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Guermantes family
fictional characters
Guermantes family, fictional characters in Marcel Proust’s seven-part novel À la recherche du temps perdu (1913–27; Remembrance of Things Past or In Search of Lost Time). Just as the family of Charles Swann signifies, to the narrator Marcel, the wealthy bourgeoisie, the Guermantes family, with its roots deep in French history, signifies the glamorous aristocracy. The family includes the prince and princess de Guermantes; the duke and duchess de Guermantes; the duke’s promiscuous gay brother baron de Charlus; and Robert de Saint-Loup, a marquis who introduces Marcel into the Guermantes’ social circles.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.
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