Edmond Rostand (1868–1918)

Amazing story written in gorgeous verse -- it was all worth muddling through irregular verbs in French class to be able to read this drama in Rostand's language! The heartstopping climax of Cyrano's words to Roxane on the balcony are the epitome of romance expressed so beautifully and sincere. His definition of a kiss is one of the most memorable scenes in theater. The drama is cleverly written, with flowing tempo and rhyme that doesn't feel forced.

As for the story, many have imitated it show more since: Ugly, but intelligent, Cyrano is in love with his cousin, Roxane, but is too ashamed of his long nose to tell her. In every other area of his life his is confident and is excellent at swordplay and wit (and can perform both at once!). Also enamoured with the lady is Christian, a handsome man with little brain to match. Roxane is a "Precieuse," a woman who values poetry and beautiful words, and Christian knows that his looks alone won't win her over. He enlists the help of Cyrano, and together, with Christian's looks and Cyrano's words, Roxane is led to believe that Christian is her dream man. Yet, Cyrano must suffer until his secret is revealed years later, too late: Roxane has holed herself up in a nunnery after Christian died in war, and Cyrano suffers a fatal head wound. The tragedy of the revelation is a true tearjerker.

For romantics, this is a must-read. But like Cyrano's words, the drama offers much more than romance. The theme of bravery and spirit, the "panache" that Cyrano holds dear, is important to the story. If only Cyrano had his famous courage when it came to confessing his love, he would have surely had his Roxane for himself. But then, we wouldn't have such a beautiful tragedy. show less

Brilliant. Well crafted, intelligent, and romantic. Rostand’s stage instructions, larger than life characters, and tale of panache and heartbreak must have made for an incredible theater experience when it premiered in 1897, and perhaps it still does today. The main story that most are probably aware of has memorable scenes – Cyrano in the bushes feeding lines to Christian as he stands below Roxane’s balcony of course, and also Cyrano pointing out just how banal someone’s attempts at show more humor are, by rattling off a long string of clever jokes about a big nose. “How darling of you to have built a little perch for little birds to rest their tiny claws,” he says, among many others. However, there is so much more to this play than that: the universality of insecurity, the depth and sacrifice of true love, the transience of life, and having a certain brio while alive. I was surprised by how many of the characters and their actions were historically accurate, outside the love story anyway, including Cyrano himself talking about creative ways of getting to the moon in a wonderful passage that reflects the real de Bergerac’s writing in 1657. Definitely recommended.

Quotes:
On death, perhaps a fantastic epitaph:
Excuse me, friends, I mustn’t keep her waiting:
The moon has come to fetch me.

On a kiss:
Cyrano: A kiss! What is a kiss? A confession
Made from a little closer at hand, a promise
Delivered as soon as it’s made,
A secret whispered close, with a mouth to hear it:
Eternity held in a moment that stings like a bee.
Passed like communion, a host with the scent of flowers,
A way to breathe the breath of the heart of another
And with one’s lips to sip the beloved one’s soul.

On love:
Roxane: What words will you use to tell it?
Cyrano: All of them.
Each word that comes to me. I’ll throw them all
In sheaves at your feet, no time to make a bouquet:
I love you, I’m stifling, I love you, I’m crazy, it’s more
Than I can bear. Your name’s like a bell in my heart,
Dearest, a little bell, and as I keep trembling,
The bell keeps ringing and ringing and saying your name.
The tiniest things about you live in my memory.
I’ve loved them all, always. Last year, I remember,
On the twelfth of May, you changed the style of your hair!
You know what you look too long at the sun, the disc
Of fire that floats on everything afterwards? Well,
Your hair was my sunlight, and after I looked away
There were patches of blonde light all over the world.

On success in life:
De Guiche: There’s such a thing as too complete success,
And even when one has done nothing wrong –
Not really wrong – a certain slight unease
That isn’t quite remorse will come to haunt one
When rising to great office. As one climbs,
The ducal ermine trails along a wake
Of rustling dead illusions and regrets,
Just as these autumn leaves catch in your train. show less

At the risk of sounding like a bit of a fool, I have to say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. The version of the play that I read was translated by Lowell Bair and first published by Signet Classics in 1972. My surprise came from not having particularly enjoyed either movie version of Cyrano that I’ve seen, and assuming that was the play’s fault rather than the fault of the two movies.

The unrealistic plot of Cyrano de show more Bergerac, as it turns out, is precisely what makes it so charming. Imagine what has to be the greatest swordsmen in French history (the play is set in 1640), a man who can write poetry aloud while in the midst of a swordfight for his very life. Such a man would be a romantic hero in any country of the period, but because Cyrano has also been blessed with one of the longest noses in French history, he is not exactly having to fight off the women.

Our hero is, in fact, madly in love with his first cousin, Roxanne. Roxanne, though, is the kind of woman who can only imagine herself ever falling in love with a handsome man – and in Cyrano’s friend Christian, she finds just what she is looking for. Unfortunately for Christian and Roxanne, Christian’s ability to creatively express his feelings is at the opposite end of the scale from his good looks. If Roxanne ever figures out just how dull-witted the man is, she is certain to ban him from her life. And that’s where Cyrano comes in.

Cyrano’s ability to write a love letter is exceeded only by his ability to kill eight or ten men in a single swordfight. Christian obviously needs help (probably in both areas), and Cyrano is willing to write his love letters as a way of himself staying close to Roxanne. The beautiful Roxanne, though, has attracted more than two suitors (even though she doesn’t even realize that Cyrano is one of them), and that complicates the plot considerably.

Cyrano de Bergerac is dramatic; it is funny; and its puns (especially those regarding Cyrano’s nose) are brilliant. The play’s final act is obviously overly-melodramatic, but actually, it’s really no less realistic than the rest of the play. The same theater-goers who laughed their way through most of the play probably never thought they would be leaving the theater in tears when the final curtain closed, but I’m willing to bet that’s exactly what happened to many of them. The fictional Cyrano de Bergerac is an unforgettable character, and even though the play’s author believed the play to be a literary disaster, it turned out to be the one that made him famous – and has kept him that way. show less

Le nez de Cyrano s'est mis en travers de son cœur. La belle Roxane aime ailleurs, en l'espèce un cadet sans esprit mais de belle apparence, Christian de Neuvillette.
La pièce de Rostand met en scène la tragique complicité entre deux moitiés d'homme, et s'achève sur une évidence en forme d'espérance : sous les traits de Christian, ce n'était pas moins que l'âme de Cyrano qu'aimait Roxane.
Avec ce drame en cinq actes, au travers des reprises ou des adaptations cinématographiques, show more Rostand a connu et connaît un triomphe ininterrompu et planétaire. Pourquoi? À cause des qualités d'écriture, des vertus dramatiques ou de la réussite du personnage principal de la pièce? Sans doute, pour une part. Mais la raison profonde tient à son art de caresser l'un de nos plus anciens mythes : il n'est pas de justice ici-bas, ni d'amour heureux. Presque pas. Et tout est dans cette manière de nous camper sur cette frontière, entre rêve et réalité, entre lune et terre. show less