# Doctor Cottard — In Search of Lost Time character guide

> Doctor Cottard in In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cottard, Dr. Cottard, Professor Cottard

**First appearance:** 0005-swann-in-love

## Snapshot

A physician of genuine diagnostic gift and social anxiety, whose transformation from timid young doctor to glacial professor is one of the Verdurin salon's most instructive exhibits.

## Who they are

Cottard began as a hesitant, over-eager young man whom the Verdurins took up and made fashionable, and he repaid them with a loyalty that survives every change in their fortunes. In public he has learned to wear an icy professional mask, complete with cutting remarks and a shaved face, but among the faithful he reverts to the punning, eager self they first befriended. His career is a small parable of how Parisian society manufactures eminence, and his devotion to the clan shows how much a man will pay for the illusion of belonging.

## In the story

### [Madame Swann at Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/chapters/part-i-madame-swann-at-home)

Doctor Cottard and his wife are mentioned as part of Swann's social experiment to invite them to meet the Duchesse de Vendôme.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/chapters/part-ii-iii)

Participates in the salon discussion with puns and skeptical remarks about philosophy and literature, showing his characteristic wit.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/chapters/part-ii-iv)

Cottard's earlier words about Albertine are confirmed by the narrator's discovery.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/characters/cattard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/in_search_of_lost_time_se/characters