Manon Lescaut

Manon Lescautis a groundbreaking novel of passion and immorality, and one of the most famous love stories of all time. The Chevalier des Grieux is still a young man, but already life and bitter experience have worn him to a shell. The kindness of a stranger persuades him to reveal his troubles, the story of his helpless and ill-starred love for Manon, and the mutually destructive affair which has given him, in turn, the joy of sexual love and the misery of betrayal and moral degradation. First published in 1731, Prevost's story proved to be hugely influential, its passionate and tragic mode inspiring a number of operas and ballets, while the compelling character of Manon prefigures a host of 19th-century Romantic heroines. Novelist and Benedictine Antoine François Prévost is one of the foremost writers of the 18th century. His works have inspired lasting admiration for their lucidity and penetrating psychology.

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The young Chevalier des Grieux, a student of philosophy at Amiens, meets Manon as she is entering a convent. He frees her & they flee to Paris where they live extravagantly, he as a card cheat, she as a mistress to an old & wealthy nobleman. They run away with the money & jewels, are apprehended by the police, imprisoned & exiled to the penal colony in Louisiana

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If you are one of the favored few privileged to ride in chaises you may find the combination of Broadway during the evening rush-hour in a late November storm stimulating you may that is provided you have a reliable driver.

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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. Copyright

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Although I was delighted to find him so determined, I called M. de T----, and informed him of the project, and of the only difficulty in the way. He thought it not so easy of execution. He allowed the possibility of escaping thus: But if she be recognised,' continued he, if she be stopped in the attempt, all hope will be over with her, perhaps for ever. Besides, you would be obliged to quit Paris instantly, for you could never evade the search that would be made for you.

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I HAVE never kept either note-book or journal and as my memory is not a retentive one I have allowed much to escape which I should now vainly attempt to recall.

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Manon Lescaut by the Abbe Prevost was a controversial novel originally banned in France due to its scandalous content -- the passionate and unrepentant sensual relationship of a young nobleman and a beautiful courtesan. The young chevalier des Grieux renounces his riches and his noble family to be with the incomparable Manon. Together they are swept into poverty, misfortunes, and ultimately, tragedy in the New World. This love story has been immortalized in opera. And, as with other grand romances of history and literature, Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Tristan and Iseult, the passion of these young fierce lovers captures the imagination and sympathies of the reader.

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The inspiration for three films & several operas, this classic of French literature is set in Regency Paris & Louisiana around 1720. A tragic love story, it's also an epic adventure story with three infidelities, three escapes, three abductions & two murders. The action spans two continents & a social range extending from the aristocracy to the social outcast, from pillars of the establishment to pimps & 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 & seems to make possible a lasting happiness based on deep mutual affection. The ambiguity persists to the end, when death snatches that happiness away.