--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the pavement, I could see the window…" description: "\"“From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s room, that window, formerly quite black, at night, when she was not staying in the house, whi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg" --- # From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s… ![“From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s room, that window, formerly quite black, at night, when she was not staying in the house, which the electric light inside, dissected by the slats of the shutters, striped from top to bottom with parallel bars of gold.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg) > ““From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s room, that window, formerly quite black, at night, when she was not staying in the house, which the electric light inside, dissected by the slats of the shutters, striped from top to bottom with parallel bars of gold.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator observes a transformed view of a once‑dark window, now illuminated by electric light that creates a patterned, golden striping, symbolizing altered perception and memory. **In simple terms:** Seeing a familiar scene reshaped by light. Key Takeaway Light changes how we recall spaces. Themes perception memory light transformation subjectivity Mood nostalgic contemplative Type descriptive literary When to use this quote - reflecting on a childhood home - describing a lover’s room - analyzing changes in atmosphere Key Concepts visual metaphor temporal shift subjective experience Practical Applications - literary analysis - creative writing inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How does light alter our memory of a place? - What does the striped pattern suggest about the narrator’s feelings? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Captivity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captivity/) [Electric light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/electric-light/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) ## Related quotes > [“I've played the song for a lot of people who respond, 'Hmmmm, this is interesting,' but in a way it's more like 'There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/i-ve-played-the-song-for-a-lot-of-people-who-respond-hmmmm-this-is/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [“For if we think of this existence of the individual as a larger or smaller room, it becomes clear that most people get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/for-if-we-think-of-this-existence-of-the-individual-as-a-larger-or/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [“In the cellar that was a window to another world, they sat and watched Nick's mum, mountainous and grey, mossey - eared and flat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-f-harold/in-the-cellar-that-was-a-window-to-another-world-they-sat-and-watched/) A. F Harold > [I can't live in a room without a window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruskin-bond/i-can-t-live-in-a-room-without-a-window/) [Ruskin Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruskin-bond/) > [Thank you God for giving me a ray of light inside the darkest tunnels, a guiding beacon as I travel stormy seas, a steady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazz-ramirez/thank-you-god-for-giving-me-a-ray-of-light-inside-the-darkest-tunnels/) [Jazz Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazz-ramirez/) > [“I call you sunshine,' he whispers and brushes his knuckles down my face, 'because when you smile, you light me up inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-proby/i-call-you-sunshine-he-whispers-and-brushes-his-knuckles-down-my-face/) [Kristen Proby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-proby/) > [“God created each one of us with a light inside. I’ve had sex with all kinds of people; every single person has a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rawi-hage/god-created-each-one-of-us-with-a-light-inside-i-ve-had-sex-with-all/) [Rawi Hage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rawi-hage/) > [We can see the light but we are still inside the tunnel, ... We have not been able to get to all the communities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-can-see-the-light-but-we-are-still-inside-the-tunnel-we-have-not/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“It’s like you have all this light inside of you, but you can’t see it. It chases away the darkness in people and draws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bianca-scardoni/it-s-like-you-have-all-this-light-inside-of-you-but-you-can-t-see-it/) [Bianca Scardoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bianca-scardoni/) > [Whenever you can't see the light, whenever there's no one inside, keep on moving on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemonade-mouth/whenever-you-can-t-see-the-light-whenever-there-s-no-one-inside-keep/) Lemonade Mouth > [“When a dark age comes, hold the light inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-frost/when-a-dark-age-comes-hold-the-light-inside/) [Mark Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-frost/) > [“Inside me there was everything I had believed was outside. There was, in particular, the sun, light, and all colors. There were even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/inside-me-there-was-everything-i-had-believed-was-outside-there-was/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [“The light inside houses was always so golden yellow. Oswald wondered if humans saved up sunshine and piped it through their lamps.