4. Was Proust a frail little guy who acted like a scared child for his entire life? 

4- Proustaverses 

Marcel Proust is a frail, effeminate little man who has always acted like a child and is coddled by his housekeeper Céleste. He is completely conflict-avoidant, buys affection with extravagant gifts and excessive tips, is bowed down by all sorts of fears and, afraid of his own shadow, even has his incoming mail sterilized. 

4- Proustophiles 

A few examples show that he was not a wimp who let himself be pushed around. His duel with the journalist Jean Lorrain after he had suggested that Proust had a secret homosexual relationship with Lucien Daudet proves this. Marcel is also known for a few – rare but unmistakable – aggressive outbursts. During the war, he is out with a friend, hails a taxi, but a soldier pushes his way into the taxi before them. The soldier instantly regretted his decision. After a short but powerful outburst of anger, Marcel had his taxi. The famous scene with the broken vase after a fight with his mother. The night adventure in which he goes to retrieve some books from a friend. When his friend’s housekeeper refuses to open (it was the middle of the night), he bangs on the shutters with his walking stick so furiously that the poor lady in question quickly opens before the whole street wakes up. During World War II, he refuses to take shelter in the cellar or the metro. He goes for walks at night and watches the spectacle of the planes bombing Paris and the fireworks of the anti-aircraft guns that go with it.