The young Chevalier des Grieux recounts the tragic story of his passion for Manon and betrayal at her hands. Capricious, mercenary, alert to virtue but alive to pleasure, Manon is one of literature's "femmes fatales".
A devastating depiction of obsessive love and a haunting portrait of a captivating but dangerous woman
When the young Chevalier des Grieux first sets eyes on the exquisitely beautiful and charming Manon Lescaut they fall passionately in love. But his happiness turns to bitter despair when he discovers that Manon is mercenary and immoral, and has taken a rich lover to pay for their life of pleasure. A broken man, he swears to stay away from her, but cannot. Just as the Chevalier is helpless to end their relationship, so Manon is incapable of giving up the source of her income, and the lovers enter a destructive cycle that can only end in tragedy. Manon Lescaut (1731) is a devastating depiction of obsessive love and a haunting portrait of a captivating but dangerous woman.
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