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{{Short description|1731 novel by Abbé Prévost}}
{{About|the novel by Prévost|other uses}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=August 2025}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title      = 
| name              = The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut
| image             = Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut.jpg
| image_size        = 
| border            = 
| alt               = Title page: Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut. Premiere Partie. (Decorative flourish.) A Amsterdam, Aux depens de la Compagnie. M. DCC. LIII.
| caption           = Title page of the standalone 1753 edition
| author            = [[Antoine François Prévost]]
| title_orig        = Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut
| orig_lang_code    = fr
| title_working     = 
| translator        = 
| illustrator       = 
| cover_artist      = 
| country           = [[Amsterdam]], [[Netherlands]]
| language          = French
| series            = 
| release_number    = 
| subject           = 
| genre             = [[Récit]]
| set_in            = 
| publisher         = 
| publisher2        = 
| pub_date          = 1731
| english_pub_date  = 
| published         = 
| media_type        = 
| native_wikisource = Manon Lescaut
| wikisource        = The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux
| notes             = 
| exclude_cover     = 
| website           = 
}}

'''''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut'''''{{hsp}}{{efn-num|{{Langx|fr|Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut}}; {{IPA|fr|istwaʁ dy ʃ(ə)valje de ɡʁijø e d(ə) manɔ̃ lɛsko|ipa}}}} is a novel by [[Antoine François Prévost]]. It tells a tragic love story about a [[French nobility|nobleman]] (known only as the Chevalier{{NoteTag|"Chevalier" can be translated as "knight" but in eighteenth century France it was used by nobleman who did not have specific territorial titles, without joining a [[chivalric order]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chevalier |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/chevalier |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>}} des Grieux) and a common woman (Manon Lescaut). Their decision to live together without marriage is the start of a moral decline that also leads to gambling, fraud, theft, murder, and Manon's death as a [[Correction girls|deportee]] in [[New Orleans]]. 

The story was first published in 1731 as the final volume of Prévost's [[Serial (literature)|serial]] novel ''[[Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality]]''.{{efn-num|{{Langx|Fr|Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité}}}} In 1733, all copies for sale in Paris were seized due to the volume's morally questionable content. This effective ban contributed to an increase in popularity, prompting [[History of copyright#Early French copyright law|unauthorized reprints]]. In 1753, Prévost published ''Manon Lescaut'' as a revised standalone book, which is now the most commonly reprinted version.

The novel was unusual for depicting Paris's "[[low life]]" and for discussing the lovers' money problems in numerical detail: both choices contribute to its [[Realism (arts)|realism]] and its aura of scandal. The story is narrated retroactively by des Grieux, an early example of the French genre of the confessional [[Récit|''récit'']]''.'' Over the centuries, audiences have judged the character Manon differently. Eighteenth-century audiences saw her as an unworthy figure who inspired pity due to the sincerity of her love. Nineteenth-century responses saw her as a nearly mythological [[sex symbol]], either a {{lang|fr|[[femme fatale]]}} who corrupts des Grieux or a [[hooker with a heart of gold]]. Today, scholars tend to see Manon as a victim of broader social forces, who is misrepresented by des Grieux's narration of her experience.

The novel is regarded as a [[classic]], and in 1991 it was the most reprinted novel in French literature, with over 250 editions over the preceding 260 years.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxxii}} [[Adaptations of Manon Lescaut|It has frequently been adapted]] into plays, ballets, films, and particularly operas. The most renowned adaptations are the operas [[Manon Lescaut (Auber)|''Manon Lescaut'']] by [[Daniel Auber]] (1856), ''[[Manon]]'' by [[Jules Massenet]] (1884), and ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'' by [[Giacomo Puccini]] (1893).{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=187}}

==Plot summary==
[[File:Manon Lescaut — Elle m'appela son cousin (cropped).png|thumb|Manon and des Grieux's first meeting, illustrated in the 1753 edition.|alt=Delicate and detailed engraving; des Grieux puts an arm around Manon, who holds a fan modestly. They are in the street. Behind them, servants struggle with a trunk of luggage in a carriage.]]
The seventeen-year-old Chevalier des Grieux, a [[seminary]] student and the younger son of a noble family, falls in [[love at first sight]] with Manon, a common woman on her way to a [[convent]]. They immediately run away together, and spend their meagre savings living pleasurably in Paris. Manon has sex with a Monsieur de B——{{Efn-num|This character name is blanked out in the original text. Starting in the early eighteenth century, salacious narratives based on real gossip (known as "secret histories") were published with the names of key figures partially blanked (or "disemvowelled") to avoid accusations of [[libel]].{{sfn|Parsons|2009|p=40}} Novels often presented themselves as authentic memoirs because fiction was not well respected; to enhance the illusion, they blanked the names of fictional characters.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=149}}}} for money; des Grieux forgives her. M. de B—— alerts des Grieux's family to his location, and des Grieux is forcibly brought home and confined to his room. Eventually, he enters St. Sulpice [[seminary]] with his friend Tiberge and spends a year as a successful student.

Manon reappears, and des Grieux abandons his plans to become a priest. Using wealth that Manon stole from M. de B——, they move to [[Chaillot]]. Their house burns down, and des Grieux begins to cheat gamblers for money. Their servants rob them, and Manon agrees to become the mistress of a Monsieur G—— M——. After accepting substantial gifts, she leaves his house while he awaits her in his bedroom. He has Manon and des Grieux arrested. Des Grieux is sent to [[Saint-Lazare Prison|St. Lazare]] (a religious institution for genteel moral correction), and Manon to [[La Salpêtrière]] (a harsh prison for "[[fallen women]]"). Des Grieux breaks out of his confinement, accidentally killing a [[Porter (monastery)|porter]] during his escape, then bribes guards to smuggle Manon out of hers.[[File:AlbertLynch The JollyBoat Large.jpg|thumb|''Manon Lescaut and Her Lover, Des Grieux, Are Set Ashore in Louisiana'' (1896), by [[Albert Lynch]]|alt=Painting of a Des Grieux and Manon on a rowboat, gazing nobly into the distance while they are rowed ashore with low-class fellow travellers]]

They return to Chaillot. Des Grieux borrows money from Tiberge. Manon rejects the advances of an Italian prince. They meet a young G—— M——, son of the G—— M—— whom they had earlier deceived, and decide to defraud him the same way. Manon receives his money and jewels; des Grieux hires thugs to detain him for a night; the couple eat his dinner and are about to sleep in his bed when his father arrives and has them arrested. They are imprisoned in the {{ill|Petit Châtelet|fr}}; des Grieux is freed by his father's influence, and Manon is deported to [[New Orleans]] as a [[Correction girls|correction girl]].

