num_pages: 219
description: The inspiration for three films and several operas, this classic of French literature is set in Regency Paris and Louisiana around 1720. A tragic love story, it's also an epic adventure story with three infidelities, three escapes, three abductions and two murders. The action spans two continents and a social range extending from the aristocracy to the social outcast, from pillars of the establishment to pimps and prostitutes. Manon Lescaut's ambiguous love story has a transcendent significance: Is it a cautionary tale, warning of the dangers to which passion, blindly followed, can lead? Or does it illustrate the redemptive power of love? After all, Des Grieux's perseverance in his devotion to Manon eventually brings about a profound change of heart in her and seems to make possible a lasting happiness based on deep mutual affection. The ambiguity persists to the end, when death snatches that happiness away.
language: French
title: Manon Lescaut
titlecomplete: Manon Lescaut
characters: Chevalier des Grieux, Manon Lescaut
genres: Literature, Classics, School, Novels, France, 18th Century, Historical Fiction, French Literature, Fiction, Romance
ratings_count: 12284
places: Paris
publisher: Hatier