Editing Manon Lescaut (section)

=== 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}} 

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 1753 illustrations 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 [[Femme fatale|''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}} 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 tended 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 [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] ideologies; Manon is marginalized by her class, but makes savvy decisions to strategically ensure her survival.{{Sfn|Wyngaard|2019|p=465}} 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|p=467-9}}