Editing In Search of Lost Time (section)

== Main characters ==
[[File:Proust Main Characters.svg|thumb|530px|Main characters of the novel. Blue lines denote acquaintances and pink lines love interests.]]
=== The Narrator's household ===
*The Narrator: A sensitive young man who wishes to become a writer, whose identity is kept vague. In volume 5, ''The Captive'', he addresses the reader thus: "Now she began to speak; her first words were 'darling' or 'my darling,' followed by my [[Christian name]], which, if we give the narrator the same name as the author of this book, would produce 'darling Marcel' or 'my darling Marcel.'" ([[#ref Proust|Proust]], 64)
*The Narrator's father: A diplomat who initially discourages the Narrator from writing.
*The Narrator's mother: A supportive woman who worries for her son's career.
*Bathilde Amédée: The narrator's grandmother. Her life and death greatly influence her daughter and grandson.
*Aunt Léonie: A sickly woman whom the Narrator visits during stays at Combray.
*Uncle Adolphe: The Narrator's great-uncle, who has many actress friends.
*Françoise: The Narrator's faithful, stubborn maid.

=== The Guermantes ===
*Palamède, Baron de Charlus: An [[aristocracy (class)|aristocratic]], decadent [[aesthete]] with many antisocial habits. Model is [[Robert de Montesquiou]].
*Oriane, Duchesse de Guermantes: The toast of Paris high society. She lives in the fashionable Faubourg St. Germain. Models are [[Élisabeth Greffulhe|Comtesse Greffulhe]] and {{ill|Laure de Chevigné|fr}}.
*Robert de Saint-Loup: An army officer and the narrator's best friend. Despite his patrician birth (he is the nephew of M. de Guermantes) and affluent lifestyle, Saint-Loup has no great fortune of his own until he marries Gilberte. Models are [[Gaston Arman de Caillavet|Gaston de Cavaillet]] and Clement de Maugny.
*Marquise de Villeparisis: The aunt of the Baron de Charlus. She is an old friend of the Narrator's grandmother.
*Basin, Duc de Guermantes: Oriane's husband and Charlus's brother. He is a pompous man with a succession of mistresses.
*Prince de Guermantes: The cousin of the Duc and Duchess.
*Princesse de Guermantes: Wife of the Prince.

=== The Swanns ===
*Charles Swann: A friend of the narrator's family (he is modeled on at least two of Proust's friends, Charles Haas and [[Charles Ephrussi]]). His political views on the [[Dreyfus Affair]] and marriage to Odette ostracize him from much of high society.
*Odette de Crécy: A beautiful Parisian [[courtesan]]. Odette is also referred to as Mme. Swann, the lady in pink, and in the final volume, Mme. de Forcheville.
*Gilberte Swann: The daughter of Swann and Odette. She takes the name of her adopted father, M. de Forcheville, after Swann's death, and then becomes Mme. de Saint-Loup following her marriage to Robert de Saint-Loup, which joins Swann's Way and the Guermantes Way.

=== Artists ===
*Elstir: A famous painter whose renditions of sea and sky echo the novel's theme of the mutability of human life. Modeled on [[Claude Monet]].
*Bergotte: A well-known writer whose works the narrator has admired since childhood. The models are [[Anatole France]] and [[Paul Bourget]]. 
*Vinteuil: An obscure musician who gains posthumous recognition for composing a beautiful, evocative sonata, known as the [[Vinteuil Sonata]].
*Berma: A famous actress who specializes in roles by [[Jean Racine]].

=== The Verdurins' "Little Clan" ===
*Madame Verdurin (Sidonie Verdurin): A poseur and a salonnière who rises to the top of society through inheritance, marriage, and sheer single-mindedness. One of the models is [[Léontine Lippmann|Madame Arman de Caillavet]].
*M. Verdurin: The husband of Mme. Verdurin, who is her faithful accomplice.
*Cottard: A doctor who is very good at his work.
*Brichot: A pompous academic.
*Saniette: A palaeographer who is subjected to ridicule by the clan.
*M. Biche: A painter who is later revealed to be Elstir.

=== The "little band" of Balbec girls ===
*Albertine Simonet: A privileged orphan of average beauty and intelligence. The narrator's romance with her is the subject of much of the novel.
*Andrée: Albertine's friend, whom the Narrator occasionally feels attracted to.
*Gisèle and Rosemonde: Other members of the little band.
*Octave: Also known as "I'm a wash-out", a rich boy who leads an idle existence at Balbec and is involved with several of the girls. Model is a young [[Jean Cocteau]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Patrick |date=2009-09-22 |title=Marcel Proust's Search for Lost Time: A Reader's Guide to The Remembrance of Things Past |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4C0I7dCktgC&q=octave+cocteau+proust&pg=PA289 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |page=289 |isbn=978-0307472328 |access-date=2020-11-12 |archive-date=2024-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527081842/https://books.google.com/books?id=l4C0I7dCktgC&q=octave+cocteau+proust&pg=PA289#v=snippet&q=octave%20cocteau%20proust&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Others ===
*Charles Morel: The son of a former servant of the narrator's uncle and a gifted violinist. He profits greatly from the patronage of the Baron de Charlus and later Robert de Saint-Loup.
*Rachel: A prostitute and actress who is the mistress of Robert de Saint-Loup.
*Marquis de Norpois: A diplomat and friend of the Narrator's father. He is involved with Mme. de Villeparisis.
*Albert Bloch: A pretentious Jewish friend of the Narrator, later a successful playwright; an [[alter ego]] of Marcel. 
*Jupien: A tailor who has a shop in the courtyard of the Guermantes hotel. He lives with his niece.
*Madame Bontemps: Albertine's aunt and guardian.
*Legrandin: A snobbish friend of the Narrator's family. Engineer and man of letters.
*Marquis and Marquise de Cambremer: Provincial gentry who live near Balbec. Mme. de Cambremer is Legrandin's sister.
*Mlle. Vinteuil: Daughter of the composer Vinteuil. She has a wicked friend who encourages her to lesbianism.
*Léa: A notorious lesbian actress in residence at Balbec.