Des Grieux accompanies Manon to America, pretending they are married. After some time living in idyllic peace, des Grieux asks the Governor, [[Étienne Perier (governor)|Étienne Perier]], to officially wed him to Manon. The Governor instead decides to give Manon to his nephew, Synnelet. Des Grieux duels Synnelet and knocks him unconscious; thinking he has killed the man, the couple flee into the wilderness. Manon dies of exposure and des Grieux buries her, digging her grave with his broken sword. Heartbroken, he is taken back to France by Tiberge and returns to his aristocratic life.

== Composition and publication ==
[[File:Schmidt Prevost (cropped).jpg|alt=A man in clerical garb and a wig, looking to the left, with a curtain and a bookcase behind him.|thumb|[[Antoine François Prévost]] in 1745|upright=.7]]
[[Antoine François Prévost]] was a French priest and author. In the 1710s he moved multiple times between a career in the military and a [[novitiate]] in the [[Jesuit]] priesthood. He joined the [[Benedictine]]s of [[Congregation of St. Maur|St Maur]] after an unhappy love affair, which has sometimes contributed to speculation that ''Manon Lescaut'' has autobiographical inspirations. In 1728, while a monk in Paris, he published the first two volumes of his [[serial novel]] ''[[Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality|Memoirs and Adventures of a Man of Quality, Who Withdrew from the World]].{{efn-num|{{Langx|fr|Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité, qui s'est retiré du monde}}}}{{Sfn|Harrisse|1896|p=125}}'' He then left his abbey without permission, and his superiors gained a ''[[lettre de cachet]]'' for his arrest.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=311–312}} He fled to England.{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|pp=30–31}} While he was in exile, volumes three and four were published in Paris.{{Sfn|Harrisse|1896|p=|pp=133-134, 141-142}}

In 1730, he moved to the Netherlands and signed a contract with the Compagnie des Libraires d'Amsterdam for three more volumes of ''Memoirs and Adventures''.{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|p=36}} Prévost likely composed ''Manon Lescaut'' in March and April 1731.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=vii}} At the time, he was in [[Amsterdam]], and was writing quickly to satisfy his contract.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=vii}} The story was first published in May 1731, as volume seven of ''Memoirs and Adventures'', alongside volumes five and six.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=vii-viii}} Beginning in 1733, the Compagnie des Libraires d'Amsterdam also published volume seven on its own, as it proved more popular than the rest of the series.{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|pp=92–93}}{{multiple image
| total_width       = 400
| image1            = Histoire Du Chevalier des Grieux & de Manon Lescaut 1731.png
| caption1          = First page of the original 1731 version, as volume seven of ''Mémoires et aventures''
| alt1              = French book page with a heading "Memoirs of a man of Quality", a subheading "History of the Chevalier des Grieux and of Manon Lescaut", and the text with an illuminated capital.
| image2            = Manon Lescaut Prevost 1753 page1.png
| caption2          = First page of the 1753 revised and illustrated edition
| alt2              = French book page with an allegorical image, the heading "History of Manon Lescaut", and the text with an illuminated capital. The page margins are much larger and the next page's text does not show through, suggesting a higher-quality book.
}}

In 1753, Prévost published a substantially revised edition of volume seven as a standalone publication.{{sfn|Johnson|2002|p=169}} The standalone volume was titled ''The Story of the Chevalier des Grieux and of Manon Lescaut'',{{efn-num|{{Langx|fr|Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut}}}}{{sfn|Prévost|1753|loc=[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k850410d/f7.item title page]}} which was the subtitle of volume VII of ''Memoirs and Adventures''.{{sfn|Prévost|1731|p=[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1510524s/f19.item 9]}} This edition claimed on its title page to be published in Amsterdam by the Compagnie des Libraires, but was actually published in Paris by François Didot.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} In this edition, Prévost modified some of his most sensationalist language,{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} added a new scene where Manon resists the seduction of an Italian prince,{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=200}} and rewrote the ending to replace des Grieux's religious conversion with a more [[secular]] morality.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} ''Manon Lescaut'' is the only novel for which Prévost published a revised edition.{{sfn|Stewart|1984|p=130}} The 1753 version of the novel is usually the basis of modern editions.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} This edition also added nine illustrations, which made the book into more of a "luxury object", and also made it more challenging to [[Copyright infringement|pirate]].{{sfn|Cronk|Mander|1999|p=322}}
==Style==
The narrative of ''Manon Lescaut'' is set apart from the main events of ''Memoirs and Adventures'' with a preface and a preamble, both ostensibly written by the unnamed "man of quality" who is the protagonist of the main novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=viii}} The preface, titled "Note from the author" ({{Langx|fr|Avis de l'Auteur}}), explains that the story was too large to include within the main narrative.{{sfn|Prévost|1731|loc=[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1510524s/f11.item p. 1]}} It also says the story will be a morally-instructive example for readers, who will learn not to imitate des Grieux.{{sfn|Prévost|1731|loc=|pp=2–8}} In the preamble, the narrator witnesses a group of prostitutes being deported. Curious about a particularly beautiful one (Manon), he speaks with the lover travelling with her (des Grieux). Two years later, he encounters des Grieux again, and asks to hear the full story of his experience in America.{{sfn|Prévost|1731|loc=|pp=9–21}}

