The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost

This work analyses the way in which the representation of love in the novel Manon Lescaut by Prévost highlights some important aspects that mark the perception of love in the eighteenth century. Following the literary tradition of Classicism, according to which passionate love is a source of evi...

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Main Author: Andreea Petre
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Scientia Publishing House 2023-11-01
Series:Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/6-203642.pdf
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author Andreea Petre
author_facet Andreea Petre
author_sort Andreea Petre
collection DOAJ
description This work analyses the way in which the representation of love in the novel Manon Lescaut by Prévost highlights some important aspects that mark the perception of love in the eighteenth century. Following the literary tradition of Classicism, according to which passionate love is a source of evil and even of the protagonists’ death, in Prévost’s novel, the Chevalier Des Grieux’s passionate love arises from the concern of the Age of Enlightenment to emphasize the importance of individual identity, which implies the freedom and courage to decide on one’s own life, the refusal of one’s positioning in an inherited hierarchy, at the top of which there lies the paternal or divine authority. To illustrate this conviction, Prévost builds a love story in which the male character occupies the privileged place, and femininity does not represent strangeness or otherness but an artificial entity, one created from within the male figure to capture his departure from the original, paradisiacal state of moral perfection. Under these circumstances, the construction of the female character becomes a tribute to the literary tradition of the representation of charm and beauty as sources of the extreme degradation of the male character.
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spelling doaj-art-d7493abc513c4e7b88020d2bcdf5c6252025-08-20T03:00:30ZdeuScientia Publishing HouseActa Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica2067-51512068-29562023-11-01151839410.2478/ausp-2023-0006The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé PrévostAndreea Petre0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5277-5251Transilvania University of BraşovThis work analyses the way in which the representation of love in the novel Manon Lescaut by Prévost highlights some important aspects that mark the perception of love in the eighteenth century. Following the literary tradition of Classicism, according to which passionate love is a source of evil and even of the protagonists’ death, in Prévost’s novel, the Chevalier Des Grieux’s passionate love arises from the concern of the Age of Enlightenment to emphasize the importance of individual identity, which implies the freedom and courage to decide on one’s own life, the refusal of one’s positioning in an inherited hierarchy, at the top of which there lies the paternal or divine authority. To illustrate this conviction, Prévost builds a love story in which the male character occupies the privileged place, and femininity does not represent strangeness or otherness but an artificial entity, one created from within the male figure to capture his departure from the original, paradisiacal state of moral perfection. Under these circumstances, the construction of the female character becomes a tribute to the literary tradition of the representation of charm and beauty as sources of the extreme degradation of the male character.https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/6-203642.pdflovepassioneighteenth centurydivine authorityindividual identityfemininity
spellingShingle Andreea Petre
The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
Acta Universitatis Sapientiae: Philologica
love
passion
eighteenth century
divine authority
individual identity
femininity
title The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
title_full The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
title_fullStr The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
title_full_unstemmed The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
title_short The Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost
title_sort representation of love in manon lescaut by abbe prevost
topic love
passion
eighteenth century
divine authority
individual identity
femininity
url https://acta.sapientia.ro/content/docs/6-203642.pdf
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