Camille (La Dame aux Camilias)

About the book

The narrator's curiosity about the possessions of Marguerite Gautier leads him to Armand Duval and the history of their relationship. Marguerite's public life appears luxurious, but its demands and dependencies complicate any attempt to imagine a private future with Armand. His devotion is repeatedly tested by jealousy and by the meanings he assigns to her conduct. Family expectations introduce another form of pressure, making the lovers' decisions matter beyond the boundaries they would like to draw around themselves. Dumas builds the story through recollection and recovered testimony, so understanding arrives unevenly and can alter an earlier judgment. The novel asks readers to look past a social category towards the emotional and material conditions of a particular woman's life, without making love an easy escape from those conditions.

• Love and reputation
• Social judgment
• Money and dependence

Why read it

For an intimate romance whose changing perspectives expose the cost of judging another person's motives too quickly.

Novel by Alexandre Dumas fils · English translation