Manon Lescaut

Manon and Des Grieux are very happy and come up with a plan to live frugally on Manon’s money, which should last them 10 years. By then, Des Grieux believes there will be “changes in [his] family,” as his “father is old and may die” (35), at which point Des Grieux will inherit something. However, Manon likes to spend money, and Des Grieux is powerless to resist her. He is “the first to procure her anything [he] believed likely to give her pleasure” (35), including a second apartment in Paris where they could rest if they stayed late at a party.

It is at this apartment that Des Grieux meets Manon’s brother, referred to only by his surname, Lescaut. He’s a member of the king’s guard, who are “notorious for their loose-living and violence” as well as their willingness to act “as hired men who would commit any crime for gain” (150). At first, Lescaut denounces Manon for her immorality, but he soon apologizes after hearing “favorable things” about Des Grieux (36). Lescaut becomes a permanent fixture in their household, one for whom Des Grieux becomes financially responsible.