Manon Lescaut
The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut is a novel by Antoine François Prévost. It tells a tragic love story about a nobleman (known only as the Chevalier des Grieux) and a common woman (Manon Lescaut). Their decision to live together without marriage is the start of a moral decline that also leads to gambling, fraud, theft, murder, and Manon's death as a deportee in New Orleans.
The story was first published in 1731 as the final volume of Prévost's serial novel Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality. In 1733, all copies for sale in Paris were seized due to the volume's morally questionable content. This effective ban contributed to an increase in popularity, prompting unauthorized reprints. In 1753, Prévost published Manon Lescaut as a revised standalone book, which is now the most commonly reprinted version.
The novel was unusual for depicting Paris's "low life" and for discussing the lovers' money problems in numerical detail: both choices contribute to its realism and its aura of scandal. The story is narrated retroactively by des Grieux, an early example of the French genre of the confessional récit. Over the centuries, audiences have judged the character Manon differently. Eighteenth-century audiences saw her as an unworthy figure who inspired pity due to the sincerity of her love. Nineteenth-century responses saw her as a nearly mythological sex symbol, either a femme fatale who corrupts des Grieux or a hooker with a heart of gold. Today, scholars tend to see Manon as a victim of broader social forces, who is misrepresented by des Grieux's narration of her experience.
The novel is regarded as a classic, and in 1991 it was the most reprinted novel in French literature, with over 250 editions over the preceding 260 years. It has frequently been adapted into plays, ballets, films, and particularly operas. The most renowned adaptations are the operas Manon Lescaut by Daniel Auber (1856), Manon by Jules Massenet (1884), and Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini (1893).
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