Virginia Woolf and Marcel Proust are the outstanding novelists of European culture in the twentieth century. Being the representatives of the modernists’ literature school, these authors are frequently compared. Hence, it is particularly curious that their most famous works “To the Lighthouse” and “In Search of Lost Time” both came to light in 1927. Whether it is due to the common literature traditions or to the spirit of the relevant time period, these novels have a lot of common traits, indeed. Thus, the plot is focused on a family story, and a considerable part of the narration takes place in a country house. Both writers put a particular emphasis on the issue of relationships’ psychology: a profound analysis dominates over dynamic actions; a detailed character’s portrayal prevails over complicated narrative strands.
As far as the novels focus on the family life description, one can easily guess that food scenes play an important role in both the texts. Thus, skillful philosophers, Woolf and Proust, introduce a series of ambiguous symbols and implications, welcoming the readers to figure out the hidden meaning themselves.
To begin with, the most vivid example of the food implication in the relevant novels is, certainly, the symbol of a family unity and common leisure. One should necessarily note that the idea of describing family relationships and characters in the context of common dinners is rather wide-spread. Thus, the Ramseys’ reunion around the dinner table is one of the most significant scenes in “To the Lighthouse.” This part of narration helps a reader receive a better understanding of Mrs. Ramsey’s character. The woman’s personality reveals through her intention to please her family and guests by serving them with exquisite and delicious dishes. At the first sight, one might find her fussiness about the food issue slightly excessive. Mrs. Ramsey seems to be too obsessive in her wish to have the things properly served – “…everything depended upon things being served up to the precise moment they were ready. The beef, the bayleaf, and the wine—all must be done to a turn” (Woolf 77). Nevertheless, a thorough analysis makes one understand that this anxiety is, first and foremost, connected with the woman’s eagerness to please. A delicious meal is one of the ways to make people feel good and calm; hence, there is no surprise that Mrs. Ramsey, who always experiences deep sympathy and pity for all the people around her, uses food to express her affection.
Meanwhile, the family dinners in the unnamed narrator’s house in “In the Search of Time” also serve as a symbol of idle leisure and pleasant conversations. According to the narrator, food used to unite different people in the house; it represented a fine chance to gather with friends and relatives. As well as in “To the Lighthouse”, family dinners served to be one of the rare occasions suitable for the common pastime. Meanwhile, Proust’s description of the dinner table is more detailed and less tense. One can hardly note any anxiety here. Instead, the narrator provides long and vivid descriptions of every ingredient present at the family meals – “…cherries, the first to come from the cherry-tree, which had yielded none for the last two years; a cream cheese, of which in those days I was extremely fond; an almond cake, because she had ordered one the evening before…” (Proust 78). Such an explicit description makes one understand that food did not just serve to be a nice background but played an independent and important role in the life of the family.
It is also important to mention the specific characters of the house fathers in both the novels. The men are depicted as strict and reserved people that do not get on well with their children. It is rather problematic to find the scenes illustrating any common activity in which children and their fathers would take part. Thus, just like in real life, the dinner episodes, in these texts, represent the rare chances for all the characters to gather together and try to understand each other better. Whether it is an implication for liveliness and fuss, like in “To the Lighthouse”, or the symbol of peace and pleasant idleness, like in “In Search of Lost Time”, food stands for safety and comfort in both the novels, and its descriptions make readers plunge into some nice reflections as if they have come across something incredibly familiar and close.
In spite of the parallel food implications in both the novels, Woolf and Proust also have some particular symbolic approaches to offer to their readers. Thus, a closer acquaintance with “To the Lighthouse” text helps one note some specific meaning that the food scenes possess. The dinner depicted in the final part of the book reveals some new traits of Mrs. Ramsey’s character. In this scene, one notes that the woman’s true intention is not only connected with her wish to please but also with her need for appreciation. The author describes “a ring of great pleasure” in Mrs. Ramsey’s voice when the latter speaks about the exclusive recipe that she received from her grandmother (Wolf 95). One might presume that food issue is one of the few fields where the woman feels confident enough. While speaking about products and their quality, Mrs. Ramsey tries to present herself the best way; she can, at last, enjoy the sense of being listened to, she grasps the opportunity to be the object of someone’s attention – “she was thoroughly roused, Lily could see, and talked very emphatically” (Woolf 97).
It is highly curious how the seemingly insignificant topic of food can inspire a woman, enable her to open up and feel significant. Nevertheless, the Mrs. Ramsey’s intention to be noticed is perfectly explicable – a brief analysis of her husband’s character leaves no doubt that the woman hardly ever gets a chance to feel important and estimated. It is particularly essential to note, that Mrs. Ramsey’s speech is mainly addressed to Lily, the girl that truly worships her; thus, in her presence, Mrs. Ramsey feels ultimately safe and can afford to speak in such a passionate manner. Although the characters in “In Search of Lost Time” also appreciate delicious meals and sophisticated dishes, one will have some difficulties with finding any scenes in the book that would illustrate such an animated discussion around the food issue.
In the meantime, Proust, in his turn, provides an equally curious food implication. Thus, the author uses food symbols as the character’s links to the past. The narrator from “In Search of Time” has an entire series of food implications that make him recall his childhood. Whether it is the image of the “plump little cakes called petites madeleines’” that he was lucky to try as a small boy, or the sweet warm tea in which he “soaked a morsel of the cake” – such recollections surprise and perplex the reader at the same time (Proust 49). It seems unbelievable that a grown-up man remembers precisely the details like this. Moreover, this insignificant memory seems to have a soothing effect on the narrator’s initially low spirits – “…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…” (Proust 50). It seems that the author prompts his readers to turn to their own memories about the childhood and to recall the sweet cakes that were present on their dinner tables.
