The Lady with the Camellias

«The Lady with the Camellias» — a novel about problems that very few were willing to openly discuss in the mid-19th century. It is a book about the love of the mortally ill Marguerite Gautier, a lady of the demi-monde, for the young and romantic Armand Duval, a love that is passionate, tragic, and doomed. The story, inspired by the author's feelings for Marie Duplessis, is a model of psychological literature of unparalleled depth. The image of the Parisian courtesan was embodied on stage by the great actress Sarah Bernhardt, and in cinema by the world-renowned star Greta Garbo. At the premiere of the play based on the novel, composer G. Verdi attended, who later composed the famous opera «La Traviata» based on «The Lady with the Camellias». Alexandre Dumas (1824—1895) — a French playwright and prose writer. The son of Alexandre Dumas père and Catherine Labay, a simple Parisian worker from whom he inherited a love for a quiet lifestyle, sharply contrasting with his father's purely bohemian nature. He lived a long and rich life, which included both passionate romances and literary work. Dumas fils addressed pressing issues of social and family life with the courage and talent that turned each of his works into a public event. «I draw my plots from dreams,— said Dumas père, — while my son finds them in reality. I work with my eyes closed — he works with his open. I draw — he photographs.»