Swann's Way Characters

by

Swann's Way Character List

Marcel

Narrator—long descriptions of his love for Combray, as well as his mother's kiss before nighttime.

Marcel's Mother

In short, Marcel's love for her goodnight kisses determine his position in the story. She becomes worried of Marcel's nervous ailments without her love and affection. She strongly differs from Marcel's Father.

Marcel's Father

Marcel's Father makes sure that Marcel is acting appropriately. He is not a fan of Marcel's addiction to his mother's affection. Nonetheless, he is a good father for Marcel throughout the story.

Marcel's Grandparents

Are important in the beginning of the story. They live in Combray where Marcel and his family visit for vacation sometimes. Marcel's grandfather and Charles Swann are good acquaintances.

Charles Swann

An important character to "Swann's Way". He is the great "friend" of Marcel's family and visits often at their home. He is talented in many aspects of life and is very wealthy. He falls in love with his soon-to-be wife, Odette.

Odette

A beautiful, sweet, and talented character on the outside, but a vicious, horrible person on the inside. M. Swann is blinded by her beauty and surpasses her horrible qualities and falls in love with her. In summary, she is extremely unfaithful and rude to Swann throughout the story.

Gilberte

The daughter of Swann and Odette—Marcel's future love.

Update this section!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this section.

Update this section

After you claim a section you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.

Cite this page

Study Guide for Swann’s Way

Swann's Way study guide contains a biography of Marcel Proust, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Swann’s Way…

Essays for Swann’s Way

Swann's Way literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Swann's Way.

E-Text of Swann’s Way

Swann's Way E-Text contains the full text of Swann's Way

Read the E-Text for Swann’s Way…

Wikipedia Entries for Swann’s Way

View Wikipedia Entries for Swann’s Way…