Despite the fact that the described implications have a different character they are both aimed at illustrating how the main characters come over some inner problems and challenges with the help of food issue. Whether it is Mrs. Ramsey who tries to seize the chance of being heard, or the narrator in “In Search of Time,” who is eager to return the pleasant emotions that remained for good in his childhood, food symbols help to reveal these characters, they show some hidden traits and emotions, they allow a reader to peek into a very secure and personal zone of the people described.
Another curious issue for the analysis of food symbols in these novels is, certainly, the application of food-related adjectives to the notions that are not directly connected with eating. Thus, one can find an entire abundance of the word “sweet” in Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse.” Whereas some of these applications are rather predictable, like, for example, “voices, harsh, hollow, sweet”, other stylistic decisions seem to be principally new (Woolf 160). In such a way, the word “delicious” is used in a rather unexpected context. The term is applied in order to describe the feelings of a young boy, Jasper, who is engaged in playing in the backyard garden. The author calls his childish excitement “this delicious emotion, this impure rhapsody” and the food-related adjective serves perfectly to transmit the idea (Woolf 25).
Whereas, Woolf’s application of the food-related adjectives to the non-relevant issues seems to be rather moderate, Proust’s text is ultimately replete of the following examples. The author uses excessively food-related vocabulary applying it to any notion of the everyday life. Thus, standing in the middle of the churchyard, the narrator describes the flowers that remind him of an almond cake (Proust 123). In another scene, the main character speaks of the fire that is “baking appetizing smells,” and that adds a peculiar coziness to the room’s atmosphere (Proust 56).
It is equally curious to analyze the application of the non-food vocabulary to the descriptions of meals and dishes. Thus, in “To the Lighthouse”, one comes across the Boef en Daube that is called a “masterpiece” (Woolf 77). The narrator from “In Search of Lost Time” refers to the dessert as to “an occasional piece of music” (Proust 78). Whereas, at the first sight, these vocabulary transformations seem to be rather common and insignificant, they are of great importance for depicting the role of food symbols in the text. It is not only the vivid portrait descriptions that the authors endow their characters with – the latter also receive a peculiar manner of speaking and thinking; in fact, they receive their personal language. The words and phrases that the characters use can sometimes tell a reader more than the obvious narrative line. Hence, Mrs. Ramsey’s tendency to personalize eatable notions reveals her particular attitude to the food issue. The Proust’s character’s habit to compare trivial objects with products and their qualities provides an entire series of symbols that remain alive in his mind and memory.
In conclusion, one might note that food descriptions are present in almost every literature text. Thus, the novels under discussion are not an exception – food scenes play an important role in both books. Woolf and Proust make a skillful use of the food-related thematic for various purposes. Sometimes they use food scenes to create an appropriate background for the described events, sometimes, food, on the contrary, becomes the center of the action. In other cases, they apply food implications in order to reveal some extra facts about their characters, to make them closer to the reader, to let one peep into their most secure thoughts. Particular food scenes serve to be a link to the past events. In either way, both “To the Lighthouse” and “In Search of Lost Time” employ the symbols of food that are familiar and clear to every reader. One should necessarily note that the described food scenes are represented in a particularly eloquent manner that makes them so live and vivid. It is due to the writers’ talent and the perfect linguistic skill that the reader can enjoy these “delicious” descriptions throughout the two novels.
The Summary of “In Search of Lost Time: The Way by Swann’s”
“In Search of Lost Time” must be one of the most prominent works in the French literature of the twentieth century. This novel is considered to be autobiographical; indeed, the author admitted that the key plotline had a lot in common with the life story of his own. The narration covers quite a long period of about fifty years, thus, enabling the readers to examine all the minor changes and alterations that happen to the main characters.
“The Way by Swann’s” is the first part of this seven-volume masterpiece. One might say that this part is a kind of a detailed introduction to the book itself as it gets the reader acquainted with the main characters and the key plot’s intrigues. Thus, from the very first lines of the story, the unnamed narrator welcomes the readers to make a trip to his childhood memories. The narrator speculates upon his family and relatives, their vacation spent in a cozy country house in Combray and the people that came to visit them.
One of these visitors is Charles Swann, who is, in fact, the central figure of the first volume. The man is depicted as a typical representative of the high society; he has refined manners and an elegant style. Swann’s affection for Odette and the unfortunate outcome of this affair represent one of the most exciting parts of the story. Other significant characters in the relevant volume are the members of the aristocratic family of Guermantes. A considerable part of the narration is devoted to the description of the neighboring houses of the Swans and the Guermantes.
The story represents the first-person narration that is sometimes told on behalf of the narrator as a small boy, sometimes – as a grown-up man. The retrospective review is mixed with the reality, the symbolic memories give way to the current events – all this makes Proust’s narrator especially detailed and deliberate. The skillful application of stylistic devices helps the author create exceptionally true and impressive images.
Works Cited
Proust, Marcel. In Search of Lost Time: The Way by Swann’s, London: Penguin Group, 2003. Print.
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse, San Diego, California: Harvest Book, 1989. Print.