*After Roxane says that Cyrano shall not die and that she loves him: “ No—That is not in the story! You remember when Beauty said “I love you” to the Beast That was a fairy prince, his ugliness changed and dissolved, like magic…But you see I am still the same.”
*Roxane thinks that it is her fault for Cyrano’s troubles and Cyrano says: “You? Why no, on the contrary! I had never known womanhood and its sweetness but for you. My mother did not love to look at me—I never had a sister—Later on, I feared the mistress with a mockery behind her smile. But you—because of you I have had one friend not quite all a friend—Across my life, one whispering silken gown.”
*After the previous quote, Le Bret says “Your other friend is looking at you” and Cyrano says, “I see.”
* Le Bret points out the moon and Cyrano’s friend: “Le Bret—I shall be up there presently in the moon—without having to invent any flying machines!” ROXANE: What are you saying/ CYRANO: The moon—yes, that would be the place for me—my kind of paradise! I shall find there those other souls who should be friends of mine—Socrates—Galileo--/ LE BRET: No! No! No! It is too idiotic—too unfair—Such a friend—such a poet—such a man to die so—to die so!/ CYRANO: There goes Le Bret, growling!/ LE BRET: My friend!/ CYRANO: The Cadets of Gascoyne, The Defenders…The elementary mass—Ah—there’s the point! Now, then…/ LE BRET: Delirious—and all that learning--/ CYRANO: On the other hand, We have Copernicus.”
*Next line after the Copernicus quote: "Very well, But what the devil was he doing there?--What the devil was he doing there, up there?"...(He declaims) Philosopher and scientist--Poet, musician, duellist--He flew high, and fell back again! A pretty wit-- whose like we lack-- A lover... not like other men.. Here lies Hercule-Savinien De Cyrano de Bergerac--Who was all things-- and all in vain! Well, I must go-- pardon-- I cannot stay! My moonbeam comes to carry me away...(He falls back into the chair, half fainting. The sobbing of Roxane recalls him to reality. Gradually his mind comes back to him. He looks at her, stroking the veil that hides her hair.) I would not have you mourn any the less That good, brave, noble Christian; But perhaps--I ask you only this-- when the great cold Gathers around my bones, that you may give A double meaning to your widow's weeds And the tears you let fall for him may be for a little—my tears…”
ROXANE: Oh, my love!/ CYRANO: “Not here, Not lying down! Let no one help me—no one! Only the tree…It is coming…I feel already shod with marble…gloved with lead…Let the old fellow come now! He shall find me on my feet—sword in hand—(Draws his sword).”
* His final passage: “I can see him there-- he grins--He is looking at my nose-- that skeleton--What's that you say? Hopeless?-- Why, very well!--But a man does not fight merely to win! No-- no-- better to know one fights in vain!...You there-- Who are you? A hundred against one---I know them now, my ancient enemies--(He lunges at the empty air)Falsehood!... There! There! Prejudice-- Compromise-- Cowardice--(thrusting)What's that? No! Surrender? No! Never-- never! Ah, you too, Vanity! I knew you would overthrow me in the end--No! I fight on! I fight on! I fight on! (He swings the blade in great circles, then pauses, gasping. When he speaks again, it is another tone) Yes, all my laurels you have riven away And all my roses; yet in spite of you, There is one crown I bear away with me, And tonight, when I enter before God, My salute shall sweep all the stars away From the blue threshold! One thing without stain, Unspotted from the world, in spite of doom Mine own!--(He springs forward, his sword aloft)And that is...(The sword escapes for his hand; he totters, and falls into the arms of Le Bret and Ragueneau.)”
2)Roxane: Roxane is totally faithful to her dead husband. She withdraws to a convent and wears the black veil of mourning for fifteen years. At the end of the play, she has become a self-absorbed and sentimental widow, who has lost her sparkle. She fusses at Cyrano for being late and does not even notice that he has been seriously injured. When she discovers that Cyrano is the author of the letters and, therefore, the one she really loves, she feels sorry for herself for being deprived of loving him for fifteen years. In the end, she is a total contrast to the selfless Cyrano.
*Answers De Guiche’s question on seeing Cyrano, “Every week. My old friend takes the place of my Gazette, Brings me all the news. Every Saturday, under that tree where you are now, his chair stands, if the day be fine. I wait for him, embroidering; the hour strikes; then I hear, (I need not turn to look) at the last stroke, his cane tapping the steps. He laughs at me for my eternal needlework. He tells the story of the past week.” *Roxane wonders where Cyrano is because he is never late: “The hour!- He will be coming now-- my silks- All done striking? He never was so late Before! The sister at my door--my thimble... Here it is--she must be exhorting him To repent all his sins...(A pause) He ought to be Converted, by this time-- Another leaf--(A dead leaf falls on her work; she brushes it away) Certainly nothing could--my scissors—ever Keep him away.”
