Objects and memory

As Marcel is reflecting on his experiences of his childhood throughout his adulthood in the novel, , he discovers that the ultimate way for him to fully regain the memories of his past and to get a better understanding of himself in the present is through tangible and sensible objects. As these objects evoke long forgotten memories, so-called involuntary memories, they culminate into an unexpected new awareness and insight into himself.

In the first part of Volume 1 (“Swanns Way”) “Combray”, Marcel stresses the key role that material objects play in recalling past memories, as he writes: ‘(…) And so it is with our own past. (…) The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm, beyond the reach of intellect, in some material object (in the sensation which that material object will give us) of which we have no inkling. And it depends on chance whether or not we come upon this object before we ourselves must die.’Proust, In Search of Lost Time, 60.. As such, rather than trying to actively remember episodes of one’s life, Marcel believes it is in unpredictable moments when arbitrary objects can suddenly raise long forgotten, latent memories from the subconscious to the surface of the mind and provide a sense of a new awareness and truth into one’s self.

This notion is clearly at stake in the famous madeleine scene: whereas Marcel had previously tried to actively recall his memories of childhood vacations spent in Combray, he failed to recreate a sufficient and complete image of this time in his life. Yet when one day his mother offers him a piece of madeleine soaked in a spoonful of lime-blossom tea, it is this combination of objects that delivers him the key sensation to help him vividly regain his unconscious memories of the surroundings of Combray and the time he spent there as a child. Although Marcel had previously seen the madeleine cakes many times on the trays of the pastry-cooks’ window, they had never recalled any moment of revelation in his mind; until the moment he tasted it in combination with the tea.Proust, In Search of Lost Time, 63.

It is through such seemingly ordinary and unexpected moments that Marcel is brought closer to finding his personal truth and gaining better insight into himself. This in turn enables him to write about himself, his past experiences and personal development, and ultimately produce his work of art. It is for this reason that the scene of the madeleine unfolds the rest of the story of the entire novel. By making art of his life, Marcel will see his lost life, “le temps perdu”. D.W. Brown, Supreme fictions. A study of the novels of Marcel Proust, James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon (ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1994), 31.

If you want to know more about the specific role of the madeleine and the tea in Proust, keep on reading here.