A LANDMARK NOVEL

The Lady of the Camellias is one the greatest love stories of all time. It s based on the life of Marie Duplessis, a courtesan and the real-life lover of Alexandre Dumas, fils. A timeless classic, The Lady of the Camellias is a landmark novel that inspired Verdi s opera La Traviata, and the Oscar-winning musical Moulin Rouge!

The theme of the Lady of the Camellias is a love story between Marguerite Gautier, a courtesan and a young provincial bourgeois, Armand Duval. Armand falls in love with Marguerite and ultimately becomes her lover, convincing her to turn her back on her life as a courtesan and live with him in the countryside. This idyllic existence is broken by Armand's father, who, concerned by the scandal created by the illicit relationship convinces Marguerite to leave Armand, who believes, up until Marguerite's death, that she has left him for another man.

Dumas is careful to paint a favourable portrait of Marguerite, who despite her past is rendered virtuous by her love for Armand, and the suffering of the two lovers, whose love is shattered by the need to conform to the morals of the times, is rendered touchingly. The novel is also marked by the description of Parisian life during the 19th century and the fragile world of the courtesans.

PRAISE FOR THE LADY OF THE CAMELLIAS

Wonderful portrayal of a delicate relationship

The original. Read it!