The story is thus narrated retroactively as a long speech, delivered by des Grieux nine months after Manon's death.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|pp=xvi–xvii}}{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=58}} As such, it is an early example of the French genre of the confessional [[Récit|''récit'']]''.''{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xii}} The primary verb tense is ''[[passé simple]]'', a past-tense form that is only used in formal written French.{{sfn|Matoré|1953|p=xl}}{{sfn|Frautschi|1972|p=104}} All events are recounted in the first person, and shaped by des Grieux's retrospective self-justifications.{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=58}} According to the literary scholar Lionel Gossman, the layered rhetorical structure of the narrative expresses a more general ambiguity of meaning: the narrator tells us what des Grieux told him that Manon told him she thought, and no one is able to achieve certainty about the final "moral" of Manon's life.{{Sfn|Gossman|1982|p=29-30}}

The novel does not use quotation marks, even when des Grieux relates what other characters have said.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} This blurs the boundaries between characters' speech and [[free indirect speech]].{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} Des Grieux's telling frequently interrupts the narrative with [[Apostrophe (figure of speech)|apostrophes]] to absent figures and expressions of intense emotion.{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=205}} When he describes Manon, he often stutters or struggles to find words.{{sfn|Ross|1983|p=205}} Prévost was praised for this informal and expressive style, which invited sympathetic emotion: according to the literary historian Sylviane Albertan-Coppola, "[t]he words flow as the heart overflows; the flow of feelings goes hand in hand with the flow of writing".{{efn-num|{{Langx|fr|"Les mots coulent comme déborde le cœur; le flot des sentiments ca de pair avec le flux de l'écriture"}}{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|p=77}}}}{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|p=77}}

== Major themes ==
===Tragic love===
[[File:The Burial of Manon Lescaut by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret.png|thumb|''The Burial of Manon Lescaut'' (1878), by [[Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret]]|alt=Painting of Des Grieux, looking defeated, kneeling in front of a badly-dug hole, next to Manon's corpse|upright=1.2]]
The story is particularly remembered for its tragic lovers, with des Grieux and Manon being compared to [[Romeo and Juliet]] and [[Tristan and Iseult]].{{sfn|Johnson|2002|p=170}} The scholar Jean Sgard argues that all of Prévost's writing, including ''Manon Lescaut'', is ultimately about "the impossibility of happiness, the pervasiveness of evil and the misfortune attaching to the passions", all of which lead to "mourning without end".{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=ix}} It is an early example of the emerging [[sentimental novel]], in which love can justify anything, and important moral value is placed on strong emotion.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=98–9}}

=== Scandalizing immorality ===
On the novel's first publication, the characters and their choices were seen as shockingly immoral.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=x-xi}} Des Grieux's rejection of the priesthood in favour of a sexual relationship without marriage, and his crimes of fraud and murder, challenged readers' expectations of acceptable actions for the hero of a novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xi}} Manon's willingness to have sex for money, and her general taste for pleasure and luxury, also seemed irreconcilable with her narrative role as a sympathetic love object.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xi}} Both were sometimes seen as corrupted characters,{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xi}} and the novel's realistic depiction of Paris's "[[low life]]" was unusual and potentially threatening.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=100–101}} The scandal was intensified by the historical setting of the novel: the story appears to be set between 1712 and 1717, so it takes place during the final years of [[Louis XIV]]'s conservative and orderly reign and the start of the [[Régence|regency of King Louis XV]], rather than fully during the 8 year long Regency, when stories of corruption would be less surprising.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xii}}{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|pp=16–17}}

Although the preface claims to disavow the characters' misbehavior, this is often seen as an insincere pretense.{{sfn|Gasster|1985|p=102}}{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|pp=69–70}} The revised 1753 edition added an [[allegorical]] vignette on the first page which also attempted to frame the novel as a moral story.{{Sfn|Gossman|1982|p=30}} It depicts a Christian version of [[Hercules at the crossroads]], a stock allegory for the choice between vice and virtue.{{Sfn|Gossman|1982|p=30}} The caption, "what torments you endure in [[Charybdis]], young man worthy of a nobler love", aligns Manon with vice; the deadly mythological whirlpool Charybdis was a common metaphor for prostitutes who would "ruin" noble young men. The image thus suggests that the novel will be a story of temptation and suffering, but one in which piety will prevail.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|pp=xxxiii-xxxiv}} However, the effect of the novel on readers often fails to follow this moral rejection of Manon's temptations; according to the literary scholar Lionel Grossman, "[r]eaders have always wondered whether [the story] illustrates the glory of passion or its misery ... whether the model is des Griuex in love or des Grieux apparently grown wise and repentant," especially since des Grieux himself is often inconsistent.{{Sfn |Gossman |1982 |p=30}} The literary historian Rori Bloom declares, "he promises moral instruction and delivers amorality."{{Sfn|Bloom|2009|p=182}}

=== Social rank and money ===
[[File:Elle s'assit lorsque nous fûmes seuls .. (IFF 8), G.11541(2) (cropped).jpg|thumb|1827 engraving of Manon crying, consoled by des Grieux, during one of their stints of poverty|alt=Elegant and detailed illustration of Manon de Grieux gazing tearfully at each other in a shabby room]]The novel is unusual in the French tradition for its detailed depiction of lower-class locations and activities, especially the criminal world.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=93, 96}} Manon is considered France's first fictional heroine to be a [[commoner]],{{sfn|Gelfand|Switten|1988|p=448}} and the gulf in social rank between her and the noble des Grieux is an obstacle to their love.{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=57}} Des Grieux and Manon sometimes struggle to understand each other due to their different backgrounds.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiv-xv}} For example, Manon does not understand why des Grieux is surprised and upset after she acquires money from other lovers; she sees these as practical affairs, which do not threaten her love for des Grieux.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiv-xv}}{{sfn|Gasster|1985|p=103}} Their difference in rank is also apparent in the different punishments they receive for their transgressions.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=94–5}} When both lovers are imprisoned for some of their crimes, des Grieux's aristocratic status shields him from the worst consequences while Manon ends up [[deported]].{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=94–5}} Des Grieux often finds that even complete strangers will help him, if they share his aristocratic background.{{sfn|Gasster|1985|p=104}} The novel thus highlights how justice is enforced unequally for different ranks of society.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=94–5}}

