Cyrano de Bergerac

By Edmond Rostand

Edmond Rostand(1868-1918)

• Background• Born in Marseille, France• Family was wealthy and father was an economist and poet (very

educated)• Rostand studied at the College Stanislaus in Paris.• His father wanted him to be a lawyer and he eventually passed the bar

exam but he wanted to be a writer instead.• Writing Career• French author• Wrote mostly romantic plays• First drama was called Les Romanesque (The Romantics) which was

produced in Paris in 1894.• “Cyrano de Bergerac”• First performed in Paris 1897• Based on the life of an actual person• All the other kids hated him because of his nose, this is where his bad

temper came from.• French satirist and duelist• Actually fought at Ares (setting from play)• Suffered a similar fate to Cyrano of the play• Was also a writer• First production of the play, December 28, 1897.• Has been performed by Gerard Depardieu

Tragedy vs. ComedyTragedy: literature in which the hero is destroyed by some tragic flaw within his/her character

Comedy: literature which deals with life in a light, humorous way, often poking fun at people’s mistakes

Literary Elements

• Literary elements are most frequently used to aid discussion on a work or better understand a work of literature.

SUSPENSE

• being undecided, uncertain: pleasurable excitement and anticipation regarding an outcome; anxiety or apprehension due to an undecided, uncertain, or mysterious situation

• End of Act I why does Roxane want to meet Cyrano? How will Cyrano fare against 100 swordsmen

IRONY• DESCREPENCY BETWEEN

WHAT IS SAID AND WHAT IS MEANTVerbal Irony:

Situational Irony:

Dramatic Irony: Audience knows from 1st act that Roxane was attracted to Christian. Cyrano, however, does not know this and makes assumptions about why Roxane wants to meet with him.

Imagery• Ex: 2 persons in play wore a mask• Roxane when visiting Cyrano at Ragueneau’s

pastry shop (Act II) and DeGuiche when he comes to pick up Roxane for the convent (Act III). . . Each are wearing them so they will not be seen, however they too are blinded by the mask at seeing how the person feels right in front of them.

• Ex: dueling imagery – physical, yes but also mixed with language of a duel with images of pursuit, retreat, victory and defeat

• Ex: pg 30• Ex: pg 36 – “Ah, do you love the little birds?”

Use of details to create a mental imageNot only visual but sensational

IMAGERY CONTINUED

• Food & Drink – Poetic Puff-Pastry• Mask (Act II) – Roxanne cannot see

that Cyrano loves her (she shows up at Rageneau’s wearing a mask)

Characterization

MAJOR CHARACTERS• PROTAGONIST: The main

character in the story.• ANTAGONIST: The character

or force that opposes the protagonist.

• FOIL: A character who provides a contrast (often through highlighting comparisons) to the protagonist in order highlight protaganist’s characteristics. (AKA Sidekick)

• Major characters are almost always round or three-dimensional characters who have good and bad qualities. Their goals, ambitions, and values change. A round character changes as a result of what happens to him/her. A character who changes inside as a result of what happens to him referred to in literature as a DYNAMIC character. A dynamic character grows or progresses to a higher level of understanding in the course of the story.

Metaphor

• By definition a metaphor is an image or thing used to represent an intangible or idea

• Hyperbole is type of metaphor, ex. Pg 37, “When you light your pipe . . . “

• Cyrano personifies his sword (Act I when he “takes his sword by the nape and draw out it’s form”@ the Hotel Burgoine

HYPERBOLE

Page 37•

When you light your pipe . . Neighbors think it is a chimney.

PLOT: the series of events that take

place in a play.

Exposition or Initial incident- the event that “gets the story going” - Introduction of main characters - is the “who, when, where and what” part of the play.

Rising action: a series of events following the initial incident and leading up to thedramatic climax. Introduction of conflict occurs here.

Climax: the turning point or high point of a story, when events can go either way

Falling action: the series of events following the climax – loose ends tied up.

Denouement or Conclusion : another term for the ending-it is the French word for “unraveling”).

NOTE: Narrative structure of Cyrano with 5 Acts to the play.

Picture of Plot Structure

Conflict(5 Universal categories)

• 1) Man against Man• 2) Man against Society• 3) Man against Himself• 4) Man against Nature• 5) Person against Fate (God)

Man against Society

• A character has a conflict or problem with society – the school, the law, the tradition

Man against Himself

• A character struggles inside and has trouble deciding what to do

Man against nature

• A character has a problem with some element of nature: a snowstorm avalanche, etc.

Person against Fate (God)

• A character has to battle what seems to be an uncontrollable problem.

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Symbolism

In writing, symbolism is the use of a word, phrase or description, which represents a deeper meaning than the words themselves.

• Cyrano’s nose– His nose is the barrier between him and love.– This is the barrier that keeps him from telling

Roxane he loves her

• The Moon–Ex: Act III – moon is the happy fantasy of

Cyrano as he pretends to be a drunken madman that believes he has fallen from the sky.

–Ex: Act V – it is his desired destination after death . . . He can chill with other awesome dead guys like Socrates and Galileo

• The White Plume – Ex: Act IV: The plume is a mark of military

rank and a target for enemy guns. The fact that de Guiche threw his away in the heat of battle means he is a coward. The fact that Cyrano picks it up is symbolic of his courage, loyalty, commitment to the Gascoyne Guards and honor. He speaks of this plume shortly before he dies in the final act.

• Tears and Blood – Act V Roxanne reads Christian’s dying letter and it is stained with blood from Christian and Cyrano’s tears. Cyrano represents the emotional half of the man that Roxane has fallen in love with, while Christian represents the physical. At the end of the play, Roxane declares that the tears were Cyrano’s and he counters with a reminder that the blood was Christian’s. i.e. both men were pivotal in winning the love of Roxane

• Letters – symbol of deception and love – Cyrano is able to hide his identity while at the same time expressing his true feelings.

Allusion

• a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or event, or to another literary work or passage

• Example: Act I - Cuigy wittingly claims that Cyrano’s name is d’Artagnan (a hero of Alexandre Dumas’s novel written 200 years after the time in which Cyrano de Bergerac is set) . . . Later LeBret admonishes Cyrano to stop trying to be three musketeers in one.

• 1. Samson/jawbone

– But when he is brought to them the spirit of the Lord come upon him; he bursts his bonds and slays a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.A, he is revived by a spring of water which the Lord causes to flow from the jawbone. Later while Samson come upon him; he bursts his bonds and slays a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Being thirsty after this exploit, he is revived by a spring of water which the Lord causes to flow from the jawbone. Later while Samson

Tragedy vs.. Comedy (Genre)

• At times, it’s easy to see that Cyrano is a comedy; it’s outlandish, hilarious, features clever verbal sparring and over–the-top wit. At other times, it seems dark; there is death, thwarted love, revenge, etc. The thing to remember is that this dark stuff isn’t so much tragic. Just look at Roxane’s depiction of getting through the enemy Spanish lines, or Cyrano’s absurdly grandiose speeches on his deathbed. These moments aren’t supposed to be tragic, but rather comic in their exaggerations.

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Theme

– The fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The underlying meaning of the story, a.k.a moral.

• Values & Virtue• Inner & Outer Beauty• The Danger in Deception• Love