Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Proust became very annoyed when people would use trite and cliched expressions around him. Proust felt people should take the time to create unique expressions of their experiences, and to not rely upon tired sayings. They are "superficial articulations" of ideas and experiences, and they fall short in relaying one's personal impression of an object or situation. Proust criticized a fellow writer's work, The Lover and the Doctor by Gabriel de La Rochefoucauld, because he used phrases like "the moon is discreet." By contrast, Proust used a unique metaphor for the moon in one of his works, describing it as an actor who slipped in to the audience to watch the rest of her acting company. In the view Proust is espousing, this more elaborate and unique metaphor displays a more genuine impression of the moon than de La Rochefoucauld's somewhat...