A distinct and even greater challenge is their lack of money.{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=57}} ''Manon Lescaut'' is often highlighted as the first French novel to treat money as a major theme.{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=57}}{{sfn|Sgard|1991|pp=xii–xiii}} Exact numbers are provided throughout the novel, an unusual choice that contributes to the novel's [[Literary realism|realism]].{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=92–3}} Manon begins the novel with a dowry of 300 {{lang|fr|[[Livre tournois|livres]]}}, which is less than a tenth of an ordinary dowry for a woman entering a convent.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}} Des Grieux has only the 150 {{lang|fr|livres}} in his pocket,{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}} and no way to earn more.{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=93}}{{efn-num|For context, the annual salary for a servant (Manon and de Grieux each keep one) was 100 {{lang|fr|livres}}, while Manon and de Grieux consider a "respectable but simple" income to be 6,000 {{lang|fr|livres}} per year.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}} The financial gap between the lovers and their servants is large, but the gap between them and their patrons is even larger: two of Manon's lovers offer her 20,000 and 30,000 {{lang|fr|livres}} as annual spending money.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}}}} As an aristocrat, he is barred from ordinary employment; he could earn a professional income in the church, the military, or the law, but only if he still had his father's support.{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=93}} The literary scholar Haydn Mason describes the novel's setting as "a harsh and sordid world, motivated almost universally by money".{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=93}} Although the book depicts its protagonists as suffering due to their poverty, it is not a [[populist]] novel that advocates for social reform.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=95, 97}} Instead, the novel responds to their struggles with sadness and resignation.{{sfn|Mason|1982|pp=95, 97}} 

== Reception ==
''Manon Lescaut'' gained popularity gradually.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} When first published in 1731 as part of ''Memoirs and Adventures'', des Grieux and Manon's story in Volume seven was not considered a separate work from the rest of the novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} Over the next few years, it was increasingly seen as a highlight of that novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} Reviewers praised the novel as a whole, especially for its success inducing tears.{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=98}} ''Memoirs and Adventures'' sold well in Holland and England on its first release, and a 1732 German translation was also successful, but it was largely ignored in France until 1733.{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}[[File:Je placai l'idole de mon coeur dans une large fosse (cropped).png|alt=Black and white etching of de Grieux on his knees, beginning to dig, broken sword on the ground, looking sadly at Manon's body|thumb|Illustration from the 1753 edition of ''Manon Lescaut'', published in response to popular unauthorized reprints of the volume]] In July 1733, the release of standalone edition of ''Manon Lescaut'' prompted a review in the clandestine {{lang|fr|Journal de la Cour et de Paris}}, which brought it to the attention of many new readers, including the famous author [[Voltaire]].{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xviii}}{{sfn|Albertan-Coppola|1995|p=99}} On October 5, the French censors (who needed to approve all new publications) seized the copies currently for sale due to the book's morally questionable content.{{sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}{{efn-num|According to the ''Journal de la Cour et de Paris'', the book was seized because "Besides the fact that people are made to play roles that are unworthy of them, vice and excess are depicted in ways that do not give enough horror." ({{langx|fr|Outre que l'on y fait jouer agens en place des roles peu dignes d'eux, le vice et le debordement y sont peints avec des traits qui n'en donnent pas assez d'horreur.}}){{sfn|Mason|1982|p=99}}}} This effective ban [[Streisand effect|led to a sudden increase in popularity]].{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx}} As part of this new popularity, ''Manon Lescaut'' was printed separately from ''Memoirs and Adventures'' several more times,{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxx-xxxi}} including in [[History of copyright#Early French copyright law|unauthorized reprints]].{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=461}} In 1753, Prévost responded with a high-quality revised edition of ''Manon Lescaut'' as a self-contained novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxxi}} Both ''Memoirs and Adventures'' and the standalone ''Manon Lescaut'' were reprinted frequently, with twenty editions of the first and eight of the latter appearing between 1731 and Prévost's death in 1763.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxxi}}

Interest in the novel waned at the start of the nineteenth century, followed by another dramatic increase in popularity in 1830,{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xviii}} when it was adapted as a ballet.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} Many further adaptations followed, with new reprints of ''Manon Lescaut'' each year.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} In the late nineteenth century, editions were released with prefaces written by the famous French authors [[Alexandre Dumas fils|Alexandre Dumas ''fils'']] in 1875 and [[Anatole France]] in 1878.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=185}} Adaptations, especially into [[opera]], had a major influence on the novel's legacy; according to the literary historian Alan J. Singerman, by the twentieth century the operatic version was more widely known than the novel.{{Sfn|Singerman|2000|p=377}}{{NoteTag|He writes: "Massenet's Manon, like Puccini's no doubt, was known to a wider public in the first quarter of the twentieth century than Prévost's novel." {{langx|fr|la Manon de Massenet, comme celle sans doute de Puccini, fut connue d'un plus large public, dans le premier quart du vingtième siècle, que le roman de Prévost.}}}} Over time, the novel came to be regarded as a historical [[classic]].{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxiii}} In 1991 it was the most reprinted novel in French literature, with over 250 editions over the preceding 260 years.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xxiii}}

=== Responses to the character of Manon ===
Since the novel's first publication, substantial critical analysis has focused on the interpretation of Manon's character.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=459}} Because Manon's words and actions are always related through the filter of des Grieux's retrospective storytelling, readers can only speculate about her real thoughts, feelings, and intentions.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=460}} In the words of the literary scholar Lionel Gossman, "Manon is constantly reborn and reinvented in the minds of generations of readers, none of whom can claim to possess her finally or determine who she ''really'' is."{{Sfn|Gossman|1982|p=36}}

