{"id":3177,"date":"2018-02-12T17:21:24","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T17:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/?page_id=3177"},"modified":"2018-02-19T19:29:02","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T19:29:02","slug":"letters-from-robert-de-montesquiou-to-marcel-proust-25-december-1916-and-marcel-proust-to-madame-straus-27-december-1916","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/letters-from-robert-de-montesquiou-to-marcel-proust-25-december-1916-and-marcel-proust-to-madame-straus-27-december-1916\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters from Robert de Montesquiou to Marcel Proust, 25 December 1916, and\u00a0Marcel Proust to Madame Straus, [c. 27 December 1916]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.frit.illinois.edu\/people\/erswish2\">Emily Swisher<\/a>, graduate student in French<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-3177 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1785\" height=\"2915\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1.jpg 1785w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1-768x1254.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_001-1-627x1024.jpg 627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1785px) 100vw, 1785px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1785\" height=\"2914\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1.jpg 1785w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1-768x1254.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_003-1-627x1024.jpg 627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1785px) 100vw, 1785px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1776\" height=\"2901\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005.jpg 1776w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005-768x1254.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05a_montesquiou_4_004_005-627x1024.jpg 627w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1776px) 100vw, 1776px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Letter from Robert de Montesquiou to Marcel Proust, 25 December 1916<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Dear Marcel,<\/p>\n<p>I always enjoy reading the pleasant embellishments suggested to you, with each new occasion that I offer, by the topic of a visit <u>to be made to me<\/u>, <u>yet unrealized, and which will happen soon<\/u>\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat a pretty thing, a page that sings\u201d said the Lady of the Rochers <a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[3]<\/a>; your pages provide me this, and I listen to them, with the tranquility that comes from the reassuring conviction that you would certainly not, for me, commit the imprudence of leaving your bed, especially since I offered to come at the slightest sign, which need not be long like Yseult\u2019s scarf\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[4]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gobineau affirms that \u201cpresence discomforts\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[5]<\/a>; you do not go so far; but not to judge it indispensable is to admit, like myself, that exchanged electricity, at the time when it is strong, suffices to maintain, from one foyer to another, light and heat.<\/p>\n<p>Farewell! I will soon send you a volume which, I hope, will earn me, on your part, fewer insults than the last.<\/p>\n<p>Your friend,<\/p>\n<p>Robert de M.<\/p>\n<p>Christmas [1]916<\/p>\n<p>P.S. \u2013 All the same your kind letter inspires in me more tenderness than I show (love seems too much like <u>a trick of the elderly<\/u>), but I would like to embrace you nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, I will send you <u>white violets<\/u> and <u>gilded chocolate<\/u>\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[6]<\/a> if it does you no harm.<\/p>\n<p>The sorry state of our good friend from Miromesnil <a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[7]<\/a>, whom I have learned to appreciate, grieves me deeply.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is becoming sad, except dying.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as\u00a0Proust-Series 8 (Montesquiou to Proust) \/ Item Montesquiou 4-004, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0Allusion to a letter from Proust (which P. Kolb dates to 16\u00a0September 1916) where he declines an invitation from Montesquiou. See\u00a0<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XV,\u00a0p. 336-37.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) \u201cAh! la jolie chose qu\u2019une feuille qui chante\u00a0!\u201d Citation of a letter from Madame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9 to Madame de Grignan, at Rochers, 26 June [1680]. See\u00a0<em>Lettres de Madame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9 de sa famille et de ses amis.<\/em> t. 6, p. 488.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Likely allusion to the operatic drama, <em>Tristan und Isolde<\/em>, composed by Richard Wagner between 1857 and 1859. In the third act, a dying Tristan waits for a sign from his lover, which comes in the form of a waving scarf that Isolde brandishes from her approaching ship.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a>\u00a0Possible allusion to Arthur de Gobineau, a French diplomat, writer, and ethnologist whose most famous work was his <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/essaisurlingali00gobigoog\"><em>Essai sur l\u2019in\u00e9galit\u00e9 des races humaines<\/em><\/a>, published in 1853.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) Proust\u2019s housekeeper, C\u00e9leste Albaret, recalls Montesquiou promising to send chocolates from Nice during a previous visit to the author. Proust apparently requested she discard any gifts sent by the Count, saying he wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they contained poison (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XV, p. 342; see also\u00a0<em>Monsieur Proust<\/em>, p.\u00a0314-315).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn1\">[7]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) Reference to Genevi\u00e8ve Straus, who lived at 104 rue de Miromesnil (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XV, p. 342).