Misplaced Desire

This chapter is articulated around the terror of desire that characterizes Seth’s work. The downplaying of desire in favor of a relationship grounded in affection or friendship is distinctive of Seth’s vision of love, in which marriage and procreation possess central importance. This continuing preoccupation with the institution of marriage entails the primacy of the heteronormative relationship. I highlight the many erotic triangles in Seth’s work, and tie these strategies of indirection to Proust’s A la Recherche du Temps Perdu.