*A Nun calls Cyrano and Cyrano goes toward Roxane: “What was I saying?… Hard, sometimes, to match these faded colors!…After fourteen years, Late—for the first time!”
*Describing the color of the leaves: “What color—Perfect Venetian red! Look at them fall.” CYRANO: “Yes—they know how to die. A little way from the branch to the earth, a little fear of mingling with the common dust—and yet they go down gracefully—a fail that seems like flying!”
* “I never loved but one man in my life, and I have lost him—twice.”
3) Comte De Guiche: At the end of the play, De Guiche is seen again, and the audience
learns he has become a Duke, a reward for his bravery at Arras. Like Cyrano, he comes to the convent to visit Roxane. Although he still seems interested in her after fifteen years, he has resigned himself to the fact that he has lost her to Christian forever. De Guiche seems to have mellowed in other ways as well. He asks Roxane to forgive him for his treachery when he intentionally sent Christian to war and place his regiment in a very vulnerable spot. He also admits that he regrets the things he has missed on his way
to success.
*Asking Roxane about life as he enters in the beginning: “And you remain here, wasting all that gold—For ever in mourning?”
*He talks about success: “Yes—I envy him now and then…Do you know, when a man wins everything in this world, when he succeeds too much—he feels, having done nothing wrong especially, Heaven knows!—he feels somehow a thousand small displeasures with himself, whose whole sum is not quite Remorse, but rather a sort of vague disgust…The ducal robes mounting up, step by step, to pride and power, somewhere among their folds draw after them a rustle of dry illusions, vain regrets, as your veil, up the stairs here, draws along the whisper of dead leaves.”
*Telling Le Bret about Cyrano’s danger: “One moment—It is true that no one dares attack your friend. Some people dislike him, nonetheless. The other day at court, such a one said to me: “This man Cyrano may die—accidentally.”
4) Ragueneau:
*Speaks of Cyrano’s injury to Le Bret: “After all, I had rather—You are here—She need not know so soon—I went to see him just now—Our friend—As I came near his door, I saw him coming out. I hurried on to join him. At the corner of the street, as he passed—Could it be an accident? I wonder! At the window overhead, a lackey with a heavy log of wood let it fall.”
5) Le Bret:
*Talking of Cyrano when he first enters, “Loneliness, misery, I told him so! His satires make a host of enemies—He attacks the false nobles, the false saints, the false heroes, the false artists—in short, everyone!”/ “It is not violence I fear for him, But solitude—poverty—old gray December, stealing on wolf’s feet, with a wolf’s green eyes, into his darkening room. Those bravos yet may strike our Swordsman down! Every day now, He draws his belt up one hole; his poor nose looks like old ivory; he has one coat left—his old black serge.”
Beginning of Act V- Speech Between Minor Characters (about Cyrano)
Mother Marguerite: “More than ten years; ever since his cousin came to live among us here—Her worldly weeds among our linen veils, her widowhood and our virginity—like a black dove among white doves.”
Sister Marthe: “No one else ever turns that happy sorrow of hers into a smile.”
All nuns: “He is such fun. He makes is almost laugh. And he teases everyone and pleases everyone and we all love him and he likes our cake too.”
SM: “I am afraid he is not a good catholic.”
Sister Claire: “Some day we shall convert him.”
The nuns: “Yes-yes!”
MM: “Let him be; I forbid you to worry him. Perhaps he might stop coming here.”
SM: But…God?
MM: “You need not be afraid. God knows all about him.”
SM: “Yes… But every Saturday he says to me, Just as if he were proud of it: ‘Well, Sister, I ate meat yesterday!’”
MM: He tells you so? The last time he said that, he had not eaten anything, for two days.
SM: Mother!
MM: He is poor; very poor.
SM: Who said so?
MM: Monsieur Le Bret.
SM: Why does not someone help him?
MM: “He would be angry; very angry.”
The Fifth Act: Cyrano’s Gazette; Fifteen years later, in 1655: The Park of the Convent occupied by the Ladies of the Cross, at Paris. It is late October and there are dead leaves under every tree. At the Curtain Rise the nuns are coming and going across the Park; several of them are seated on the Bench around Mother Marguerite de Jesus (Mother Superior). The leaves are falling. Sister Claire says to the other nuns that Cyrano will make fun of them if they tell him that Sister Marthe stole a plum out of the tart in the morning. Sister Marthe says that he will say nuns are so gay and Claire says, “And so greedy.” The nuns say that Cyrano makes them laugh, teases everyone, pleases everyone, likes their cake, and that Cyrano is a regular visitor to their convent. He has come every Saturday for more than 10 years to visit Roxane, who first came to live in the convent after Christian died. Even after the ten years, Roxane continues to wear the veil of mourning for her fallen husband. She is now known as Madame Madeleine. The nuns try to convert him into a good Catholic.
