Throughout the play Cyrano de Bergerac written by Edmond Rostand, the audience sees the importance of the main protagonists code of honor to the plot of the story.

by rendolw (student)

International Baccalaureate World Literature

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Rendol Williams

Reflective Statement

My understandings of the contextual and cultural considerations were further developed through the use of this interactive oral. In the French play Cyrano de Bergerac the protagonist Cyrano is faced with the monster challenge of confronting a woman who he believes to be beautiful in his eyes. There is a problem though that he finds to be major and thus judges himself on for the rest of the play, even up to his death. It was his big nose. Many elements of this story are hard for people in our day and age to understand, as times have changed and what was customary back then, can be different from what we think is right now. One element is the medium of communication between individuals. In this time the only fast way to send messages was by letter. In our days of technology we can easily send a message in a matter of seconds. Another element of the oral that helped with my understanding was how Christian and Cyrano were both vital parts in the wooing of Roxanne. Cyrano wrote the letters so this made him the emotional part of the relationship. Christian on the other hand was seen to be as the physical satisfaction of the relationship. As we can see neither of them were applicable as mates for Roxanne, but rather a person that took traits from both would be the perfect match. That would be in a perfect world though. Here though in an imperfect world the truth will come out soon or a later. Cyrano eventually confesses that it was him who wrote the letters to Roxanne. Although he did state this he still gave credit where credit was due. He acknowledged the role that Christian had played, and didn’t take sole credibility. In the end Roxanne doesn’t see his nose as a barrier that would keep her from expressing her love. It reminds me that not only is a person judged by others for his appearance, but that a person conforms to these views and is thus changed by them. As one can see through this discussion I have developed a better understanding of the contextual and cultural considerations of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Word Count: 367

Rendol Williams

24 May 2012

Honor in the Play Cyrano de Bergerac

This is a preview of the whole essay

Word Count: 367

Rendol Williams

24 May 2012

Honor in the Play Cyrano de Bergerac

Throughout the play Cyrano de Bergerac written by Edmond Rostand, the audience sees the importance of the main protagonist’s code of honor to the plot of the story. A code of honor represents a set of guidelines set out by a person that expresses their ideals and beliefs. It defines a person and expresses what that person is like and often times directly and indirectly affects others around them. The main protagonist Cyrano presents many positive aspects in regard to his code of honor that can be taken and applied to real world situations in our day and age. Throughout the play the audience can find examples of these that they can apply to the lives of themselves in these day and ages.

As the audience ventures through the play we see the trail of letters that Cyrano sends as Christian to Roxanne, his love that fails to realize his passion for her and desire to make her happy. Roxanne describes him by saying “His face shines with wit and intelligence; He’s proud, noble, young, fearless, handsome.” She although the gracious comments still neglects his love advances and still shows interest in Christian. Cyrano however though believes it to be honorable for a man to establish a relationship via letter before pursuing anything more. Some might say this is simply a method that is far easier for a person like Cyrano, who is embarrassed of his looks to just confront Roxanne, but he believes this to be the right thing to do in his mind. Against his foes of men he is confident about his nose and thinks of it as being something that defines him as a distinguished man. This is proven in the quote “"My nose is Gargantuan! You little Pig-snout, you tiny Monkey-Nostrils, you virtually invisible Pekinese-Puss, don't you realize that a nose like mine is both scepter and orb, a monument to me superiority? A great nose is the banner of a great man, a generous heart, a towering spirit, an expansive soul,” He finds his nose a burden and hindrance though in attaining the love of Roxanne. In the world of today the method of communication might be a little different, and more efficient, but the same concept is employed. A man in our time can’t simply walk up to a woman and confess the love he feels for her. He must first find a venue for talking to her much like Cyrano used letters. Our common man of today might use text, email or instant messaging, but the same idea is coming across. Building a relationship with a median not involving seeing each other, it is important to make sure you are compatible personality wise and not for something else that can prove futile later on in a relationship. When the audience looks on further into the play they see this proven in an example of Christian. Christian rushes the relationship without even looking to acknowledge the virtue of seeing if their personalities are compatible. So too did Roxanne which led to a premature love that which was destined to fail.

