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Cyrano de Bergerac | Study Guide

Edmond Rostand

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Course Hero. "Cyrano de Bergerac Study Guide." Course Hero. 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 28 May 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cyrano-de-Bergerac/>.

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Course Hero. (2017, March 13). Cyrano de Bergerac Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved May 28, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cyrano-de-Bergerac/

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Course Hero. "Cyrano de Bergerac Study Guide." March 13, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cyrano-de-Bergerac/.

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Course Hero, "Cyrano de Bergerac Study Guide," March 13, 2017, accessed May 28, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Cyrano-de-Bergerac/.

Cyrano de Bergerac | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

cyrano-de-bergerac-edmond-rostandSet in France in 1640 and 1655, Cyrano de Bergerac features a bold romantic hero with an oversized problem: his nose. To express his love for the seemingly unattainable Roxane, Cyrano makes a deal with his new acquaintance, Christian: Christian will be the face of love, and Cyrano will provide the romantic words he needs. The plan leads to heartache.What’s in a Nose?OVERVIEWAct IThe mysterious Cyrano makes a bold appearance at the theater and wins a sword fight. Act IIAt Ragueneau’s shop, Roxane reveals she loves Christian. Cyrano meets Christian and agrees to give him poetic words to say to Roxane. Act IIIAfter wooing Roxane in a balcony scene, Cyrano helps Christian and Roxane get married, just before the men’s regiment is called to the Siege of Arras. Act IVAt the front, Cyrano risks his life to send love letters to Roxane on Christian’s behalf. Christian dies in battle just as he realizes that Roxane loves Cyrano (and he loves her). Act V15 years later, Cyrano, poor and dying, pays a last visit to Roxane at the convent where she lives in mourning—and at last Roxane realizes it is Cyrano she has loved all this time.Main CharactersCyrano de BergeracProud, witty swordsman with a tender heart; skilled with words RoxaneRomantic, kind woman; faithful widowChristian de NeuvilletteFaltering, timid soldier; employs Cyrano to woo RoxaneLe BretCyrano's supportive best friend; looks out for himCount de GuicheHaughty, entitled man bent on revenge; rebuffed by RoxaneLovesMarriedFriendsEnemiesCyrano de Bergeracby the NumbersAppearance in the play of d’Artagnan, the main character in Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers (1844)Real writer and nobleman from whom Cyrano gets his name, Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac Balcony scene in the play, like the balcony scene in Romeo and JulietScene that references the 17th-century playwright Molière1111Autumn LeavesSymbolize Cyrano’s path fromlife to death on his last day SwordRepresents Cyrano’s valiance and defense against his uglinessNoseSymbolizes Cyrano’s self-doubt and fear of rejection in loveSymbolsfine nose is the unfailing markOf a fine man, witty, good-natured, brave, Courteous and forgiving, as I am myself.Cyrano, Act I, Scene IVFrench playwright Rostand, who became a celebrity in France, wrote with a poetic, romantic bent all but obsolete in his time. While many other writers focused on innovation and serious social themes, Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac—his most famous play, written in verse—provided an uplifting diversion.EDMOND ROSTAND1868–1918AuthorDeceptionWhen characters deceiveothers, the result is harmful, whether physically or mentally.ThemesBeautyChristian’s outward beauty andCyrano’s ugliness dictate their relationships with Roxane, who eventually realizes that it is Cyrano who’s beautiful on the inside,not Christian.PrideWith his wit and criticismof others, Cyrano earns many enemies—which leads to his death.Sources: Broadway.com, Encyclopaedia Britannica, A Global Chronology of Conflict edited by Spencer C. Tucker, Minute History of the Drama by Alice B. Fort & Herbert S. Kates, Oscars.org Copyright © 2017 Course Hero, Inc.Edmond Rostand1897FrenchPlayAuthorYear PublishedOriginal LanguageCyrano de BergeracRomance
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