Assignment 2: Social Realism--City Activities with Dance Hall

For Assignment 2, I decided to use Thomas Hart Benton's "City Activities with Dance Hall" to depict social realism.

Assignment 1: Biography of Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust

www.soundoflife.net/.../11/marcel-proust.jpg

Elaine Ewbank

HUM 260

Michelle Maritis

September 21st, 2009

Marcel Proust

I will begin this biography, focused on Marcel Proust, with an explanation of why I chose to write about him and his pieces of literature. First, I enjoyed reading an excerpt from Proust’s work entitled Swann’s Way, that focuses on recalling the pleasure experienced after eating a piece of cake that had been dipped in tea. I like how simple and complex Proust writes about the subject, specifically, how he takes a simple action and expounds to find the deeper meaning or source of its existence. However, this is gathered from a selection only and may not reflect the whole of the story and its actual intent. Furthermore, I enjoyed Marcel’s interpersonal probing, which came in the form of several questions, making the reader contemplate and consider things on a deeper level. With thus said, I will embark on discussing Marcel Proust’s life and will also examine his works which were influenced by the concepts developed by William James, an American psychologist, Henri Bergson, and Sigmund Freud.

Marcel Proust was born on July 10, 1871 in Paris and was raised under very wealthy parents, his mother coming from a prestigious Jewish home and his father a doctor who practiced the Catholic faith (Weitz). Though both of these religious views affected his future writing and endeavors, he never actually practiced or followed in one set belief. Interestingly enough, the small town of Auteuil, where he grew up, would become the backdrop for his most famous piece of literature, Á la recherché du temps perdu, translated as “Remembrance of things past”. In the realm of education and other activities, Marcel attended Lycée Condorcet, a school located in Paris, for six years, but never felt like he connected with the people. Among other things, Proust studied law at Sorbonne at the École des Sciences Politiques and enrolled in the military for one year. It is interesting to note that Proust wrestled with his sexual orientation and was involved in a homosexual relationship with Alfred Agostelli, and possibly others. However, this aspect of his life did not give much, if any, further revelation concerning his pieces. Concerning his health, Marcel suffered from severe asthma since his childhood. Additionally, after his mother’s death in 1905, he began to withdraw from society and lived twenty three years in a flat soundproof home where he gave himself to introspection and writing (Liukkonen).

Before this time, things did not go very well for Proust in his writing endeavors. Specifically in 1896, Marcel published his first compilation of essays, poems, and stories entitled Les Plaisirs et les Jours which ended up being unsuccessful. Furthermore, from 1895 to 1899, Proust worked on an autobiography, which he eventually gave up writing (Greene). Later, this unfinished piece, along with a selection of others, was published. Marcel’s works, between the years of 1907 and 1908, were essential and were eventually incorporated into his last, and most popular novel, À la recherché du temps perdu. This novel, consisting of sixteen volumes, was published over a fifteen year period, the last three volumes published by his brother after his death in 1922 caused by a case of pneumonia. The first volume, Swann’s Way, was published in 1913, by Proust himself, as it was denied publication by Andre Gide, who clearly judged Marcel on his social reputation, rather than examining the book and extracting good qualities from it (Bussom). Swann’s Way, presented in the text, clearly shows a technique used by Sigmund Freud, “free association”, which allowed him to recall from his memory the pleasure he experienced after eating a piece of cake dipped in tea. More specifically, this piece brings to light Proust’s ability to write focused on the psyche rather than what one might experience simply in regular, set, or more directly, mechanical time (Fiero).

To expound upon the aspect of time, Marcel Proust is contrasted with Henri Bergson, who believed that time was a duration. Proust, on the other hand, believed that time included events, which are in relation, chronologically ordered, believing also that time was not ultimate and that insight into something comes when one takes from time rather than placing oneself within time (Weitz). According to Bussom, Marcel wrote from the experiences he had in his early life, specifically those which came from his memory (Bussom). One very interesting theme in Proust’s great novel is the closure of an essence as one pursues, or seeks after, an essence. One example of this fact, which is personally very sad to me as a Christian, is Proust’s view on love. To expound, Marcel portrays throughout his novel, using several different love relationships to illustrate, that love is only a set of properties, all of which can be studied and evaluated, each ending in the fact that love is not neither does it contain any essence (Weitz). Of course for me, as a Christian, I believe in the God who is love and who personally shows us and calls us to love Him and those around us.

To conclude, after examination of Marcel Proust’s life, which included a taste of his literature, one can see that from the very beginning he was not clearly rooted in God, nor did he follow a clear direction or a certain belief, one which would shape the pattern of his life and develop who he was, rather his mind and his memory, amongst other things, were what molded him, and were clearly evidenced in his writings. His viewpoint, in all areas, stemmed from the psyche rather than the natural as seen in his view of time and love. In the end, one can read Proust’s work, Á la recherché du temps perdu, and appreciate the depth and questions presented, along with the deeper way of evaluating past experiences through memory, and more directly, by taking sensory experiences from the psyche and bringing them to the “surface” or the conscious level.



Works Cited

Marcel Proust Interpreted through His Letters
Thomas W. Bussom
PMLA, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jun., 1931), pp. 619-640
Published by: Modern Language Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/458051

Greene, V. “Marcel Proust Biography” http://www.library.illinois.edu/kolbp/proust/index.html
Weitz, Morris. "Proust, Marcel (1871–1922)." Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Donald M. Borchert. Vol. 8. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 96-97. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Tidewater Community College. 14 Sept. 2009 .
Petri Liukkonen & Ari Pesonen Kuusankosken. “Marcel (Valentin-Louis-George-Eugene) Proust (1871-1922) -George-Eugene) Proust (1871-1922) -Louis-George-Eugene) Proust (1871-1922).” http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/proust.htm