La Dama de les camelies (1848)

Alejandro Dumas representa lo más significativo de la novela francesa del romanticismo, y la Dama de las Camelias es una de sus obras más célebre. Las veleidades de una cortesana voluble se convierten en amor verdadero y capaz de suscitar un drama en el que las apariencias y las convenciones sociales desempeñarán un papel decisivo.

Classics

I feel like my criticism of this book can't help but be unfair, but even with a generous eye towards its time and society of origin I still didn't like it much. It is a tragedy that simply takes too long to get to the point. After finishing the book I have learned that it was the basis for a variety of adaptations including the opera "La Traviata" and the film "Moulin Rouge!", and having seen the latter I recognize the parallels.

The author definitely wrote the book with a sympathetic bent towards "kept women", but the general negative attitudes of the characters towards women in general are tedious to me as a modern reader. In the opening frame story, which lasted far too long, the author quoted Jesus's statement to a woman who tradition holds was a prostitute, "Much shall be forgiven thee, because thou hast loved much." After this Biblical quote, the narrator of "Camille" asked, "Why do we make ourselves more strict than Christ?" While the story doesn't answer that question directly the events of the story clearly argue that harshly judging others is unfair and cruel. No matter what one might suspect, people's true motivations and circumstances are never certain and might justify or even necessitate their choices.

Words I learned in this book:
cabriolet - A two-wheeled carriage with a hood, drawn by one horse.
phaeton - An open four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage.
( )

De cómo una cortesana (Margarita) célebre en el siglo XIX en Francia , intenta cambiar y cómo se describe su vida amorosa con un joven (Armando). Y de las viscitudes que les suceden al entrelazarse el pasado de ella y el porvenir de él. ( )

NA