Manon Lescaut

The famous story «The History of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut» is unique and has firmly taken its place among the most outstanding works of world literature.
Abbot Prévost created two unforgettable images in his novel: the Chevalier des... Grieux — a model of selfless love, devotion, and forgiveness, and the image of Manon, unmatched in artistic perfection in world literature, — the heroine who lived three hundred years ago is still as captivating, although her moral principles are far from perfect even by today's standards. Guy de Maupassant said that «writers have left us only three or four wonderful images of women», and after Shakespeare's Juliet, he named Manon Lescaut. The image of Manon inspired many poets, artists, and musicians, operas have been written on the plot of this novel, ballet productions have been created, and films have been made.
We present to the readers the unadapted text of the novel, accompanied by comments and a glossary.