Roxane enters the park of the convent alongside De Guiche, who is still marvelous but now an old man and a powerful noble in France. He is known as the Duc de Grammont. He asks about her life of isolation, her fidelity, Roxane’s black veil. De Guiche asks Roxane if she is still faithful to Christian and his memory, and she says she is. When he asks if she has forgiven him (De Guiche), she answers, “I am here.” Roxane even says that she has the final letter from Christian fastened near her heart, “It hangs here, like a holy reliquary.” When De Guiche replies saying “Dead—and you love him still,” she says, “Sometimes I think he has not altogether died; our hearts meet, and his love flows all around me, living.” Cyrano comes to visit Roxane every week and gives her all the news (impromptu gazette) of the world outside. Le Bret then enters and Roxane asks about Cyrano. Le Bret says his condition is bad, as he remains poor, hungry, misery, and friendless. Cyrano has made a host of enemies as a result of his constant satirical attacks on hypocrites in society. The assumption can be made that Cyrano will die soon of cold and anemia. De Guiche points out that they should not pity Cyrano, because Cyrano “lives his life, his own life, his own way—thought, word, and deed free.” Then, De Guiche says, “Yes—I know—I have all; he has nothing. Nevertheless, to-day I should be proud to shake his hand…” As he is leaving, De Guiche contrasts his success with the freedom of Cyrano. He admits that his own success has left him with a sense of uneasiness and a bad taste in his mouth. He has many dead illusions and vague regrets for the past. Le Bret is taken aside by De Guiche and De Guiche tells him that he heard at Court the other day that some nobles are trying to kill him, and that Cyrano should be careful of his enemies, and Le Bret should try to keep him home. As De Guiche is leaving, Ragueneau has come to take to Roxane. Roxane states that the baker will complain about his miseries ever since he left her service, “He comes for sympathy—having been first of all a poet, he became since then, in turn, a singer, bath-house keeper, sacristan, actor, hairdresser, music-master.”
Roxane leaves to speak with De Guiche, and Ragueneau tells Le Bret that Cyrano was walking down the street and at the window overhead, a lackey with a heavy log of wood let it fall and came down and hit Cyrano in the head, injuring him seriously. Ragueneau ran to him and found him lying there, a great hole in his head. Ragueneau says Cyrano is still alive, but he had to carry Cyrano to his room and is unconscious, not suffering. He found a doctor who would treat Cyrano out of charity. They will not tell Roxane and Ragueneau reports, “He said (doctor) fever, and lesions of the—I forget those long names—Ah, if you had seen him there, his head all white bandages!—Let us go quickly—there is no one to care for him—all alone—if he tries to raise his head, he may die!” Roxane comes in and see them running away quickly. She assumes that Ragueneau is in serious trouble, because he is running away quickly, “Running away when I call to him? Poor dear Ragueneau must have been very tragic! What a day! Something in these bright Autumn afternoons happy and yet regretful—an old sorrow smiling…as though poor little April dried her tears long ago—and remembered…Ah—the old chair, for my old friend!” Two nuns come out to place the great chair preparing for Cyrano’s weekly visit. She starts embroidering as the clock strikes, and Roxane is surprised that he is not there yet, because Cyrano is never late. She thinks that a nun at the gate has delayed him to ask him to repent all his sins. She brushes away a dead leaf from her work, and continues her work to pass time. Then, a nun appears on the steps and announces the arrival of Cyrano.
Cyrano approaches, helping him go down the steps with a cane. His hat is drawn over his eyes as it conceals his face. Even though it covers his face, we can tell that he is pale and weak. Roxane is so busy and attentive towards her work that she does not even turn to welcome Cyrano. Roxane says, “After 14 years, Late—for the first time!” He says he was detained by a visitor, most unexpected. When Roxane asks if the visitor was tiresome, he says, “Why, hardly that—inopportune, let us say—an old friend of mine—at least a very old acquaintance.” Roxane asks if he told him to go away and Cyrano replies, “For the time being, yes. I said: ‘Excuse me—this is Saturday—I have a previous engagement, one I cannot miss, even for you—Come back an hour from now.” Cyrano solemnly hints to Roxane that he will have to go a little before dark. Roxane does not like this idea and then reminds Cyrano to tease the nuns, as she points outs Sister Marthe in particular. Sister Marthe passes by and he says she has beautiful downcast eyes and so shy. He warns her not to alarm Roxane about his injury. She says that the reason he looks pale is because yesterday, Cyrano ate meat again. The nun cannot believe his appearance and offers to make him a great bowl of hot soup in the refectory. He stuns Sister Marthe by cheerfully declaring that he will let her pray for him that night at vespers. As she goes out (nun), she says that she did not wait for him to say she might. Cyrano says that he will never see the embroidery of Roxane, finished, “Now, may the devil admire, if I ever hope to see the end of that embroidery!” As the wind picks up for a moment, Cyrano notices the red autumn leaves falling slowly in front of him.