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-3177 gallery-columns-4 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1911\" height=\"2580\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1.jpg 1911w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1-768x1037.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_1-758x1024.jpg 758w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1911px) 100vw, 1911px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3186'>\n\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1904\" height=\"2571\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2.jpg 1904w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2-222x300.jpg 222w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2-768x1037.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_2-758x1024.jpg 758w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1904px) 100vw, 1904px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3188'>\n\t\t\t\t2\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2575\" height=\"1907\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3.jpg 2575w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3-768x569.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_002_3-1024x758.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2575px) 100vw, 2575px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3189'>\n\t\t\t\t3\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2578\" height=\"1915\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-3187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4.jpg 2578w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4-768x570.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2018\/02\/proust_letters_05b_lefebvre_f3_001_4-1024x761.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2578px) 100vw, 2578px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-3187'>\n\t\t\t\t4\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Letter from Marcel Proust to Madame Straus, [c. 27 December 1916]\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Madame,<\/p>\n<p>I know it is irritating to hear that one is looking well when one is suffering. Therefore, I hesitated to write you that I have never received from you a letter as lovely, as attentive, in such good form, having a better \u201cvoice\u201d and more \u201ccolor\u201d than the one, so lively, that you wrote to me to tell me that you were half dead\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe, half living and me half dead,\u201d says Hugo.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, you are not the one \u201cwith whom I slept\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[10]<\/a>! I hesitated to write all of this to you, although it is the truth, for the reason I just mentioned, and also, because I think that if you are undergoing a rest cure, you might not want to receive letters.<em>\u00a0<\/em>No sooner had your letter arrived than I learned, like every time that one no longer needs to know something[,] that you were indisposed, in a letter from Montesquiou <a href=\"#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[11]<\/a> who was saddened by this with great tenderness. When I am told (I will try to make a visit to your chambermaid or to your manservants) that you are seeing people once again, I will come immediately. In the meantime, I am sending well-wishes, have no doubt, to you and to Monsieur Straus. But there are, between too many countries and ourselves, \u201cinnumerable fragile and painful ties\u201d which Sully Pr[udhomme], whom you like, wrote about <a href=\"#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[12]<\/a>. And it [is] not easy to have happiness, nor even to dare to hope for any, as long as \u201cthe Germans are in Noyon\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[13]<\/a>. We are like people in mourning for whom there are no celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>Your respectful friend,<\/p>\n<p>Marcel Proust<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn2\">[8]<\/a>\u00a0Letter catalogued as Proust-Series 1 \/ Lefebvre 036, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn3\">[9]<\/a> Allusion to the preceding letter from Madame Straus to Proust, which Kolb dates from 26\u00a0December 1916 (<em>Corr<\/em>., vol. XV,\u00a0p. 343).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn4\">[10]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) Reference to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.textetc.com\/exhibits\/et-hugo-1.html\">the poem \u201cBooz Endormi\u201d by Victor Hugo<\/a>\u00a0(1859), verses 45-48.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn4\">[11]<\/a>\u00a0Allusion to the above letter from Montesquiou that Proust received on 25\u00a0December 1916.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn4\">[12]<\/a>\u00a0(Note by P. Kolb) \u201cD\u2019innombrables liens fr\u00eales et douloureux\u201d is a citation from \u201cLes Cha\u00eenes\u201d by Sully Prud\u2019homme (1865-1866), verse 3. Prud\u2019homme, a French poet, is notable for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nobelprize.org\/nobel_prizes\/literature\/laureates\/1901\/prudhomme-bio.html\">having won the first Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn5\">[13]<\/a> (Note by P. Kolb) Georges Clemenceau remarks in two editorials, once in 1915 and again in 1916, that the Germans are in Noyon \u2013 only \u201c80 kilometers\u201d from Paris (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XV, p. 345). Georges Clemenceau\u2019s wartime editorials were published in <a href=\"http:\/\/gallica.bnf.fr\/ark:\/12148\/cb32787180z\/date\">L\u2019Homme Encha\u00een\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>In these two letters, exchanged on and shortly after Christmas, 1916, the oppressive presence of World War I seems to weigh heavily on the correspondents. A week prior, on December 18, the German forces withdrew from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Battle-of-Verdun\">battle of Verdun<\/a>, ending the long struggle for strategic position in the area. It was a grueling ten months, during which the combined French and German casualties were estimated at nearly one million. The general unease surrounding the situation is apparent in both Montesquiou\u2019s and Proust\u2019s missives. Montesquiou, in a sobering and pithy closing to his letter, claims that \u201ceverything is becoming sad, except dying.\u201d Similarly, Proust admits to Madame Straus that any hope for happiness will be hard to find, so long as the \u201cGermans are in Noyon.