Marcel Proust’s Character Questionnaire
from Julie Abbruscato
from Julie Abbruscato
The French author Marcel Proust (In Search of Lost Time) invented this “character” questionnaire. In the late nineteenth century, lists of questions like this were a popular diversion – a sort of parlor game -- designed to discover new things about old friends. As you don your writer’s hat to embark on this retreat, you may find it helpful.
While these questions were originally intended for two participants interviewing each other, they can also be a helpful way to check in with yourself, or to get to know your characters more deeply. Answer the questions with either yourself or someone else in mind.
This list was compiled in 1885, so feel free to skip any questions that don’t resonate with your modern sensibilities. Or change the question to suit your perspective. The idea is to gently interrogate your subject (0r yourself) and arrive at a deeper understanding of what matters to them (or you).
1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
2. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
3. What is your current state of mind?
4. What is your favorite occupation?
5. What is your most treasured possession?
6. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
7. What is your favorite journey?
8. What is your most marked characteristic?
9. When and where were you the happiest?
10. What is it that you most dislike?
11. What is your greatest fear?
12. What is your greatest extravagance?
13. Which living person do you most despise?
14. What is your greatest regret?
15. Which talent would you most like to have?
16. Where would you like to live?
17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
18. What is the quality you most like in a man?
19. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
20. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
21. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
22. What do you most value in your friends?
23. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
24. Whose are your heroes in real life?
25. Which living person do you most admire?
26. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
27. On what occasions do you lie?
28. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
29. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
30. What are your favorite names?
31. How would you like to die?
32. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
33. What is your motto?
While these questions were originally intended for two participants interviewing each other, they can also be a helpful way to check in with yourself, or to get to know your characters more deeply. Answer the questions with either yourself or someone else in mind.
This list was compiled in 1885, so feel free to skip any questions that don’t resonate with your modern sensibilities. Or change the question to suit your perspective. The idea is to gently interrogate your subject (0r yourself) and arrive at a deeper understanding of what matters to them (or you).
1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
2. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
3. What is your current state of mind?
4. What is your favorite occupation?
5. What is your most treasured possession?
6. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
7. What is your favorite journey?
8. What is your most marked characteristic?
9. When and where were you the happiest?
10. What is it that you most dislike?
11. What is your greatest fear?
12. What is your greatest extravagance?
13. Which living person do you most despise?
14. What is your greatest regret?
15. Which talent would you most like to have?
16. Where would you like to live?
17. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
18. What is the quality you most like in a man?
19. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
20. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
21. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
22. What do you most value in your friends?
23. Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
24. Whose are your heroes in real life?
25. Which living person do you most admire?
26. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
27. On what occasions do you lie?
28. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
29. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
30. What are your favorite names?
31. How would you like to die?
32. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
33. What is your motto?