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-pascoe/the-light-inside-houses-was-always-so-golden-yellow-oswald-wondered/) [Sara Pascoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-pascoe/) > [“The extravaganza of nature ignites the light that you have inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/the-extravaganza-of-nature-ignites-the-light-that-you-have-inside/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [Everyone has some kind of light inside them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-mckinnon/everyone-has-some-kind-of-light-inside-them/) [Kate McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-mckinnon/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Captivity quotes > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [When a captive lion steps out of his cage, he comes into a wider world than the lion who has known only the wilds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/when-a-captive-lion-steps-out-of-his-cage-he-comes-into-a-wider-world/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [Release your majestic mind, embrace your untamed inner spirit. Break free from captivity, avoid society.. You were born to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-muller/release-your-majestic-mind-embrace-your-untamed-inner-spirit-break/) Melanie Muller > [“bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-baker/bringing-every-thought-into-captivity-to-the-obedience-of-christ/) [Heidi Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-baker/) > [Attempts to defend amusement parks and circuses on the grounds that they 'educate' people about animals should not be taken seriously. Such enterprises are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/attempts-to-defend-amusement-parks-and-circuses-on-the-grounds-that/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge. For if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/a-man-is-saved-no-faster-than-he-gets-knowledge-for-if-he-does-not/) [Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/) > [“They put me and more 300 companions of misfortune and captivity in the strait and infected basement of a ship. Thirty days of cruel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-firmina-dos-reis/they-put-me-and-more-300-companions-of-misfortune-and-captivity-in/) Maria Firmina dos Reis > [“In situations of captivity the perpetrator becomes the most powerful person in the life of the victim, and the psychology of the victim is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-lewis-herman/in-situations-of-captivity-the-perpetrator-becomes-the-most-powerful/) [Judith Lewis Herman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-lewis-herman/) > [“An unbroken horse erects his mane, paws the ground and starts back impetuously at the sight of the bridle; while one which is properly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rousseau-jean-jacques/an-unbroken-horse-erects-his-mane-paws-the-ground-and-starts-back/) [Rousseau Jean-Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rousseau-jean-jacques/) > [The less control people had over their work, the higher their blood pressure during work hours. Moreover, blood pressure at home was unrelated to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/the-less-control-people-had-over-their-work-the-higher-their-blood/) [Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/) > [We get into captivity because of our foolishness and we are more foolish that we want to admit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-giglio/we-get-into-captivity-because-of-our-foolishness-and-we-are-more/) [Louie Giglio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-giglio/) > [We can laugh from either joy or happiness, but we weep only from grief or joy...Without the pain of farewell, there is no joy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-vaillant/we-can-laugh-from-either-joy-or-happiness-but-we-weep-only-from-grief/) [George Vaillant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-vaillant/) > [“It is up to you whether social, intelligent and wonderful creatures are to be freed from their chains and cages where ruthless people keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natascha-kampusch/it-is-up-to-you-whether-social-intelligent-and-wonderful-creatures/) [Natascha Kampusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natascha-kampusch/) > [“Stability and order have always been paid for with captivity and blood. (76)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/stability-and-order-have-always-been-paid-for-with-captivity-and/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [“Mary was like a caged tiger in the first days of her captivity. Keen, alert, and watchful, she listened tensely each dawn for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/mary-was-like-a-caged-tiger-in-the-first-days-of-her-captivity-keen/) [Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/) [Browse all 180 Captivity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/captivity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s room, that window, formerly quite black, at night, when she was not staying in the house, which the electric light inside, dissected by the slats of the shutters, striped from top to bottom with parallel bars of gold.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window-of-albertine-s-room-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Captivity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window-of-albertine-s-room-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a2/marcel-proust-114_captivity_from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window_64785.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From the pavement, I could see the window of Albertine’s room, that window, formerly quite black, at night…” — Marcel Proust", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“From the pavement, I could see...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window-of-albertine-s-room-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/from-the-pavement-i-could-see-the-window-of-albertine-s-room-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```