Part Two, Chapter 1

This chapter focuses on the Narrator's visit to the Princesse de Guermantes's soirée. It narrates his meeting with the Duc de Châtellerault, M. de Charlus, Mme de Vaugoubert, and the Marquis de Vaugoubert, one of the few men in society who happens to be in what is called at Sodom the “confidence” of M. de Charlus. After recounting the Narrator's involvement in the arrival of the Duc and Duchesse de Guermantes, the chapter then shifts to outline the Narrator's second stay at Balbec, where he and Albertine make frequent visits, along with the members of the little clan, to La Raspelière, a hilltop villa owned by the Marquis de Cambremer. These “Wednesdays” at the Mistress's allow for many scenes of social satire. The chapter recounts the Narrator's experiences of involuntary memory that makes him suffer great sorrow and remorse: he is suddenly overwhelmed by his long-delayed grief over the death of his grandmother.