Cyrano de Bergerac

17th century French poet who described a fictitious trip to the moon. He assumed that when the day dawned, dew was sucked upward by the sun. He therefore reasoned that someone wearing vials full of dew would likewise be drawn toward the sun. Using this bizarre means of locomotion, he nearly zoomed past the moon. Breaking some of the vials, though, he descended back to Earth.

Cyrano de Bergerac is the title of a play written by Edmund Rostand. It's also the name of the main character in said play.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER.

Cyrano is an awesome character, a warrior poet with a big white feather o' freedom jammed in his hat. He is in love with his cousin (by marriage!), Roxane, but because Cyrano is exceptionally ugly, he doesn't figure he has a chance. When Roxane asks him to watch over a young cadet that SHE is in love with (because he's a looker), Cyrano uses the opportunity to love Roxane in his own way. Since her chosen is a bit of an idiot, Cyrano writes all his love-letters and poems for him. And believe me, Sir de Bergerac is one hell of a poet.

Of course, I'm not giving away the rest of the plot, just in case there's some cretin wandering around Everything who hasn't read it yet....in closing, though, CYRANO IS THE SHIT.


oh yeah, the movie "Roxanne" was extremely loosely based on the play Cyrano De Bergerac, but only in parody. There are several videos of the play performed, and most of them are great. My favorites, for some reason, are the french ones with subtitles.

The main character in the play (see above) Cyrano is the personification of Judge me by who I am, not how I look.

Now is that not relevant to this whole E2experience?!.

Cyrano an expert swordsman and soldier, woos the woman of his dreams with words. The woman, a distant relative of his, is so young and in love with a young 'hunkdude' it never occurs to her that the love letters Cyrano sends to her with the young man's name on them are from another. She never considers that her young love is not the erudite man of her dreams.

Cyrano, knowing his limitations, takes what he can get, happy to win her heart, if not her bed. He is not, however, a wimp, and in fact is sort of a cocky Chuck Norris-type when it comes to fencing. And a Dennis Miller, smartalec with wordplay. And pretty damn good at everything else.

Except his appearance. Which is goofy because of his very large nose.

Cyrano's love interest, Roxanne, was later made famous by Sting and the Police in the 80s.

// (Note: I have always thought that the film My Favorite Year came closest to the spirit of this play, even though the The Truth about Cats and Dogs was a more direct descendant. )

French soldier, satirist, and dramatist, whose life has been the basis of many romantic but unhistorical legends. The best-known of them is Edmond Rostand's verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac (1897). Historians have pointed out that Rostand's portrayal of the hero was not truthful - Cyrano was a serious writer of philosophical romances and a virile lover. Bergerac also wrote about space travel - According to Arthur C. Clarke, he was the first writer to use the rocket for interplanetary expeditions.

Bergerac was born in Paris and educated by a priest in the village of Bergerac. Later he was sent to the Collège de Beauvais. After acquiring fame as a duelist and Bohemian, he enlisted in the army at the age of 20. He was severely wounded twice, once at a fight with a Gascon Guard, and the second time at the siege of Arras in 1640. There he was hit in the neck with a sword, an injury from which he never fully recovered. In the following year he gave up his military career and started to study under the philosopher and mathematician Pierre Gassendi. Influenced by Gassendi's theories and libertine philosophy, he wrote stories of imaginary journeys to the Moon and Sun, and satirized views which saw humanity and the Earth as the center of creation.

Cyrano de Bergerac died in Paris on July 28, 1655. The cause of his death was banal: a piece of plank dropped on his head, a fate which his literary namesake also shared.

The definitive film version of Rostand's play is Jean-Paul Rappeneau's movie from 1990, starring Gérard Depardieu as Cyrano, Anne Brochet as Roxanne and Vincent Perez as a somewhat befuddled Christian. The movie is beuatifully, opulently cinematographed, with a richness which echoes and reflects the byzantine complexity of the play's text, used in its original form in the film. The final scenes between Roxanne and Cyrano have not yet failed to make me bawl my eyes out, even though I've watched the movie 20 times (at least). Very highly recommended, only watch it in French! Even if you don't know it & have to read the subtitles, the music and rhythm of the original French, together with Depardieu's exuberant, almost violent delivery are well worth the effort.