\u201d The \u201ccelebrations\u201d he mentions are likely a reference to the Christmas holiday, which, \u201clike people in mourning,\u201d he is unable to enjoy. The <a href=\"http:\/\/en.musee-territoire-1418.fr\/Discovering\/Towns-and-villages\/Noyon-and-the-First-World-War\">German occupation of Noyon<\/a> was significant, as it was only 112 kilometers from Paris.<\/p>\n<p>The letter from Montesquiou <a href=\"#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[14]<\/a> to Proust, dated \u201cChristmas\u201d 1916, contains thinly masked malcontent: the Count sarcastically praises Proust for not committing \u201cthe imprudence\u201d of leaving his bed for a visit. In a previous letter, dated 16\u00a0December, Proust affirms that he is so ill that cannot leave his bed \u201cbut two or three times per month\u201d and predicts in advance that he will be unable to meet with Montesquiou (<em>Corr<\/em>, vol. XV, p 336). As one of his longest-standing correspondents, the Count is embittered by the writer\u2019s repeated attempts to postpone a visit \u2013 indeed, he and Proust saw each other only very rarely after 1907. Despite their infrequent visits, Proust was nonetheless inspired by Montesquiou in his work on <em>\u00c0 la recherche<\/em>: in the painstakingly penned flourishes that we see in this letter, full of literary allusions and multi-layered metaphors as well as in the bitterness of its reproaches, it is not difficult to recognize Charlus, the ostentatious aristocrat whose character Proust partly fashioned after the Count.<\/p>\n<p>In the second letter, Proust\u2019s pretext of being unable to leave his bed vanishes: he promises to visit Madame Straus <a href=\"#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[15]<\/a> as soon as her health permits. She, like Proust, suffered from chronic illness, and the two often commiserated about their various ailments. A cultivated woman who was both an art collector and an amateur sculptor, Genevi\u00e8ve Straus hosted three successive salons in Paris attended by many aspiring artists, among whom figured Proust <a href=\"#_ftn16\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[16]<\/a>. Here, Proust compliments her on her skill in crafting her previous letter to him, which is artfully poetic, even from her \u201cdeath bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While this dispatch is peppered with literary references, many of them evoking images of death, it is interesting to note Proust\u2019s conclusion. As he draws a close to his letter with the customary formalities (\u201cI am sending well-wishes, have no doubt, to you and to Monsieur Straus\u201d), Proust seems to understand the hollowness of such formulas, and references a poem by Sully Prud\u2019homme, fittingly titled \u201cThe Chains.\u201d Madame Straus would no doubt have been familiar with the verse that Proust cites, from the first stanza of the poem: \u201cI wanted to love everything, and I am unhappy \/ because I have multiplied the causes of my torments \/ innumerable fragile and painful ties \/ in the entire universe course from my soul to things\u201d <a href=\"#_ftn17\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[17]<\/a>. Proust\u2019s mention of \u201ctoo many countries and ourselves\u201d recalls the poem\u2019s \u201centire universe,\u201d highlighting the confused despair of wanting to love all things in a time of such misery, as well as the far-reaching grip of the war which is depressingly pervasive. In leaving his reader with the image of chains and impossible happiness, Proust thus recognizes the irony in imparting well-wishes intended to bring cheerfulness at a time as hopeless as the one in which he is writing. \u201cLike people in mourning,\u201d he and everyone around him must put any hope for happiness on hold.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn3\">[14]<\/a> See <a href=\"https:\/\/archives.library.illinois.edu\/rbml\/?p=creators\/creator&amp;id=1200\">more information on Robert de Montesquiou<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn4\">[15]<\/a> See <a href=\"https:\/\/jwa.org\/encyclopedia\/article\/straus-genevieve\">more information on Genevi\u00e8ve Straus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref16\" name=\"_ftn5\">[16]<\/a>\u00a0See the biographical notice by Virginie Greene in\u00a0<em>Lettres<\/em>, p. 1288-1289.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref17\" name=\"_ftn5\">[17]<\/a> \u201cJ\u2019ai voulu tout aimer, et je suis malheureux \/ Car j\u2019ai de mes tourments multipli\u00e9 les causes \/ D\u2019innombrables liens fr\u00eales et douloureux \/ Dans l\u2019univers entier vont de mon \u00e2me aux choses.\u201d From <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/oeuvresdesullypr01sulluoft\">\u201cLes Cha\u00eenes\u201d by Sully Prud\u2019homme<\/a>, verses 1-4 (<em>Po\u00e9sies\u00a0 1865-1866<\/em>, p. 9). Translation by E. Swisher.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Works cited<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Proust, Marcel.\u00a0<em>Correspondance<\/em>. Ed. Philip Kolb. Paris: Plon (21 vols), 1970-1993.<\/p>\n<p>Proust, Marcel. <em>Lettres<\/em>. Ed. Fran\u00e7oise Leriche with Caroline Szylowicz. Paris: Plon, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Prud\u2019homme, Sully. <em>Po\u00e9sies 1865-1866<\/em>.\u00a0Paris: Lemerre, 1900.<\/p>\n<p><em>Lettres de Madame de S\u00e9vign\u00e9 de sa famille et de ses amis.<\/em>\u00a0Ed. M. Monmerqu\u00e9, Paris, 1862.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/2018\/02\/19\/proust-and-the-great-war-part-2\/\">Back to list of letters<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Emily Swisher, graduate student in French Letter from Robert de Montesquiou to Marcel Proust, 25 December 1916\u00a0\u00a0[1] Dear Marcel, I always enjoy reading the pleasant embellishments suggested to you, with each new occasion that I offer, by the topic of a visit to be made to me, yet unrealized, and which will happen soon\u00a0[2]. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3177","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3177"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3493,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3177\/revisions\/3493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/rbx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}