Historically, endings to stories are expected to be happy, concise, and without loose ends. However, in literature there are many stories with endings that don’t necessarily wrap everything up happily or resolve things in uncomfortable fashion. An ending like the one of the play Cyrano De Bergerac, written by Edmund Rostand, is less than happy and kind of heart-wrenching to read. While feelings of self-loathing and inadequacy motivated Cyrano to keep a secret and lock up his feelings, Cyrano’s choice to withhold his true feelings of love for Roxane leads to a death and 2 lives wasted. In Cyrano De Bergerac, Cyrano is the protagonist, a man with extraordinary talents with words and swords, but an abnormally large nose that makes him self conscience …show more content…
After Cyrano is attacked with the wooden log, he is finally able to tell Roxane of his feelings. To some readers, Cyrano simply telling Roxane his true feelings, having a last-minute hallucinatory fight with emotions, and then dying, is an unsatisfactory ending. Truthfully, that is a fitting end to the play. The conflict in the play was not between Roxane and Cyrano, so just confessing his love to her would not have been a deserved ending. The true conflict in Cyrano De Bergerac was with Cyrano and his inner demons that plagued his psyche, such as cowardice and falsehood. Cyrano ended with a final conflict against the things he was never able to truly face throughout his life. He triumphantly exclaims “I know them now, my ancient enemies—(He lunges at empty air.) Falsehood!... There! There! Prejudice—Compromise—Cowardice— (Thrusting) What’s that? No! Surrender? No! Never!—never!...” (V.377-382). This is Cyrano finally facing off against his biggest enemy throughout Cyrano De Bergerac, himself. Although Cyrano loses his battle with death, he is able to maintain his dignity in the form of his white plume which signifies his honor and moral code. In his final moments, he exclaims “One thing without stain, unspotted from the world, in spite of doom mine own! And that is…my white plume…” (V.374-384). Cyrano was a great dynamic character, who can be an example of how withholding information can be
Roxane: Cyrano: Then how do you know he loves you? Roxanne: Cyrano: You say he’s a Cadet?
They banter for a bit, and we find out that they used to play together as children. Roxane, noting an injury on Cyrano’s hand from his battle, doctors it – just as she used to when they were children. She then reveals that she loves “someone.” Cyrano gets excited until Roxane describes this someone as “beautiful,” at which point Cyrano knows she can’t possibly be talking about him, which is depressing in more ways than one. That someone turns out to be Christian, the newly arrived cadet from Act I. Roxane asks Cyrano to protect Christian, since he’s basically a rookie, and to help him write her a love letter.
Prior to the French Revolution, French society was divided into three distinct estates: the First Estate, the Second Estate, and the Third Estate. Each estate was represented by individuals of a certain repute who had different roles in 17th century French society. In his written play, Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand portrays this class division through his many characters and their place in society. In the 17th century, Roman Catholicism was at its prime in French society.
In the play Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, the main character Cyrano de Bergerac exhibits virtuous behaviors such as bravery, selflessness and loyalty. Cyrano discusses with Roxane about how she wants Cyrano to protect Christian so he does not gets hurt, she goes on to say that Cyrano exemplifies a sense of bravery for fighting 100 men, he replies with “ ‘I have shown more since’ ” (Rostand 47). Cyrano says that he has shown more courage in talking to Roxane than it took to fight 100 men. Seconds before Christian dies, Cyrano tells him “ ‘I’ve told her everything.
Cyrano and Christian’s cooperation to infatuate Roxane led to a state of despondency. Fifteen years later after Christian’s death in the Thirty Years’ War, a dying Cyrano tells Roxane about their collaboration to win her love. “I never loved but one man in my life. / Now I must lose him twice,” Roxane never loved Christian for his looks, but the words that came from Cyrano’s eloquence (171).
Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, is the story of a plan based on love and deceit created by two friends to beguile a girl to fall in love with one, while the one that truly loves her is the mastermind behind the courtship. Even though Cyrano and Christian are close friends, Cyrano’s large nose and resulting insecurities prevent him from expressing his love for Roxane, so he uses his handsome friend to be the mouthpiece for his poetic charms, which makes Roxane happy and causes her to fall more deeply in love with Christian. Although some may say over time Christian will learn how to intellectually talk to Roxane by listening, reading, and practicing the way Cyrano has flattered her, this is not who he really is, and, therefore, their
His uncouth appearance had made Cyrano insecure about his looks, and he uses violence to overcome that insecurity. In Act I, Cyrano had accused The Mendler for looking at his nose, when in fact The Mendler was minding his own business. Instead, Cyrano started to yelled at him and eventually he had punched the Mendler. This short scene, indicates that Cyrano puts plenty of attentions to his nose, even though people are not aware of that “flaw”. Human beings put so much attention to that specific that they don 't like, and tends to cause problems among themselves and others around them.
Rostand did not want to emulate the Romantics. His work with Cyrano was completely unconventional. Rostand found a person in history with whom he admired, and then he found an actor who could demonstrate the message he wanted to display, and the play was produced. Some might even say that if more “Truly Romantic” plays have been written like Cyrano, the period might have lasted longer. If one looks up the word ‘Romantic’ in the dictionary in contemporary times, a picture of Cyrano de Bergerac should pop up, however if you were to consider that word during the French Romantic period, one wouldn’t find Cyrano de Bergerac anywhere near that word.
It is important to note that this whole “game” was created by Cyrano as he will be the one to find himself in the midst of hypocrisy later on. In his profession of love to Roxane, while pretending to Christian, Cyrano states that “It is hateful to turn honest loving into a game”, but at the same time he is nose deep in the most horrible type of game: toying with Roxane’s love and emotions(77). The author put this line in the conversation in order to provide a detail that adds a flaw to the almost completely flawless personality of Cyrano.
Cyrano despises most people in his society for being so obsequious. He wants only to state the bold, insulting truth; this kind of openness is a reflection of his boldness and courage. A final example of Cyrano’s courage is when Cyrano describes the way he wants to die to the cadets. His reply to them, “‘Always the answer, yes! Let me die so, under some
Some people may argue that Roxane knew all along that Cyrano was witty and had a great personality, but she still chose Christian. Therefore, proving that looks really are important when it comes to love. It’s true that Roxane knew that Cyrano had an extraordinary personality, but she never knew that he had feelings for her. Cyrano is constantly concerned about his appearance and too self conscious to even profess his love to Roxane. He never reveals his true feelings for her or shows her how much she means to him.
Cyrano and Christian are contrasting characters, but their traits together make the perfect man. Cyrano is unable to confess his love to Roxanne because his nose makes him insecure about his looks. Believing Roxane will never love a stupid person, Christian comes to Cyrano for help when she expects a letter from him. Cyrano comes up with the plan that he will write the letters to Roxane, and Christian will give them to her as letters written from himself. Christian is able to be the face of the plan because of his handsome outer appearance, while Cyrano is the brains.
He often challenges people to do things that put others in danger because he believes he is the best. For example, Ragueneau states of Cyrano, “Cocky, insolent, Gascony-proud he goes…” (Rostand 16). This expresses how others view Cyrano from his actions. Another reason the play ends up in a downfall is because of his lack of confidence when it comes to love.
Even though Cyrano witnesses Christian dying in the arms of Roxane, Cyrano chooses to honor Christian by not saying a word about who was truly behind the love letters. This is a true act of noble honor to Christain since his honor would be diminished if Roxane found out. After the war, Roxane moves to a convent to become a nun, mourning the loss of Christian thinking his soul was the one who wrote the letter. Cyrano is later fatally wounded over the head with a log though goes to see Roxane one last time. As Cyrano and Roxane are talking, this can be viewed as a scene where Cyrano fully opens up his heart to Roxane due to his death awaiting him soon after.
In the book, Cyrano is conveyed to be nervous, anxious, and excited to meet Roxane in Raganaue’s shop. In act two, the text states, “I will write, fold it, give it her, and fly! (Throws down the pen): Coward!. . .But strike me dead if I dare to speak to her,. . .ay, even one single word!(To Ragueneau): What time is it?"