she is not of his type. Another paradox in the story is that Marcel loves Gilberte but he seems to be confuse regarding his affection towards her. While remember her in his old age, he considers his love as a part of nostalgia.

There is a parallelism between objects and memories. Swaan is inspired by a gust of memries after listening to a particular phrase of music while the smell of madeleine reminds Marcel of his childhood days, his fear of going to bed and his love for nature and Gilberte. Another parallelism has been drawn between Swaan's love for Odette and her infidelity. The more he loved her, the more she showed him indifference. Although he loved him more than anything else but she still got indulge in affairs with other men.

An example of metonymy is Marcel as a child, who stands for all the children who remain afraid of night and are unable to sleep alone. An example of synecdoche is beautiful paths which represents the beauty of nature in the town of Combray.

Nature, love, music and madeleine have been personified in the book.