The earliest reviews in 1733 saw Manon as sympathetic but unexpectedly so, an unworthy "whore" ({{Langx|fr|catin}}) who was nonetheless appealing due to the sincerity of her love for des Grieux.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=461}}{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xviii}} She was both blamed and forgiven for des Grieux's corruption.{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xvii-xviii}} The illustrations in the 1753 edition reinforced the image of Manon as someone to be loved, pitied, and forgiven for her mistakes.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=463}} Eighteenth-century readers also saw Manon and des Grieux as helpless, fated to a tragic ending.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=466}} The crimes of both were equally justified by their love and their financial need.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=466}}

[[File:The Story of Manon Lescaut and the Chevalier Des Grieux (cropped).jpg|thumb|1886 illustration of Manon as [[Eve]]|alt=Bright red etching of a nude woman seductively offering an apple]]

Manon's reputation began to change in the nineteenth century, as she became a near-mythological figure.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} Rather than being a simple, lighthearted girl of common birth, she was depicted as either a {{lang|fr|[[femme fatale]]}} who destroys des Grieux, or as a [[hooker with a heart of gold]] who is redeemed through her death.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} In 1832, [[Alfred de Musset]]'s poem ''Namouna'' described Manon as "an astonishing [[sphinx]], a true [[Siren (mythology)|siren]], a thrice feminine heart".{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} Adaptations like the popular opera ''[[Manon]]'' (1884) characterized Manon as powerfully seductive.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} [[Alexandre Dumas fils|Alexandre Dumas ''fils'']], whose novel ''[[The Lady of the Camellias]]'' (1848) was heavily inspired by ''Manon Lescaut'', wrote of Manon: "you are sensuality, you are instinct, you are pleasure, the eternal temptation of man".{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxix}} The literary historian [[Naomi Segal]] summarizes this period as one in which most critics "tend to view Manon as if she were a real woman and to heap upon her all the myths which operate within sexual politics in the non-fictional world".{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xxii}}

Twentieth-century scholarly interpretations tend to see Manon as the victim, not of her own weakness, but of various social systems.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=465}} For these readers, des Grieux's version of events is considered suspect,{{sfn|Segal|1986|p=xxv}} and it is important to imagine how Manon might have narrated her story differently.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=465}}{{sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=58}} [[Feminist theory|Feminist theorists]] like [[Nancy K. Miller]] and Segal see Manon as a narrative victim of [[patriarchy]].{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=465}} Cultural-historical theorists see the novel as a conflict between [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocratic]] and [[bourgeois]] ideologies; Manon is marginalized by her class, but makes savvy decisions to strategically ensure her survival.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=465}} A [[Post-structuralism|post-structuralist]] reading of the novel aligns Manon with the [[Sign (semiotics)|sign]], inherently elusive in meaning.{{Sfn|Gossman|1982|pp=35-36}} Outside of academia, modern readers sometimes find Manon underdeveloped as a character.{{sfn|Gelfand|Switten|1988|p=451}} Twenty-first century adaptations reinforced a [[Sociological theory|sociological]] interpretation of Manon's character.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=467}} Several adaptations translate the story to more recent time periods in French history, in which Manon is always a non-conformist who boldly pursues love despite disadvantaged circumstances.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|pp=467–9}}

==Legacy==

=== Adaptations ===
{{Main|Adaptations of Manon Lescaut{{!}}Adaptations of ''Manon Lescaut''}}

==== Stage ====
Although ballets and operas of ''Manon Lescaut'' became popular,{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=186}} only three theatrical dramas had even a modest success: ''The Virtuous Courtesan'' (1772), ''Manon Lescaut et le chevalier Desgrieux'' (1820), and ''Manon Lescaut'' (1851).{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=178}} ''The Virtuous Courtesan'' ({{Langx|fr|La Courtisane vertueuse}}) was the first adaptation of ''Manon Lescaut.''{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=178}}{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=187}} A theatrical comedy which ends with Manon surviving,{{sfn|Leichman|2017|pp=102}} it attempted to mix an emotional portrayal of the lovers with some humour,{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=178}} but reviewers found it far inferior to the novel.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=187}} There were a small number of dramas in the eighteenth century and the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] period, followed by a larger number in the early twentieth century.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|pp=177–8}} Relatively few of the early theatrical adaptations of ''Manon Lescaut'' have survived.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=177}}{{multiple image
| total_width       = 360
| align             = left
| image1            = Sibyl Sanderson. Opéra-Comique. Manon. Rôle de Manon Lescaut. 19 octobre 1891 - btv1b532789757 (cropped).jpg
| alt1              = Black and white photograph of a woman in luxurious eighteenth-century garb, gazing pleadingly above her
| caption1          = [[Sibyl Sanderson]] as Manon for an 1891 production of [[Jules Massenet]]'s ''[[Manon]]'' (1884)
| image2            = Maria Farneti7 (cropped).jpg
| alt2              = Another black and white photograph of a woman in luxurious eighteenth-century garb, gazing pleadingly above her
| caption2          = [[Maria Farneti]] as Manon for a 1900 production of [[Giacomo Puccini]]'s ''[[Manon Lescaut (Puccini)|Manon Lescaut]]'' (1893)
}}

The literary historian Jean Sgard argues that operatic adaptations came late in the legacy of the novel because the story's mixture of genres was incompatible with the eighteenth century's dominant genre of serious opera characterized by [[Handel]] and [[Rameau]].{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=191}} The first [[opera]]tic adaptation, in 1836, was not a success.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=191}} An important change in operatic precedent came after [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s highly successful 1853 opera, ''[[La traviata]]'' ("The Fallen Woman").{{sfn|Sgard|1995|pp=189, 207}} ''La traviata'' is based on the play and novel ''[[The Lady of the Camellias]]'' by [[Alexandre Dumas fils|Alexandre Dumas ''fils'']], which are themselves heavily inspired by ''Manon Lescaut''.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=189}} After 1853, six operas based on ''Manon Lescaut'' were written.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=192}} These operas varied widely in how they adapted the story: it was divided into differing numbers of sections (from three to seven acts), and adaptations existed in the [[List of opera genres|different operatic genres]] of comic opera, opera, and lyric drama.{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=192}} The most renowned adaptations of ''Manon Lescaut'' are the operas by [[Daniel Auber]] (1856), [[Jules Massenet]] (1884), and [[Giacomo Puccini]] (1893).{{sfn|Sgard|1995|p=187}}

==== Film ====
[[File:When a Man Loves (1927) - 1.jpg|thumb|[[Dolores Costello]] as Manon and [[John Barrymore]] as des Grieux in ''[[When a Man Loves]]'' (1927)|alt=Black and white photograph. Manon, seated, gives the camera a direct and provocative look; des Grieux, eyes closed, leans in as if smelling her hair. Both wear eighteenth-century garb.]]

