Manon Lescaut

Uncommon card · No. 152199

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...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Abbé Prévost, Public domain