Another aspect is early in the story when Cyrano engages in a fight outside the theatre with a fellow Frenchman. After a series of verbal jousting they engage in a good old fashioned sword duel. Cyrano being the more skilled swordsman obviously possessed the upper hand in this duel. He quickly gets his opponent into a tight spot; he does stab him, but makes sure not to kill him. The only reason Cyrano did this was because he knew that it was the only way to end the duel. His objective was not to kill Valvert the man he was fighting or to him merely messing around with, but wounding him was the only option. In our day and age most would consider this as being a simple parking lot bar fight. A conflict that arose inside the bar, much like how Cyrano had a problem with the actor performing so he slandered and banished the man. The man then neglects Cyrano’s orders and still performs. Cyrano says “"Swine! Did I not forbid you to appear?" This then triggered Cyrano to do something as drastic as say he will kill the man whose name is Monteflurry. So then Valvert confronts him about his accusations and becomes tempered and resolves to settle it with violence. Cyrano slightly rose himself to be the better man in the fight and end the conflict. The audience sees that Cyrano was trying to give a show for the crowd as well as it is his personality to do such things.

Another sign of Cyrano’s code of honor is the way that he treats Roxanne. He believes the noble thing to do in this situation is to treat the woman he loves right and hopefully she will come to notice him one day, and they will be together. This aspect can be certainly translated to our common day and age. Cyrano doesn’t know how, or rather more is too embarrassed to express the way he feels to Roxanne. He would do whatever it takes to make Roxanne happy, even if it hurts him to the core. This is again displayed when Cyrano aids Christian of writing brilliant poetry to Roxanne. This is the way that Christian woos Roxanne. So while all this occurs Cyrano knows that it is hurting him to the core. Cyrano knows that Roxanne is looking for a woman who can write poetry and display his feelings openly with her. He knows Roxanne is interested in Christian and the only way to make her happy is to entrust Christian with this information, and help him out with composing the letters that change everything. It’s not only the way he treats Roxanne though, the way he treats his men when they were in bad shape also displays his code of honor. When the men were huddled in a barn with no food to eat, Cyrano showed compassion while yet staying strong as a leader for his men. Cyrano said that “they need to overcome their enemy of their bellies growling and come together as one on the battlefield.” Luckily soon after Roxanne arrives bearing food for the starving army. This shows his natural ability to give hope when his men demand it most and not just merely brush off what is going on.

The final element displaying Cyrano’s code of honor is of Cyrano knowingly lying to Roxanne to hide the whole scheme. His friend Christian wants to start a relationship with Roxanne, but has no idea how to go about it. So with the assistance of Cyrano, Christian and Cyrano create a scheme in which Cyrano writes letters to Roxanne signed by Christian. Certainly this works out just fine for Christian, as he gains credit for both parties work. Cyrano however receives the shorthand of the stick. He receives nothing. Now most men would become angry and frustrated and would do something to hurt the person that hurt them. Such as letting some information be released that would hurt the other person. However, the thought never crossed Cyrano’s mind that the next time he saw Roxanne he would tell her the truth, which it was really he who had written the letters and swayed her heart. It was him that should be with her not Christian. Although many opportunities arose when he could have said something, he didn’t. He thought it morally wrong to simply go in and steal away the woman Christian loved. He respected Christian enough to leave him and Roxanne alone. It is like the old saying “If you really love her, then you have to let her go.” Part of it also is that Cyrano doesn’t believe himself to be worthy of a girl like Roxanne with his peculiar looks.

As one can see clearly the morals and code of honor that Cyrano de Bergerac impact the total plot of the story. Many of the actions that Cyrano commits prove to show how noble and committed to his virtues he is. These virtues that define him are what make his personality appealing, thus benefiting Christian and himself scarcely. Throughout the play these aspects are displayed in his love life, duty in the military and social life.

Word Count: 1384

Sources

Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano De Bergerac. Trans. Brian Hooker. New York: Modern Library, 1951. Print.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. May 24, 2012