Chapter 13 - Theatre and dance

Summary

Theatre looms large among the many art forms discussed and enjoyed in À la recherche du temps perdu, where the protagonist Marcel as a stage-struck boy runs to the Morris column near his home each day to view new playbills (1: 86; i, 72), and buys a photograph of the actress La Berma to dream over (2: 68; i, 478). The frequency and diversity of references to the stage in Proust's work reflect its contemporary cultural significance; while dance, though rarely evoked in comparison with other arts, is an important source of entertainment, as well as a required accomplishment in Marcel's milieu. References to plays, playwrights, theatres, performers and especially actresses litter the narrative or play significant roles in it, and dance is an unsettling spectacle, from the waltzing jeunes filles at the Casino at Incarville to the male ballet dancer who sparks a vicious argument between Saint-Loup and his mistress (the actress) Rachel in a Paris theatre. To speak of Proust, theatre and dance, one must attend to three areas: theatre and dance as they appeared in Proust's own time, as they intersected with his personal life, and as they inform his fiction.