''Manon Lescaut'' was adapted several times after the invention of film.<ref name="Romney">{{Cite web |last=Romney |first=Jonathan |date=2019-06-20 |title=Manon on screen |url=https://operahollandpark.com/news/manon-on-screen/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522084615/https://operahollandpark.com/news/manon-on-screen/ |archive-date=2024-05-22 |access-date=2025-02-17 |publisher=Opera Holland Park |language=en-GB}}</ref> The first was a 1908 [[silent film]] adaptation of Puccini's opera, which used a device called a "cinemofono" to synchronize the film with a music recording.{{sfn|Adams|2023|p=100}} Several more silent films followed, of which nearly all are [[Lost film|lost]] due to the degradation of [[nitrate film]]; the only one to survive in full is a 1927 Hollywood adaptation titled ''[[When a Man Loves]]''.{{Sfn|Singerman|2000|p=370}} According to the literary historian Alan J. Singerman, several early films alter the plot to present Manon as an innocent victim who will be more sympathetic to film audiences than an "amoral and guilty" figure motivated by a "love of luxury and pleasure".{{Sfn|Singerman|2000|p=370-371, 374, 382}} 

Early adaptations were [[Historical drama|period films]], set in the early eighteenth century;<ref name="Romney" /> later film adaptations translate the novel's story to a contemporary setting.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|pp=467–9}} The 1949 film ''[[Manon (film)|Manon]]'' by [[Henri-Georges Clouzot]] depicts des Grieux as a member of the [[French Resistance]] and Manon as a [[Nazi collaborator]]; he and Manon enter the [[Black market in wartime France|black market]] and eventually stowaway to Palestine with a group of Jewish refugees.{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=467}}<ref name="NationalBallet">{{Cite web |title=The story of Manon – in literature, film and pop |url=https://www.ballet.org.uk/blog-detail/story-manon-literature-film-pop/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824102718/https://www.ballet.org.uk/blog-detail/story-manon-literature-film-pop/ |archive-date=2025-08-24 |access-date=2025-02-17 |publisher=English National Ballet |language=en-GB}}</ref> In ''[[Manon 70]]'' by [[Jean Aurel]], released in 1968 and set in the near-future of 1970, des Grieux is a globetrotting radio journalist who tags along with Manon's [[sugar baby]] lifestyle;{{sfn|Leichman|2017|pp=97}} instead of ending with Manon's tragic death, this film concludes with both Manon and des Grieux [[hitchhiking]].{{sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=467}}

=== Illustrations ===
[[File:L'Arrestation — Manon Lescaut.png|alt=Richly coloured painting of des Grieux half-dressed in eighteenth-century garb drawing his sword and running toward a group of shadowy men in the doorway, while Manon (in a chemise) climbs out of a large satin-curtained bed|thumb|Illustration by [[Maurice Leloir]] for a 1904 edition, showing des Grieux and Manon being arrested in the young G—— M——'s bedroom.]]
Several illustrated editions of ''Manon Lescaut'' have been produced, though it attracted substantially fewer illustrations than other bestsellers of the period like [[Voltaire]]'s 1759 novella ''[[Candide]].''{{sfn|Ionescu|2016|p=560}} A 1963 catalogue identified 63 editions with original or notable illustrations, produced globally.{{sfn|Ionescu|2016|p=560}} New illustrated editions were produced most decades from 1780 to 1980.{{sfn|Ionescu|2016|p=560}} The novel also inspired a range of standalone visual interpretations (i.e., [[Printmaking|prints]] and paintings), though again fewer than similar eighteenth-century bestsellers; the visual iconography of ''[[Paul et Virginie]]'' (1788), for example, more firmly entered [[popular culture]].{{sfn|Ionescu|2016|p=560}} <!--note: there's more to say about these illustrations in Scholar-->

=== Translations ===
The 1753 version of the novel is more common in modern editions.{{sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxi}} English translations of the original 1731 version of the novel include [[Helen Waddell]]'s 1931 translation with a foreword by [[George Saintsbury]].{{sfn|Waddell|1934}} For the 1753 revision there are English translations by, among others, L. W. Tancock (Penguin, 1949—which divides the 2-part novel into a number of chapters),{{sfn|Tancock|1949}} [[Donald M. Frame]] (Signet, 1961—which notes differences between the 1731 and 1753 editions),{{sfn|Frame|1961}} Angela Scholar (Oxford, 2004—with extensive notes and commentary),{{sfn|Scholar|2004}} and Andrew Brown (Hesperus, 2004—with a foreword by [[Germaine Greer]]).{{sfn|Brown|2004}} There is also a 1999 edition, published by Bristol Classical Press and edited by P. Byrne, which presents the text in French with notes and commentary in English.{{Sfn|Scholar|2004|p=xxxv}} 

Henri Valienne (1854–1908), a physician and author of the first novel in the constructed language [[Esperanto]], translated ''Manon Lescaut'' into that language. His translation was published in Paris in 1908,{{sfn|Valienne|1908}} and reissued by the British Esperanto Association in 1926.{{sfn|Valienne|1926}}

