Antoine François Prévost D'Exiles Orden de los libros (cronológico)

The inspiration for three films and several operas, this classic of French literature is set in Regency Paris and Louisiana around 1720. A tragic love story, it's also an epic adventure story with three infidelities, three escapes, three abductions and two murders. The action spans two continents and a social range extending from the aristocracy to the social outcast, from pillars of the establishment to pimps and prostitutes. Manon Lescaut's ambiguous love story has a transcendent significance: Is it a cautionary tale, warning of the dangers to which passion, blindly followed, can lead? Or does it illustrate the redemptive power of love? After all, Des Grieux's perseverance in his devotion to Manon eventually brings about a profound change of heart in her and seems to make possible a lasting happiness based on deep mutual affection. The ambiguity persists to the end, when death snatches that happiness away.

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El joven Chevalier des Grieux rechaza la carrera como Malteserritter que su padre ha planeado para él y huye a París con Manon Lescaut, quien ha sido enviada por sus padres a un convento. La pareja vive de amor hasta que Manon se enamora de otro. Grieux, lleno de remordimientos, regresa a casa y comienza a estudiar teología. Al reencontrarse con Manon, la perdona y vuelve a huir con ella. Las preocupaciones económicas y el estilo de vida de Manon llevan a Grieux a la criminalidad, lo que resulta en su arresto y la infidelidad de Manon. Ambos terminan en América, intentando construir una nueva vida, hasta que el destino de Manon los separa nuevamente. Un policía que arresta a Grieux le pregunta provocativamente si alguna vez aprenderá a unir razón y amor, lo que refleja el tema central de la novela.