The Marcel Proust Questionnaire

These are the Questions Proust was asked twice, once at the age of 13 and once when he was around 20 (these are his responses). I'd be curious how you'd respond. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? To be separated from Mama Where would you like to live? In the country of the Ideal, or, rather, of my ideal What is your idea of earthly happiness? To live in contact with those I love, with the beauties of nature, with a quantity of books and music, and to have, within easy distance, a French theater To what faults do you feel most indulgent? To a life deprived of the works of genius Who are your favorite heroes of fiction? Those of romance and poetry, those who are the expression of an ideal rather than an imitation of the real Who are your favorite characters in history? A mixture of Socrates, Pericles, Mahomet, Pliny the Younger and Augustin Thierry Who are your favorite heroines in real life? A woman of genius leading an ordinary life Who are your favorite heroines of fiction? Those who are more than women without ceasing to be womanly; everything that is tender, poetic, pure and in every way beautiful Your favorite painter? Meissonier Your favorite musician? Mozart The quality you most admire in a man? Intelligence, moral sense The quality you most admire in a woman? Gentleness, naturalness, intelligence Your favorite virtue? All virtues that are not limited to a sect: the universal virtues Your favorite occupation? Reading, dreaming, and writing verse Who would you have liked to be? Since the question does not arise, I prefer not to answer it. All the same, I should very much have liked to be Pliny the Younger. This questionnaire tells us much about two things, the character of petiit Marcel, and the amusement of the young in the Belle Epoque. We see Marcel as a sweet and dreamy Mama's boy, brainy, aesthetic, a young citizen of the world with much sympathy for the feminine. What he sees in Pliny the Younger, famous only for speaking and writing letters, is hard to grasp. "Seven years after the first questionnaire, Proust was asked, at another social event, to fill out another; the questions are much the same, but the answers somewhat different, indicative of his traits at 20 (www.chick.net/proust/question.html Your most marked characteristic? A craving to be loved, or, to be more precise, to be caressed and spoiled rather than to be admired The quality you most like in a man? Feminine charm The quality you most like in a woman? A man's virtues, and frankness in friendship What do you most value in your friends? Tenderness - provided they possess a physical charm which makes their tenderness worth having What is your principle defect? Lack of understanding; weakness of will What is your favorite occupation? Loving What is your dream of happiness? Not, I fear, a very elevated one. I really haven't the courage to say what it is, and if I did I should probably destroy it by the mere fact of putting it into words. What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes? Never to have known my mother or my grandmother What would you like to be? Myself - as those whom I admire would like me to be In what country would you like to live? One where certain things that I want would be realized - and where feelings of tenderness would always be reciprocated. [Proust's underlining] What is your favorite color? Beauty lies not in colors but in thier harmony What is your favorite flower? Hers - but apart from that, all What is your favorite bird? The swallow Who are your favorite prose writers? At the moment, Anatole France and Pierre Loti Who are your favoite poets? Baudelaire and Alfred de Vigny Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Hamlet Who are your favorite heroines of fiction? Phedre (crossed out) Berenice Who are your favorite composers? Beethoven, Wagner, Shuhmann Who are your favorite painters? Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt Who are your heroes in real life? Monsieur Darlu, Monsieur Boutroux (professors) Who are your favorite heroines of history? Cleopatra What are your favorite names? I only have one at a time What is it you most dislike? My own worst qualities What historical figures do you most despise? I am not sufficiently educated to say What event in military history do you most admire? My own enlistment as a volunteer! What reform do you most admire? (no response) What natural gift would you most like to possess? Will power and irresistible charm How would you like to die? A better man than I am, and much beloved What is your present state of mind? Annoyance at having to think about myself in order to answer these questions To what faults do you feel most indulgent? Those that I understand What is your motto? I prefer not to say, for fear it might bring me bad luck.