Bullet points between pages 300 – 385
Things start to break down between Odette and Swann and he is barred from the Verdurin’s, where he saw her most nights, as they finally turn on him and Mme Verdurin slams Swann in a conversation with Dr Cottard:
“’Heaven preserve us from him; he’s too deadly for words, a stupid, ill bred boor’.” pg315
His jealousy starts to make him go between moods of great affection and then dislike and things are manipulated more by the influence of the Verdurin’s who are trying to get Swann away from Odette and are promoting an alternative in the form of Forcheville
What makes things even more difficult is the monetary relationship between them with Odette quite happy to accept his gifts and exploit his wallet when it suits her. The problem for Swann is that even when he is resolved not to visit her and ignore her he just can’t seem to do it
Things get almost embarrassing then the mood breaks when Swann goes to visit his old social set and as he is about to leave he gets dragged back into the room and he hears the music, which he was entranced with when he first met Odette
The music acts as a mirror for his old feelings and he realizes how much in love he was and how unhappy he is now and as the music ends he seems to have completed some sort of transformation in his feelings
“From that evening onwards, Swann understood that the feeling which Odette had once for him would never revive, that his hopes of happiness would not be realized now.” pg85
Where his relationship with Odette goes from here is unclear but there is a part of you, that has developed feelings of affection for Swann, that wishes he would have the strength to break free of her. Maybe he will tomorrow…
