Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescaut is a classic of French Literature, has never been out of print in France since its publication in 1731 and has inspired several operatic versions and at least three films. Set in Regency Paris and Louisiana around 1720, it has a significance which transcends its context. It is a love story, but a profoundly ambiguous one. 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, as 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 matches that happiness away. As well as a tragic love story, this is also an adventure story with a host of incidents and a wide range of characters. There are 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.