Two societies in Search for Lost Time: Paris, Balbec

In vol 4 of Proust's In Search of Lost Time (Sodom and Gomorrah, in whichever tr you're reading; I'm reading the Penguin Deluxe John Sturrock tr.) narrator Marcel makes his second visit to Balbec, this time he's older, more mature, more sexually experienced and confidant. The real contrast, though, is not so much w/ his earlier Balbec visit (in vol. 2, when he's fascinated by and ultimately brought w/in the circle of the "young girls in flower") but w/ the social scene in Paris that constitutes the first half of this volume. Put simply, the Paris world - seen mostly through the soiree chez the Prince and Prince des Guermantes - is a world that Marcel looks at somewhat from the outside. Though the Guermantes family welcomes him into the social event, he seems throughout to be an observer and chronicler (little did any of MP's aristocratic friends have any idea how this young dilettante would later memorialize, and skewer, in a great work of literature). The world of the Guermantes, or The Guermantes Way, is exclusive and privileged, even to those invited into the circle - as we see from Marcel's strained efforts to be "introduced" to his host and from the extreme deference the guests all pay to all of the Guermantes clan, including the repulsive bully M. de Charlus. The Balbec society, a seaside culture more informal and relaxed, centers on the Wednesday-evening gatherings at the Verdurins - and MP's depiction differs greatly from his depiction of the Paris salons. In Balbec the guests all see one another as part of "the little clan," and there's a long, somewhat sweet (unusual for the Search) passage about how they recognize one another on the "little train" that takes them to the Verdurins, saving seats in the carriage, etc. In this group, Marcel is an insider, a long-time member. It's true - the group is probably just as exclusive and proprietary as the Paris salon, when seen from the outside - MP includes a scene in which they basically kick a farmer out of "their" railroad carriage, for example. The "little group" together act as if they own the railroad, and to others the group must seem as snobbish as the salons of Paris - but here Marcel is an "insider" and his tone is different, if not his (or our) ultimate judgment.