===Literary impact===
According to the literary scholar English Showalter, Prévost "set a style for the whole century" with the novel's emphasis on regretful retrospective tales narrated from confinement: "Dozens of fictional narrators preface their works by explaining that they hope the story of their own errors and misfortunes will serve as a guide to others."{{sfn|Showalter1975|p=222}} Showalter also says that Prévost's "globetrotting characters," who "dash about the world," inspired subsequent French novelists to depict expansive global travel.{{sfn|Showalter1975|p=215}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist-num}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|20em}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Christy Thomas |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/puccini-in-context/puccini-and-early-film/207CED78CB4CC824986C6E5101CABAA4 |title=Puccini in Context |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-83558-9 |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=Alexandra |series=Composers in Context |location=Cambridge |pages=97–104 |chapter=Puccini and Early Film |doi=10.1017/9781108891028.013}}
* {{Cite book |last=Albertan-Coppola |first=Sylviane |url=http://archive.org/details/abbprvost00sylv |title=Abbé Prévost: Manon Lescaut |publisher=Presses universitaires de France |year=1995 |isbn=978-2-13-046704-5 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bloom |first=Rori |url=http://archive.org/details/manofqualitymano0000bloo |title=Man of quality, man of letters : the abbé Prévost between novel and newspaper |date=2009 |publisher=Lewisburg [Pa.] : Bucknell University Press |isbn=978-0-8387-5724-6}}
* {{Cite book |title=Manon Lescaut |publisher=Hesperus |year=2004 |translator-last=Brown |translator-first=Andrew|ref={{sfnref|Brown|2004}}}}
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle= Prévost, Antoine François|volume= 22 |pages= 311-312 }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Cronk |first1=Nicholas |last2=Mander |first2=Jenny |date=1999-09-01 |title=Delilahs Progress: The Illustration of 'Manon Lescaut' in 1753 and 1928 |url=https://www.manchesterhive.com/view/journals/bjrl/81/3/article-p321.xml |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library |language=en |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=321–360 |doi=10.7227/BJRL.81.3.12 |issn=2054-9318|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Donaldson-Evans |first=Lance K. |url=https://archive.org/details/onehundredgreatf0000dona/mode/2up?q=manon |title=One Hundred Great French Books: From the Middle Ages to the Present |publisher=BlueBridge |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-933346-22-9 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |title=Manon Lescaut |publisher=Signet |year=1961 |translator-last=Frame |translator-first=Donald M.|ref={{sfnref|Frame|1961}}}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Frautschi |first=Richard L. |date=1972 |title=Narrative Voice in "Manon Lescaut": Some Quantitative Observations |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26279700 |journal=L'Esprit Créateur |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=103–117 |jstor=26279700 |issn=0014-0767}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gasster |first=Susan |date=1985 |title=The Practical Side of Manon Lescaut |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3194653 |journal=Modern Language Studies |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=102–109 |doi=10.2307/3194653 |jstor=3194653 |issn=0047-7729|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Gelfand |first1=Elissa |last2=Switten |first2=Margaret |date=1988 |title=Gender and the Rise of the Novel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/393166 |journal=The French Review |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=443–453 |jstor=393166 |issn=0016-111X}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Gossman |first=Lionel |date=1982 |title=Male and Female in Two Short Novels by Prévost |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3727491 |journal=The Modern Language Review |volume=77 |issue=1 |pages=29–37 |doi=10.2307/3727491 |issn=0026-7937|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Harrisse |first=Henry |url=http://archive.org/details/labbprvosthi00harruoft |title=L'abbé Prévost; histoire de sa vie et des oeuvres d'après des documents nouveaux |date=1896 |publisher=Paris C. Lévy}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ionescu |first=Christina |date=2016 |title=The Visual Journey of Manon Lescaut: Emblematic Tendencies and Artistic Innovation |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1754-0208.12419 |journal=Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=559–577 |doi=10.1111/1754-0208.12419 |issn=1754-0208|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Joe |date=2002 |title=Philosophical Reflection, Happiness, and Male Friendship in Prévost's ''Manon Lescaut'' |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/265432 |journal=Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=169–190 |doi=10.1353/sec.2010.0009 |issn=1938-6133|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Leichman |first=Jeffrey M. |date=2017 |title=Deneuve's Manon |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/862732 |journal=The French Review |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=93–104 |doi=10.1353/tfr.2017.0393 |issn=2329-7131|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Haydn |chapter-url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-349-04660-7_6 |title=French Writers and their Society 1715–1800 |date=1982 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-1-349-04662-1 |location=London |pages=90–104 |language=en |chapter=Money and the Establishment: Prévost (1697–1763) |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-04660-7_6}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0I-SbHIgJQC |title=Histoire du Chevalier Des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut |year=1953 |publisher=Librairie Droz |isbn=978-2-600-02390-0 |editor-last=Matoré |editor-first=Georges |language=fr |chapter=Avantpropos |trans-chapter=Foreword}}
* {{Cite book |last=Parsons |first=Nicola |title=Reading gossip in early eighteenth-century England |date=2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-24476-4 |series=Palgrave studies in the Enlightenment, romanticism and cultures of print |location=Houndmills, Balsingstoke, Hampshire New York }}
* {{Cite book |last=Prévost |first=Antoine François |author-link=Abbé Prévost |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k850410d |title=Histoire du chevalier Des Grieux, et de Manon Lescaut. |year=1753 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite book |last=Prévost |first=Antoine François |author-link=Abbé Prévost |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1510524s |title= Mémoires et avantures d'un homme de qualité, qui s'est retiré du monde. |year=1731 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Kristin |date=1983 |title=The Narrative of Fascination: Pathos and Repetition in 'Manon Lescaut' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41467296 |journal=The Eighteenth Century |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=199–210 |jstor=41467296 |issn=0193-5380}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Scholar |editor-first=Angela|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofchevalier0000prev/mode/2up |title=The Story of the Chevalier Des Grieux and Manon Lescaut |publisher=Oxford : New York : Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-284065-3  |edition=Oxford World's Classics |chapter=Introduction}}
* {{Cite book |last=Segal |first=Naomi |title=The Unintended Reader: Feminism and ''Manon Lescaut'' |publisher=Cambridge UP |year=1986|isbn=978-0-521-30723-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/unintendedreader0000sega}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9789910041754/mode/2up |title=Manon Lescaut |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1991 |editor-last=Sgard |editor-first=Jean |language=English |chapter=Introduction|isbn= 978-9910-04-175-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sgard |first=Jean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MqEyEfwtjEEC |title=Vingt études sur Prévost d'Exiles |date=1995 |publisher=ELLUG |isbn=978-2-902709-96-0 |language=fr}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Showalter |first=English |date=1975 |title=Symbolic Space and Fictional Forms in the Eighteenth-Century French Novel |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1345104 |journal=NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=214–225 |doi=10.2307/1345104 |jstor=1345104 |issn=0029-5132|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |last=Singerman |first=Alan J. |title=L' Abbé Prévost au tournant du siècle |date=2000 |publisher=Voltaire Foundation |isbn=978-0-7294-0733-5 |editor-last=Francis |editor-first=Richard A. |series=SVEC |location=Oxford |pages=369-382 |language=fr |chapter=Manon Lescaut au cinema}}
* {{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Philip |url=http://archive.org/details/rereadingseighte0000stew |title=Rereadings: Eight Early French novels |publisher=Summa Publications |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-917786-00-6 |location=Birmingham, Alabama}}
* {{Cite book |title=Manon Lescaut: A New Translation |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1949 |translator-last=Tancock |translator-first=L.W.|ref={{sfnref|Tancock|1949}}}}
* {{Cite book |title=Manon Lesko |publisher=Presa Esperantista Societo |year=1908 |translator-last=Valienne |translator-first=D-ro|ref={{sfnref|Valienne|1908}}}}
* {{Cite book |title=Manon Lesko |publisher=British Esperanto Association |year=1926 |translator-last=Vallienne |translator-first=D-ro|ref={{sfnref|Valienne|1926}}}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/manonlescaut0000hele/mode/2up |title=Manon Lescaut |date=1934 |publisher=Constable and Company |translator-last=Waddell |translator-first=Helen |ref={{sfnRef|Waddell|1934}}}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Wyngaard |first=Amy S. |date=2019 |title=Femme Fatale or Feminist Heroine? Interpreting Manon Lescaut |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26912366 |journal=Romance Notes |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=459–470 |jstor=26912366 |issn=0035-7995}}

