16/08/2022
This revelation comes during the celebrated Bal de Têtes scene in which the narrator, having been absent for many years, encounters the surviving characters of the novel. Prior to entering the event a series of intense memories, akin to those inspired by the taste of the madeleine, dramatically reinvigorate his sense of vocation. He realises that the subject of his great work is to be the loss of his calling and the lengthy journey to retrieve it. Once he discovers that he is unable to identify any of the figures who are to be characters within the work, as they have now aged beyond recognition, he is disheartened but is saved by his introduction to the youthful Mademoiselle Saint-Loup, the daughter of Gilberte and Robert. She reminds him of his own youth and helps restore his sense of purpose. The narrator and author are now one and the same.
