The Story of Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut

The novel takes place in France in the era of the Regency (1715-1723), which is generally characterized by a decline in the morals of aristocratic society and the emancipation of its representatives in the manifestation of love feelings. The narration is conducted on behalf of a noble young man by the name of de Grieux, who told the story of his life to a noble man: "I wrote down his story almost immediately by listening to it and, therefore, there should be no room for doubts about the accuracy and fidelity of my story."

Being seventeen years old, he is completing a course in philosophy at Amiens College . In the seminary where he studies, he has a devoted friend - Tiberge , three years older than him. After passing the exams (the bishop even offered him the priesthood) de Grieux is going to return to his father, but meets a beautiful stranger who has just arrived in the city on a stagecoach . This is Manon Lesko, whom her parents decided to send against her will to the monastery “in order to curb her penchant for pleasures.” De Grieux, being a timid and shy young man by nature, falls madly in love with her at first sight and persuades the girl to run with him. Tiberge does not approve of the friend’s intentions, but he does not listen to his exhortations and secretly leaves the city with his beloved in the direction of Paris , where they rent furnished rooms. According to the young man: “The intention to get married was forgotten in Saint-Denis ; we transgressed the laws of the church and became spouses, not thinking about it at all. ” Once, returning home earlier than usual, de Grieux learns of Manon’s betrayal with a well-known farmer, Mr. de B ..., who lived in the neighborhood and, apparently, is not the first time he visits the girl in his absence. In the evening, de Grieux hears a knock on the door, opens it and is captured by the servants of his father, who was ordered to deliver the "prodigal son" home. In the carriage, where his brother accompanies him, he is lost in conjecture: who betrayed him, how did his father know his place of residence? At home, he learns from his father that this is the work of Mr. de B ... who, having struck up a relationship with Manon and finding out who her lover is, decides to get rid of his rival and, in a letter to his father, informs of the young man's dissolute lifestyle. Cavalier de Grieux loses consciousness from what he heard, and when he regains consciousness, he asks his father to let him go to Paris with his beloved, but his father remains adamant about his prayers and leaves him at home under strict supervision, where he has been for six months.

De Grieux returned to Paris after Tiberge persuaded him to continue his studies in order to accept tonsure. Successfully studying theology, the young man spent about a year trying not to remember and avoiding Manon, but after the exam at the Sorbonne de Grieux again converges with her. They live together in a house in Chaillot , on the outskirts of Paris, with money from her connection with B ..., for which young people intend to live comfortably for several years. However, later their house in Chaillot burned down, and during the fire the chest with their money disappeared. De Grieux, knowing her character so as not to lose her beloved, decides to hide the loss of money from her and borrow it for the first time from Tiberge, who consoles him, insists on breaking the painful connection, but gives de Grieux the requested amount of money.

Manon introduces de Grieux to his brother, who serves in the royal guard and he persuades him to improve his financial situation at the gaming table, which he succeeds in. With the money won in cards, lovers rent a house in Paris and a careless life begins again. Tiberge, trying to reason with a friend and warn against new vicissitudes of fate. Later, the servant took advantage of the gullibility of the owners and robbed them. Brother Manon tells them about Mr. de G ... M ..., an old man who pays for his carnal pleasures without sparing money, and advises his sister to go to him for maintenance. "Old red tape" invites the girl to dinner, at which he promises to give her half of the promised annual maintenance. Manon asks if she can bring her little brother for dinner (referring to de Grieux), during which Manon with his "brother" and money run away. Mr. de G ... M ..., realizing that he was fooled, is seeking the arrest of swindlers. De Grieux was placed in the Saint-Lazare prison, where upon learning that Manon is in Salpetriere, he decides to escape from prison.

With the help of her brother, he is free and for the purpose of his release, Manon meets the son of the head of the correctional shelter, Mr. de T ... who, moved by learning the history of their relationship, arranges for him to meet with a girl whom he had not seen for three months. Seeing their suffering, the shelter guard volunteers to help them, having discussed with Mr. de T ... the details of the escape, de Grieux releases Manon the next day.

The author himself, in response to criticism of immorality and the prohibition of the book, in an anonymous article printed, noting that “the composition exposes all the dangers that lasciviousness entails” wrote about the main characters: “Although both of them are very dissolute, you feel sorry for them because you see that their unbridledness stems from weak will and the heat of passion, and that they also condemn their behavior internally and recognize how reprehensible it is ” ^[2] .

George Sand in his novel “Leon Leoni” (1834-1835), conceived as a kind of contrast to the composition of the abbot Prevost, changes the relationship of the heroes and shows the selfless female love, suffering from the selfishness and depravity of the hero.

The novel "Manon Lesko" in the novel by Alexander Dumas the son " Lady with Camellias " plays a very important role ^[3] , has many references and parallels. Arman Duvall perceives the history of his relationship with Margarita Gauthier through the prism of this work and gives his novel, and after her death, the narrator buys this book at auction. In the dedicatory inscription Margarita is directly compared with Manon: "Margarita the humble Manon" ^[4] . In the introductory article to the publication of the novel in 1875 ^{[5], the} writer notes that in the story of Prevost, as in any perfect work, the spirit of the era was clearly reflected, however, “The feelings that are described in it and which are inalienable from the human heart, vol. e. from that which remains eternally unchanged, they will remain equally true, but the facts described will continually outrage you with their implausibility. ” Dumas claims that if de Grieux's father, Tiberge, depraved old men and other characters of the story are vivid representatives of the Regency’s era, then Manon herself is a timeless type: “You are youth, you are sensuality, you are lust, you are joy and eternal temptation for a man. You even loved - as much as someone like you can love, that is, you loved, wanting only pleasure and profit from love. "I had only to sacrifice something - you shied away from it."