Sources:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bergerac.htm
http://us.imdb.com/

There are a lot of writeups on Cyrano De Bergerac , but none include a plot summary, so I made one. Obviously, if you intend on reading or seeing the play, this is not for you.

Act I: Cyrano De Bergerac, intellectual and swordsman extraordinaire, and with a big nose that he is sensitive about, arrives at a play, where he scares off Montfleury, an actor who dared to flirt with Cyrano's cousin Roxane, who is also Cyrano's secret love. Vicomte de Valvert, who is a patron of the Comte De Guiche, who also loves Roxane, is challenged to duel by Cyrano after making the mistake of mocking Cyrano's nose, and loses. Cyrano departs after being informed by Roxane's servant that Roxane wishes to meet with him. Also, it is said that 100 assassins are in wait to kill Cyrano. This scene never actually occurs, but is only alluded to later.

Act II: Cyrano arrives at Ragueneau's bakery after defeating the assassins. Ragueneau is the cook with an overappreciation of poetry, and an underappreciation of economics, who is the comic relief of the play. Cyrano procures an audience alone with Roxane, before which he writes a letter to her. Roxane arrives, and she tells him she has a love. Cyrano thinks she means her, but is let down. She is talking about Baron Christian De Neuvilette, a new member of the guards, who loves her too. Cyrano pledges to protect him. De Guiche arrives, and basically threatens Cyrano to shape up or else. Cyrano rejects him, and the Cadets arrive with Christian. As Cyrano tells the story of the battle, Christian mocks his nose. Cyrano maintains his composure for a while, but eventually, he sends the Cadets out, and tells Christian that he is Roxane's cousin. Christian is apologetic, and they agree to collaborate on Roxane's love. Christian is bad with words, and Cyrano is ugly, so Cyrano will supply Christian with words.

Act III: De Guiche and Roxane talk. Roxane tries to convince De Guiche not to send the cadets to war, and actually convinces him not to. Christian tries to woo Roxane with words, but fails, and Cyrano takes over, and gets Christian his first kiss with Roxane. De Guiche sends a order for Roxane to get married with him. Roxane marries Christian instead, with Cyrano delaying De Guiche by pretending to be a man who fell from the moon. De Guiche is furious, and sends the Cadets, with Christian and Cyrano, to the front lines.

Act IV: The Cadets are at war, and there is not enough food to go around. Roxane sneaks through the Spanish lines and secretly brings food (cooked by Ragueneau) to them. In a surprise twist, De Guiche shows some good tendencies, when, after Roxane refuses to leave, swears to personally protect her. Roxane tells Christian that it is the letters that (though she is not aware of this) Cyrano has been writing to her that makes her love him, and she would love him even if he were ugly. Christian tells Cyrano this, and says that Cyrano must tell her, and let her pick. Cyrano is near telling her, but then the Spanish attack, and Christian is killed. Cyrano goes into direct battle, and the Act ends.

Act V: Fifteen years have passed. Roxane is still mourning in a nunnery, and Cyrano, who has survived, visits her weekly. It is the day of his visit. Cyrano is not doing well now, broke and hungry, as well as making political enemies. De Guiche, who turns out to be a decent guy, is trying to support him, but Cyrano refuses assistance. De Guiche is with Roxane at the nunnery, when Ragueneau runs in and says Cyrano has been hit with a log, attempted to be killed. He says this only to De Guiche, not to Roxane. Cyrano was knocked unconscious, but manages to make it to the nunnery. He requests of Roxane to read his last letter to her, and he does. Roxane realizes that Cyrano wrote all the letters, and her loves goes to him. However, Cyrano has killed himself making it to the nunnery, and dies.

The End