Editing Manon Lescaut (section)

=== Social rank and money ===
[[File:Voici l'homme que j'aime — Manon Lescaut (cropped).png|thumb|Engraving from the 1753 illustrated edition, in which Manon reassures des Grieux that he is the only man she loves.{{efn|The passage being illustrated reads: "She showed him her mirror: See, sir, she said to him; look at yourself well, and do me justice. You ask me for love. Here is the man I love, and whom I have sworn to love all my life. Make the comparison yourself." ({{langx|fr| Elle lui préſenta ſon miroir: Voyez, Monſieur, lui dit-elle; regardez-vous bien, & rendez-moi juſtice. Vous me demandez de l'amour. Voici l'homme que j'aime, & que j'ai juré d'aimer toute ma vie. Faites la comparaiſon vous-même.}}){{sfn|Prévost|1753|loc=[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8613366j/f34.double p. 20]}}}}|alt=A cheerful Manon in an elegant dress stands in a doorway next to a disheveled gentleman, and holds an elegant mirror up to the approaching des Griex]]

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|p=93, 96}} Manon is considered "the first commoner heroine in French fiction",{{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, she does not understand why des Grieux is surprised and upset after she acquires money from other lovers; her different background leads her to see 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|p=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 [[Deportation|deported]].{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=94-5}} Des Grieux often assumes—correctly—that even complete strangers will be willing to 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|p=94-5}}

[[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]]
A distinct, and even greater challenge is their lack of money.{{Sfn|Donaldson-Evans|2010|p=57}} As an aristocrat, des Grieux 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}} ''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|p=xii-xiii}} Exact numbers are provided throughout the novel, an unusual choice that contributes to the novel's [[Literary realism|realism]].{{Sfn|Mason|1982|p=92-3}} Manon begins the novel with a dowry of 300 ''[[Livre tournois|livres]]'', which is less than a tenth of an ordinary dowry for a woman entering a convent.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}} The annual salary for a servant (Manon and de Grieux each keep one) was 100 ''livres'', while Manon and de Grieux consider a "respectable but simple" annual income to be 6,000 ''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 ''livres'' as annual spending money.{{sfn|Sgard|1991|p=xiii}}