Maupassant in his introduction (“The Story of Manon Lescaut”) to the 1885 edition wrote about the heroine of the novel that she was: “the most feminine of all, simple-minded, vicious, treacherous, loving, exciting, witty, dangerous and charming. In this image, full of charm and innate cunning, the writer seemed to embody everything that is the most fascinating, captivating and low in women. Manon is a woman in the full sense of the word, exactly the kind that she always has been, is and will be a woman ” ^[6] .

When considering the novel Crime and Punishment , V. V. Nabokov noted that it was precisely from Manon that those romantic heroines (for example, Sonya Marmeladova ) derive their literary origin: “who, through no fault of their own, had to live outside the framework established by society and on which society took over the burden of shame and suffering associated with their lifestyle. These heroines have never been translated in world literature since the good abbot Prevost brought them in the image of Manon Lescaut much more refined and therefore more touching in 1731. ” ^[7] Literary scholars note the influence of the novel of the French writer, both directly and indirectly through “The Lady with the Camellias” on Dostoevsky’s novel “ The Player ” ^[8] . So, N.K. Danilova, unites them on the basis of the common theme of “the destructive power of passions that dominate a person if he is not able to oppose them with his firm will” ^[9] . V.R. Grib , describing the author of the novel as “One of the founders of bourgeois literature of the 18th century”, noted: “It can be considered the true ancestor and predecessor of literature on the“ night side of the soul ”, which played such an important role in the 19th century, starting from romantics and ending with Dostoevsky and his countless epigones in the XX century ” ^[10] .

Opera and Ballets

• 1830 - “ Manon Lescaut ” (1830) - Jean Omer’s ballet to the music of Fromantale Halevy (Paris Opera).
• 1856 - “ ” - a three-act opera by Daniel Ober based on the libretto by Eugene Scribe .
• 1884 - “ Manon ” (1884) - the lyric opera of Jules Massenet based on the libretto by Henri Méliak and Philippe Gilles.
• 1893 - “ Manon Lesko ” - opera in 4 acts by Giacomo Puccini on the libretto by Luigi Illiki, Giuseppe Giacoza, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Domenico Oliva and Marco Prague with the participation of Giacomo Puccini and Giulio Ricordi.
• 1894 - " " - one-act opera shepherd Jules Massenet based on the libretto by Georges Bouillet.
• 1952 - “ ” - one-act lyric opera by Hans Werner Hentze on the libretto by Greta Weil based on the play by Walter Jokkisch. The action takes place in Paris after the Second World War.
• 1974 - “ Manon ” - Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet to music, collected from various works of Jules Massenet.

Films

• 1949 - " Manon " - a film by Henri Clouseau with Cecile Aubrey in the title role.
• 1968 - " Manon 70 " - a film by Jean Ourel with Catherine Deneuve in the title role.
• 1980 - “ The History of the Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut ” - a film-performance of Roman Viktyuk .
• 2011 - “ The Story of the Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut ” - a film by Gabriel Agion .

• Royal girls

• “ Dangerous Liaisons ” - a novel by Schauderlo de Laclos, according to the publishing tradition, is often placed under the same cover as Manon Lescaut.

• “ The inscription on the book ” (1912) - a poem by Nikolai Gumilyov.
• “ Cavalier de Grieux!” “In vain ” (1917) - a poem by Marina Tsvetaeva.

• Prevost A.-F. The History of the Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lesko / Translation by M. A. Petrovsky edited by M. V. Vakhterova; ed. preparation. M.V. Vakhterova, E.A. Gunst; open ed. E. A. Gunst. - M .: Nauka, 1964. - Applications. - 288 p. - ( Literary Monuments / USSR Academy of Sciences ; Chairman of the Editorial Board V.P. Volgin ). - 125,000 copies.

• Bibliography of Russian translations “The Stories of the Cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut” // The History of the Cavaliers de Grieux and Manon Lescot / A.-F. Prevost; translation of M. A. Petrovsky edited by M. V. Vakhterova; ed. preparation. M.V. Vakhterova, E.A. Gunst; open ed. E. A. Gunst. - M .: Nauka, 1964. - Applications. - S. 271—276. - 288 p. - (Literary Monuments / USSR Academy of Sciences; Chairman of the Editorial Board V.P. Volgin).
• Vipper Yu. B. Two masterpieces of 18th-century French prose: introductory article // Manon Lescaut / Abbot Prevost; translation by M. Petrovsky. Dangerous communications / C. de Laclos; translation by N. Rykova. - M .: Fiction, 1967. - S. 5-24. - 528 s. - (Library of World Literature. Ser. First; vol. 56).
• Gunst E. A. Life and work of the abbot Prevost // History of the cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut / A.-F. Prevost; translation of M. A. Petrovsky edited by M. V. Vakhterova; ed. preparation. M.V. Vakhterova, E.A. Gunst; open ed. E. A. Gunst. - M .: Nauka, 1964. - Applications. - S. 221-270. - 288 p. - (Literary Monuments / USSR Academy of Sciences; Chairman of the Editorial Board V.P. Volgin).
• The history of the cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lesko // All the masterpieces of world literature in brief. Plots and characters. Foreign Literature of the XVII-XVIII Centuries / Ed. and comp. V.I. Novikov. - M.: Olympus: ACT, 1998 .-- S. 682-688.- 832 p.

• The history of the cavalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut in the library of Maxim Moshkov