Saturday, November 11, 2017

My Years With Proust - Day 642

As for my comparative penury, it was all the more awkward at the moment, inasmuch as my Venetian interests had been concentrated for some little time on a young vendor of glassware whose blooming complexion offered to the delighted eye a whole range of orange tones and filled me with such a longing to see her daily that, realising that my mother and I would soon be leaving Venice, I had made up my mind to try to create some sort of position for her in Paris which would spare me the distress of parting with her.  The beauty of her seventeen summers was so noble, so radiant, that it was like acquiring a genuine Titian before leaving the place.  But would the scant remains of my fortune be enough to tempt her to leave her native land and come to live in Paris for my sole convenience?
Marcel Proust, The Fugitive, p. 655

OK, so it looks like Marcel is starting to climb out of his depression after the death of Albertine.  Marcel becomes fixated on a "young vendor of glassware," notable because the "beauty of her seventeen summers was so noble, so radiant, that it was like acquiring a genuine Titian. . ." I think the key word here is "acquiring," as Marcel immediately starts laying out plans to find a position for her to Paris so he won't lose her.  Once again, it's all about possession for Marcel.




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