Cyrano de Bergerac (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (B & ... (ISBN 1593080751)

The tragic love triangle of Roxane, Christian, and Cyrano:
The scene that has made Edmond Rostand's verse drama in five acts, "Cyrano De Bergerac," a classic drama is the balcony scene, where Cyrano is feeding the inarticulate Christian the lines with which to woo the lovely Roxanne. Finally Cyrano pretends to be Christian and speaks to Roxanne directly, while hiding in the shadows. Cyrano loves Roxanne as well, but would never dare to speak to her in his own name, and the great irony is that he knows his words have won her heart, but for another man. The scene resonates because the vast majority of young men have experienced the pangs of love for a woman who would not give them the time of day. The reason for such slights might not be a large nose, but as long as it is something that is beyond our control, we can feel an affinity with Cyrano. What makes his plight more tragic than our own is because he is both witty and romantic, using words like a rapier to best his enemies one moment and then uttering verbal bouquets that would surely win the heart of any maiden at whom they were directed. Still, the Fates conspire against Cyrano, for when Christian finally realizes that it is Cyrano's words that have won Roxane's heart for him and tries to make things right, the young man's death cements the parts they have chosen to play in this tragic love triangle. After the paradigmatic love triangle of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot, that of Christian, Roxane, and Cyrano must rank second. Yet in the end I find that the tragedy of "Cyrano de Bergerac" is not his alone, for there is a sense in which Roxanne's loss is even greater. For me, the key line in the play belongs to her, when in the final scene Cyrano is finally allowed to read the last letter that Christian wrote to his beloved, a letter written by Cyrano himself. The words are burned into his soul and it is when she realizes that it is too dark for him to read the words and he is reciting them, that the truth becomes clear to her. "I never loved but one man in my life," she laments, "and I have lost him twice." There is something to be said for a play that can be accurately reduced to a single line. Furthermore, in terms of romantic tragedy, the emotional impact of the ending is comparable to Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet," a comparison already warranted by the fact the plays have the two most famous balcony scenes in drama. Rostand wrote "Cyrano" for the great French actor, Constant Coquelin, who specifically requested the final death scene. The play premiered on December 28, 1897, at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, Paris. The fact "Cyrano" was effectively commissioned for a particular actor might explain why the playwright was able to take the French soldier, satirist, and dramatist, whose life had been the basis of many romantic but unsubstantiated legends into the central character of his drama. The historical Cyrano (1619-1655) is of interest for writing some of the first works of what we would consider science fiction, "Voyage dans la lune" (1657) and "L'historie des etats et empires du soleil" (1662). He was also considered a student of Pierre Gassendi, the writer of philosophical romances and a virile lover, so Rostand's characterization is rather suspect. But it is also one of the most memorable creation of 19th-century drama (along with Henrik Ibsen's Clara from "A Doll's House"). "Cyrano de Bergerac" represents one of the final examples of Romantic drama in France, but ironically the heroic comedy is the best known of all such works today. The only other one of Rostand's plays that has proven to be of interest is "L'Aiglon" ("The Eaglet"), a 1900 tragedy is six acts that tells the story of the Duke of Reichstadt, the son of Napoleon, who lived and died the virtual prisoner of Austria (Sarah Bernhardt played the title run in the first production). But clearly it is "Cyrano" that has made Rostand's name almost as memorable as that of his great dramatic creation.