Roxane desires to know the Court news, her gazette. For a while, Cyrano rattles off the mundane daily events; but he soon faints from exhaustion. Roxane rushes in and regains consciousness. When he regains his consciousness, he acts as if it is an effect of a old wound he had received at the battle, 15 years prior. Roxane speaks of her wound in Arras by saying, “We all have our old wounds—I have mine here…under this faded scrap of writing…It is hard to read now—all but the blood—and the tears….” She is pointing to the farewell letter over her heart. Cyrano inquires about the letter of Christian and reminds his cousin that she promised him he would be able to read it someday. In the previous quote, she says it is hard to read because of the bloodstains and tear stains. She still gives it to him, and he begins to read the words that he had written her, a long time ago. He recites it fluently and magnificently in a voice that was like the one under her balcony, and she realizes this. As twilight starts to fall, Roxane sits amazed by Cyrano’s voice in which he reads her letter. As darkness now falls, she realizes that Cyrano can still read the letter. Since obviously Cyrano knows all the words to the letters, Roxane knows that Cyrano is the one who was writing them for Christian. She knows that the man she has loved the whole time if Cyrano, and not Christian. Roxane speaks, “And all these fourteen years, he has been the old friend, who came to me to be amusing.” She says it was him in all the letters, all the dear, foolish words, the voice in the dark, and the Soul, it was all Cyrano. When Roxane says this to him, he denies everything, but she knows the truth. He even says he never loved her, but she says he did, and even now, he loves her. She asks him why he was silent for so many years, since the tears on the letter was Cyrano’s, “How many things have died…and are newborn!… Why were you silent for so many years, All the while, every night and every day, He gave me nothing—you knew that—You knew Here, in this letter lying on my breast, Your tears—You knew they were your tears.” Cyrano answers by saying that the blood was that of Christian.
Before any further discussion, Le Bret and Ragueneau enter. Ragueneau announces that Cyrano has come to the convert in a physically weakened state, “He has killed himself, Madame, coming here!” Roxane understands Cyrano’s faintness and wants to know what has happened. Cyrano says his Gazette is not finished and adds, “Saturday, twenty-sixth: An hour or so before dinner, Monsieur de Bergerac died, foully murdered.” He uncovers his head, and shows it swathed in bandages. When Roxane asks what they have done to him, he says “Struck down by the sword of a hero, let me fall—steel in my heart, and laughter on my lips!” ‘Yes, I said that once. How Fate loves a jest! Behold me ambushed-taken in the rear—my battlefield a gutter—my noble foe a lackey, with a log of wood! It seems too logical—I have missed everything, even my death!’ He adds that his life and death have both been failures. When Cyrano asks what Ragueneau now does, Ragueneau replies, “I am not a poet now! I snuff the—light the candles—for Moliere!” Ragueneau starts to cry and is outraged when he tells Cyrano that Moliere has stolen a scene, word for word, from Cyrano. The name of their new play was “Scapin.” The scene was the one with “What the devil was he doing there.” Cyrano really does not mind that they copied it. Cyrano wants to know if the audience liked it, and the baker says that they laughed and laughed. Cyrano points out that his role in life is to inspire others and help others: Moliere has genius, Christian had good looks, and Cyrano is also doomed to be hidden beneath the balcony while someone else receives the kiss. It is definitely a reference to what he did for his friend, Christian. Cyrano points out that he may still not be there when Roxane returns because she was going to pray and the bell had rung. Roxane cries that he can’t die and that she loves him. He knows his death is coming, and he compares his love for his cousin to the love between the beauty and the beast. Roxane takes guilt for his unhappiness, but Cyrano replies that he is grateful for her friendship. Le Bret answers that Cyrano’s other friend is looking at you, as he points to the moon. Roxane realizes that Cyrano is close to his death and she cries out that “I never loved but one man in my life, And I have lost him—twice.” Cyrano becomes delirious. He recites a cheerful jaunty poem about his life and subsequently falls back into a chair. Roxane breaks into sobs. Cyrano pushes himself up and says that he will not die lying down. He rises and, leaning against a tree, draws his sword. He says that he sees the skeleton of death “daring” to look at his nose. He begins to fight against invisible enemies, calling out their names. Cyrano declares that his enemies have taken all his laurels, but that in spite of them, when he meets God that night, he will carry one thing that no one can take away from him. Suddenly, he drops his sword and falls into the arms of Le Bret and Ragueneau. Roxane kisses him on the forehead and asks what immaculate thing he will take to heaven with him. As he dies, Cyrano opens his eyes and looks at her. He replies, “My white plume.”
