Cyrano De Bergerac

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Cyrano De Bergerac

• Edmond Rostand

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• "A large nose is the mark of a witty,
  courteous, affable, generous, andliberal
  man." -Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac

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The Real Cyrano

• Born in Paris, France on March 6, 1619 and
  educated by a priest in the village of Bergerac.
   
• Though he did have a pronounced nose, he was
  considered a handsome young man and became noted
  for his skills as a duelist.
• At the age of 20 he joined the army and was
  wounded in a battle at Mouzon and received a
  severe neck wound in 1640 while fighting the
  Spanish at Arras.
• It is also thought that while he was in the army
  The Count of Canvoye asked Cyrano to help him
  write love poems to his new wife.

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• Left the army in 1642 and went to Paris to study
  science and literature.  
• Just like the play, he did single handedly rout
  an ambush at the Port de Nesle designed to
  assassinate a fellow poet and he did mount an
  abusive verbal attack on the actor Montfleury.
• Also wrote stories of imaginary journeys to the
  sun and the moon.
• He satirized the idea that the earth and
  humanity were the center of the universe.
• The Ridiculous Pedant  (1653) and a tragedy, The
  Death of Agrippina (1654), which was suspected of
  blasphemy.

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• As the accusations of blasphemy increased, so did
  the threats on his life.
• It was the time of the power hungry Cardinals
  Richelieu and Mazarin.
• As in the play, the real Cyrano did have log
  dropped on his head about a year before his
  actual death.  The question still remains if the
  log dropping, combined with his earlier injuries
  as a soldier, was the eventual cause of his
  death.
• Was the log dropping accidental or purposeful?

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The Characters

• Cyrano De Bergerac- a native of Gascony, known
  for his wit, sword and large nose
• Christian de Neuvillette- newly enlisted soldier,
  young, handsome, loved by Roxane
• Viscount de Valvert- opponent to Cyrano in a
  duel
• Ragueneau- aspiring poet who holds "poetry
  meetings" at his bakery. 
• Le Bret- friend and supporter of Cyrano
• Montfleury-leading actor of La Clorise and enemy
  of Cyrano
• Roxane-Cyrano's cousin. Beautiful, wealthy, and
  loved by all

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Act One

• The year is 1640 and a young, ardent, and
  extremely attractive Frenchman, Christian de
  Neuvillette is attending a performance of the
  play La Clorise. Among the crowd is Roxanne, a
  beautiful society woman. Christian is madly in
  love with Roxanne but every time he tries to talk
  to her he bungles his words and feels like a
  fool.As Montfleury, the leading actor in La
  Clorise, steps out on to the stage, he is
  mercilessly heckled by Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano
  attacks him because Montfluery has been bothering
  Roxane. Cyrano is known for his aggressive
  nature, wit, arrogance and extremely large nose.
   However, if anyone ever comments upon this
  distinguishing feature Cyrano is quick to
  disgrace them with either his words or his sword.
  After Montfleury leaves the stage, the Viscount
  de Valvert makes the fatal mistake of insulting
  Cyrano and challenging him to a duel by striking
  Cyrano's nose with his glove. Cyrano quickly
  dispatches the Viscount while composing and
  reciting a ballad.What the audience in the
  theatre doesn't know is that Cyrano is also
  secretly in love with Roxane. Just as Christian
  is insecure about his own lack of charm, Cyrano
  is mortified by his own lack of beauty.

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Act Two

• The setting is the pastry shop of Ragueneau.  He
  is both baker and aspiring poet. Cyrano arrives
  and is shown tremendous praise for winning the
  "word" battle at the theatre.  Roxane has asked
  to meet Cyrano here and while he waits, his mind
  is filled with dreams of her loving him.  Roxane
  arrives and expresses that she is madly in love
  with Christian.  She asks Cyrano if he would
  protect Christian during the first few weeks of
  being a soldier. Cyrano is heartbroken but he
  agrees to protect Christian anyway.  He loves
  Roxane too much to not obey her wishes.All the
  cadets arrive in a rowdy fashion.  They challenge
  Christian to prove his strength by teasing Cyrano
  about his nose.  Christian proceeds to mock
  Cyrano and to everyone's surprise, Cyrano hugs
  Christian and asks to speak to him alone.  Cyrano
  then tells Christian that Roxane is in love with
  him. Christian panics because he doesn¹t know how
  to talk to her.  Cyrano offers to write letters
  to Roxane on Christian¹s behalf.  This way,
  Christian will be the face but Cyrano will be the
  soul. Christian agrees and the plan is set into
  motion.

