# Flight of Albertine explained — In Search of Lost Time

> Chapter companion for In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

## What happens

The narrator grapples with intense jealousy and suspicion regarding Albertine's secret life, particularly her possible lesbian relationships. He reflects on the pain of loving someone whose inner thoughts and past remain inaccessible, and recounts a tense conversation where Albertine's slip of the tongue and defensive lies deepen his mistrust. The chapter culminates in his discovery that she has left him, triggering a crisis of grief and obsession.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Jealousy

The narrator's love for Albertine is inextricably linked to his torturous jealousy, which distorts his perception and drives the plot.

### Desire and Illusion

The narrator's desire for Albertine is based on an illusion of possession, while her true self remains inaccessible, leading to painful disillusionment.

### Sexuality and Secrecy

Albertine's hidden lesbian desires and the narrator's suspicions highlight the theme of concealed sexuality and the power of secrets.

## Character check-ins

### Marcel

The narrator is consumed by jealousy and suspicion, analyzing Albertine's words and actions for signs of infidelity, and ultimately faces her departure.

### Albertine Simonet

Albertine is the object of the narrator's obsessive jealousy; she lies about her intentions and slips up in conversation, revealing her secret desires and eventually fleeing.

### Charles Swann

Swann is mentioned briefly as a collector whose life the narrator contrasts with his own painful obsession.

### Madame Verdurin

Madame Verdurin is referenced as part of the social circle the narrator visits, triggering Albertine's angry reaction.

### Baron de Charlus

Charlus is recalled in a past scene at la Raspelière where he showed gallantry toward Albertine, prompting a discussion about jealousy.

### Charles Morel

Morel is mentioned in the context of Charlus's covert glances during the scene at la Raspelière.

## Key lines

> Love, what is it but space and time rendered perceptible by the heart.

Love is the heart's way of making distance and duration feel real and painful.

_The narrator reflects on how love transforms abstract space and time into visceral emotional experience._

> As we have no personal knowledge, one might almost say that we can feel no jealousy save of ourselves.

Jealousy is rooted in our own desires and imagination, not in objective knowledge of the other person.

_The narrator argues that jealousy is a projection of one's own impulses onto the beloved._

> I felt that I was touching no more than the sealed envelope of a person who inwardly reached to infinity.

Despite physical intimacy, the narrator feels he can never truly access Albertine's inner self, which remains boundless and mysterious.

_This metaphor captures the narrator's frustration with the limits of physical possession and the inaccessibility of another's soul._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/chapters/part-ii-iii-flight-of-albertine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/chapters