Paris in the 19th century, lavish parties, opera visits, sweets, and champagne: Here, the noble bourgeois Armand Duval falls in love with the courtesan Marguerite Gautier. She gives up her extravagant lifestyle for him. However, Armand's father convinces her of the immorality of their relationship and the harm it causes him and his family. Out of love, she then separates from him and returns to her old environment. Driven by pain, Armand leaves Paris and never sees his Marguerite alive again. This moving novel became a bestseller immediately after its publication in 1848. Dumas' own adaptation into a play and Verdi's composition in the opera 'La Traviata' have made the story immortal. With a contribution from Kindler's Literary Lexicon, including data on the life and works, exclusively written by the editorial team of the literary magazine TEXT + KRITIK.