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Act Three

• Christian has decided that he is through with
  having Cyranos letters be the intermediary
  between himself and Roxanne. He goes to her home
  and stands underneath her balcony window
  preparing to profess his love. Cyrano catches
  Christian before he makes this horrible mistake
  and tries to convince him to stop but Christian's
  mind is made up. He attempts to profess his love
  but all he says is, "I love you."  Roxane thinks
  that he is mocking her and that he never truly
  loved her. Cyrano steps in to save Christian but
  then is overwhelmed and recites beautiful poetry
  about his love for her.  Although the voice has
  changed, Roxane recognizes the depth of his words
  and falls even more in love with Christian.
   Next, Christian asks for a kiss. There just
  happens to be a Capuchin walking by and he agrees
  to perform the wedding right away.The wedding
  night will have to wait because the soldiers have
  been ordered away to the siege of Arras.  Roxane
  and Christian say good-bye and Christian promises
  to write.

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Act Four

• Fires, tents, weapons, and tired cadets open this
  act with all the signs of being at war.  Cyrano
  is returning from crossing over the enemy's lines
  in disguise where he has been delivering a letter
  for Roxane twice a day.  Not even Christian knows
  of the constancy of his writing.All of a
  sudden, Roxane shows up in a carriage.  She was
  able to make it past the enemies with her charm
  and beauty.  Cyrano's writing is so powerful, she
  could not stay away.  The only problem is that
  she still believes Christian has been writing to
  her.Christian is overwhelmed by her presence
  and decides he can¹t handle the lies anymore.  He
  demands that Cyrano tell her the truth and that
  Roxane should choose who she really loves.
   Cyrano tries to tell her but a battle breaks out
  and Christian is shot.  Cyrano whispers in his
  ear as he is taking his last breath, "it is still
  you she loves."Roxane falls to the ground in
  utter despair as the cadets rush off to battle

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Act Five

• Fifteen years have passed and Roxane now lives at
  a convent.  She has been here ever since
  Christian died.  For fun, she grieves the loss of
  her husband and hangs out with the nuns.  Cyrano
  visits her every Saturday at three o'clock and
  keeps her spirit light. Nothing has really
  changed for Cyrano.  He still loves Roxane, he
  still acts out and disrupts the community, and he
  still refuses to be an active part of
  society.As the scene begins, it is Saturday and
  Roxane is waiting for Cyrano to arrive.
  Meanwhile, someone has tried to kill Cyrano by
  dropping a log on his head.   Instead of going to
  a doctor, Cyrano goes to the convent to see
  Roxane with a bandage on his head.Cyrano cracks
  a few jokes when he sees Roxane but soon starts
  to die.  He asks Roxane to read the letter that
  "Christian" had written to her on the day he
  died.  Roxane realizes that it was Cyrano who
  wrote to her and expressed his love that night on
  her balcony.As Cyrano dies, he realizes that in
  his life he did everything yet did nothing.  He
  hands Roxane the white plume which he used to
  write her hundreds of letters and passes away.

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Themes

• Inner vs. Outer Beauty
• Power of Words
• Loyalty
• Style/Grace (Panache)
• Love
• Search for Self/Independence
• Fear

• Values/Virtue vs. Desire
• Idealism
• Honor
• Pride
• The complete man

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Works Cited

• "Cyrano de Bergerac Study Guide." The Orlando-UCF
  Shakespeare Festival. 8 Jan. 2006. Central
  Florid's Professional Classical Theater. 19 Mar.
  2006 lthttp//www.shakespearefest.org/Cyrano20de2
  0Bergerac20Study20Guide.htmgt.