La Dame aux Camelias still has the power to cast the spell that has fascinated generations of readers. Dumas`s marvellously beautiful, intelligent, and vibrant heroine lives on in revivals of the stage version, in film and television adaptations, and inLa Traviata, Verdi`s perennially popular opera. For Marguerite has long since attained the status of a myth. Dumas`s subtle and moving portrait of a woman in love is a timeless antidote to the cynicism of every age.