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Manon Lescaut

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Manon Lescaut (Histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut) is a short novel by French author Antoine François Prévost (the Abbé Prévost). Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité (Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality).

It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication. Despite this it became very popular and pirated editions were widely distributed.

The story has influenced a number of ballets and operas, such Manon Lescaut (1856) by French composer Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Manon (1884) by French composer Jules Massenet, and Manon Lescaut (1893) by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.

Summary

Set in France and Louisiana in the early 18th century, the story follows the hero Manon and her lover Cevalier des Grieux. Though she finds brief happiness in her love and relationship with Grieux, their difference in social class keeps them apart as she is unwilling to surrender her life of wealth and comfort for him.

References

  • "Prévost (d'Exiles, Antoine François), Abbé". (2004 ed.). 2003. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |ency= ignored (help)
  • "Prévost d'Exiles, Antoine-François, Abbé". (2005 ed.). 2005. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |ency= ignored (help)
  • Template:Harvard reference
  • Kunitz, Stanley J. & Colby, Vineta (1967). François Prévost, Antoine in European Authors 1000-1900, pp. 743-4. H.W. Wilson Company, New York.
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