He’s not just the other one. You know, the one that Odette went off with, forsaking Swann. No, Forcheville is the prime contender for the Place Name: The Name award, his name in and of itself a place, or rather the idea of place. Also the idea of two places. And I just love that Odette has chosen to go off with him. The narrative seems to fork when he comes into the picture. There’s a dream that Swann has where he’s walking on a path by the sea and Odette goes off with Forcheville, leaving Swann behind. Off to Egypt. And Marcel to Balbec.
To me, Swann seems to be a guy who likes to define things, pin them down. When he hears Vinteuil’s sonata, he chooses a small phrase and then calls it the national anthem of his love for Odette. His appreciation for Odette is heightened when he describes her as resembling Jethro’s daughter Zipporah in a painting by Botticelli. Swann is, as I see it, the place holder, the sign, poor guy (a link to explain, in case you wonder why I’d say that! ). The one who’s defined by everything around him. It’s not really Swann’s Way. The sign has its way, not Swann, ‘du coté de’ chez Swann being near the home where Swann (the sign, the signe, the cygne) resides. Which means that yes, I believe that Swann, like Forcheville, is yet another example of a Place Name: the Name. Charles Swann is the sign made flesh – Charles transmuting to Charlus as the flesh grows weary, is ‘used.’ And yet there’s also an alchemy there – The flesh is light itself- in the reincarnative sense i.e. Charles is reincarnated as Charlus. The sign Swann functions as an agent of change like its owner Charles Swann- a stockbroker i.e. un ‘agent de change.’
And then there’s Odette – whom I view as the representative of the little phrase (an Ode-ette, as I wrote about here). She’s grown tired of being forced to fit into a small phrase of the music, and wishes to expand her horizons. Think of Odette Swann as a little phrae of signs strung together into a concept. She escalates in society as she attaches herself to different signs (men) to increase her social status or value. And she’s done with Swann. Forcheville will take her places. They’re to go off to Egypt. Or rather, MP will pair Odette (the little phrase) with Forcheville as the novel branches out and grows more complex. Some call this the fractal quality of the novel. And as the novel grows more complex, so too does the sonata, now a septet with many more voices, themes and so on.
Having said all this, I still cling to the notion that de Forcheville also represents the two place-names I’ve been speaking off in every post- Combray and Venice. The name ‘de Forcheville’ (of the forked towns) pairs perfectly with the name Odette (the little phrase). Odette will go off with Forcheville and Marcel to Balbec. Swann is destined to remain in Combray, just a worn-out sign whose better days are behind him. We’re told he hooks up with Mme de Cambremer- so in that sense he’s still at home – sharing approximate roots- Combray/Cambray/Cambre- and next to, or should I say ‘du coté’ de, la mer. Cambre-mer.
