NEW BOOK INTRODUCTION
The Passion That Ignited Generations
«… and I will feel myself only too well rewarded by a single moment spent with her, for all the griefs I have suffered in order to win it»
Manon. Impulsive, irresistible and tormented: a femme fatale avant la lettre or a victim of her own weaknesses?
Des Grieux. Inexperienced, obsessive and helpless: the first devoted romantic or a self-destructive young man?
— a novel so compelling for how modern it feels — .
Histoire du chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut was published by Abbé Prévost in 1731.
Originally intended to be part of a collection of stories, it acquired immense popularity after been banned by the French censorship because of its morally questionable content.
The tragic and deeply human novel written by the abbot is indeed a timeless exploration of desire and its consequences.
Officially declared to be a morally-instructive example for the readers, it allegedly has autobiographical inspiration (as the same Prévost joined his abbey after an unhappy love-affair).
It is not a coincidence for the story to be narrated trough the voice of Des Grieux… this makes the character of Manon so much more intriguing, because we can only speculate about her real thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
Manon. Who prefers to become a courtesan.
Des Grieux. Who begs to be exiled to Louisiana.
The tragic story of the two young lovers — parted more than once by fate and by their awful choices — has become music through the sensibility of Jules Massenet, Daniel Auber and Giacomo Puccini.
Puccini’s opera is in fact an almost overwhelming expression of longing, passion and desire.
— In his Intermezzo the emotional heart of the entire story is painfully exposed. —Final Notes
One last striking connection… in La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils, the novel Manon Lescaut makes a significant appearance — it is gifted by Armand to his beloved Marguerite. This very gift lights the flame of the whole narrative, later to inspire Verdi’s La Traviata.
— Over the decades, 14 theatre pieces and 12 movies have been devoted to this story, along with countless paintings. —
I encourage you to experience the passion that inspired so many artists, directly from the words that moved them. Here is the edition I recommend.
ARTWORKS
— Manon Lescaut, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1895ca, oil on canvas, 22.5 cm X 18.5 cm.
— Elle s’assit lorsque nous fûmes seuls, Alexandre-Joseph Desenne, 1827, engraved illustration.
— L’arrestation, Maurice Leloir, 1904, aquatint illustration.
— Manon Lescaut and Her Lover, Des Grieux, Are Set Ashore in Louisiana, Albert Lynch, 1896, oil on canvas, 22.5 cm X 18.5 cm.
— John Barrymore as des Grieux and Dolores Costello as Manon in When a Man Loves, directed by Alan Crosland, 1927.
— L’abbé Prévost lit Manon Lescaut, Joseph Caraud, 1856, oil on canvas, 88.9 cm X 114.3 cm.