The plot of Camille is much the same as that of La Traviata; however, there are a few noteworthy differences. Dumas begins the novel at the auction of Marguerite's estate, which quickly followed her death. The narrator purchases a copy of Manon Lescaut at the sale, knowing very little about its former owner. Several days later, a haggard and very upset Armand arrives at the narrator flat to retrieve the book. The narrator willingly gives up the volume and offers to listen to Armand's story in hopes that it will relieve his madness over Marguerite's death. Some time after that, Armand returns and tells the story of his love for Marguerite, from beginning to end. This is basically the same story portrayed by Verdi, aside from the fact that more attention is given to the way in which Armand and Marguerite came to be acquainted; Armand actually met Marguerite a year before the beginning party scene presented in the opera, but this introduction was not formal and was only significant to Armand, who fell in love instantly (hence Alfredo tells Violetta at the party that he has loved her for over a year). The two fall in love, Marguerite begins to abandon her life as a courtesan, they move to the country, and live happily until suddenly Marguerite, seemingly for no reason, breaks with Armand. In the novel, Armand responds to this break with first frenzied sadness, he runs to his father, and then he makes Marguerite's new best friend, Olympe, who is another courtesan, his mistress. He exploits every opportunity to taunt Marguerite with this relationship until he finally drives her to her bed with illness. Finally, Marguerite comes to him to beg for pity and they have one final night of passion; the next day, Armand goes to Marguerite, but he is not admitted because she is spending time with M. le Compte de N., who is her new lover. Armand leaves in a rage and agrees to travel in the East with one of his old friends; this is from where he has come in the beginning of the novel. It is not until later, when Armand allows the narrator to read a packet of letters written by Marguerite on her deathbed, that we learn that Marguerite left Armand because that was the wish of M. Duval; her past was tainting the family name and could have ruined the potential marriage of his daughter into an upstanding family.
The most noticeable difference between the opera and the novel is the facts that the bulk of the novel is written from the point of view of Armand. Verdi, who is known for making his female leads the principle characters in his operas, seems to emphasize Violetta's inner thoughts and emotions throughout the opera, where Alfredo seems to just be the man who is in love with her. Reading the novel after having attended a performance of the opera makes the story all the more sad and sweet, for now, the thoughts and emotions of both of the main characters are known. Verdi emphasizes Violetta's grief over having to leave Alfredo and dying, while Dumas emphasizes Armand's confused grief over the fact that Marguerite seems to have loved him no more than her previous lovers. The letters in the novel, sent to Armand by Marguerite's bedside nurse, Julie Duprat, provide a glimpse into Marguerite's final thoughts and emotions, but not to the extent to which Verdi allowed us to know Violetta.
Another important difference is that Armand was not with Marguerite at the hour of her death in the novel, as was Alfredo with Violetta. Marguerite died alone, writing to an unknowing Armand, who was touring the east with his friend. This makes the novel even more tragic than the opera; after everything, good and bad, that the two lovers had endured together, there was no opportunity for a final goodbye. Therefore, there is no resolution for either Armand or the reader. Dumas does give Armand some relief by allowing him to tell his story to the narrator, but this cannot make up for missed farewells.
As it is in any case, it is difficult for the master of the stage, if he is staging a pre-written work, to completely preserve all of the aspects of that work; there are some facets of a novel that are essential to that novel, such as personal reflection, which will fit into neither the physical nor the time constraints of a staged production. However, Verdi, in modifying and expanding the story of the lady of the camellias, has managed to retain the soul of Dumas' novel; the main ideas of tragic love, self-sacrifice, and honor have been taken from the novel and successfully transferred to the stage.