==Further reading==
* C. J. Betts, "The Cyclical Pattern of the Narrative in Manon Lescaut", ''French Studies'', 41 (1987), 395-407.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* Patrick Brady, ''Structuralist perspectives in criticism of fiction : essays on Manon Lescaut and La Vie de Marianne'', P. Lang, Berne ; Las Vegas, 1978.
* {{in lang|fr}} Maurice Daumas, ''Le Syndrome des Grieux : la relation père/fils au XVIIIe siècle'', Paris: Seuil, 1990 {{ISBN|978-2-02-011397-7}}.
* {{in lang|fr}} René Démoris, ''Le Silence de Manon'', Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1995 {{ISBN|978-2-13-046826-4}}.
* J. I. Donohue, "The Death of Manon: A Literary Inquest", ''L'Esprit Créateur'', 12 (1972), 129-146. <!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* B. Fort, "Manon's Suppressed Voice: The Use of Reported Speech", ''Romantic Review'', 76 (1985), 172-191. <!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* R. A. Francis, ''The abbé Prévost's first-person narrators'', Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1993.
* R. A. Francis, ''Prévost : Manon Lescaut'', London: Grant & Cutler, 1993.<!--keep: primary rec from Scholar 2004-->
* J. P. Gilroy, ''The Romantic Manon and Des Grieux : Images of Prévost's Heroine and Hero in Nineteenth-centiry French Literature'', Sherbrooke, Quebec: Naaman, 1980.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* L. Gossmann, "Prévost's Manon: Love in the New World", ''Yale French Studies'', 40 (1968), 91-102.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* C. Mauron, "Manon Lescaut et le mélange es genres", in ''L'Abbé Prévost : actes du colloque d'Aix-en-Provence, 20 et 21 décembre 1963'', Gap: Ophrys, 1965, 113-118.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* {{in lang|fr}} Vivienne Mylne, ''Prévost : Manon Lescaut'', London: Edward Arnold, 1972. <!--keep: primary rec from Scholar 2004-->
* {{in lang|fr}} Jean Sgard, ''L'Abbé Prévost : labyrinthes de la mémoire'', Paris: PUF, 1986 {{ISBN|2-13-039282-2}}.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* {{in lang|fr}} Jean Sgard, ''Prévost romancier'', Paris: José Corti, 1968 {{ISBN|2-7143-0315-3}}.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->
* {{in lang|fr}} Alan Singerman, ''L'Abbé Prévost : L'amour et la morale'', Geneva: Droz, 1987.
* Alan Singerman, "A 'fille de plaisir' and her 'grechulon': Society and Perspective in ''Manon Lescaut'''", ''L'Esprit Créateur'', 12 (1972), 118-128.<!-- from Scholar 2004 bib -->

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Manon Lescaut|''Manon Lescaut''}}
{{Commons}}
* {{Gutenberg |no=468 |language=English |title=Manon Lescaut}}
* {{Gutenberg |no=17983 |language=French |title=Manon Lescaut}}
* {{librivox book | title=Manon Lescaut | author=Abbé PRÉVOST}}
* [[Image:Speaker Icon.svg|20px]] [http://www.litteratureaudio.com/livre-audio-gratuit-mp3/prevost-abbe-manon-lescaut.html/ ''Manon Lescaut'']  {{in lang|fr}} free audiobook
* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b22001473 Images from an illustrated 1885 French edition]

{{Manon Lescaut}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1731 novels]]
[[Category:Characters in French novels|Lescaut, Manon]]
[[Category:French novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:French novels adapted into operas]]
[[Category:French romance novels]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1731|Lescaut, Manon]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into ballets]]
[[Category:Novels set in Louisiana]]
[[Category:Novels set in New Orleans]]
[[Category:Novels set in Paris]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Novels about prostitution]]
[[Category:18th-century French novels]]