Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac

Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, with its obvious criticism towards society, is in fact a great example of early Modernism. Even with its extravagant and concise stage directions, however, it is not, like Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, a work of realism. In my opinion, the characters lack the sort of depth necessary, sometimes coming across as flat while at other moments appearing almost ridiculous in their words and actions. That being said, I do believe Rostand makes two rather effective, not to mention lasting, points in his acclaimed play.

The more evident of these two points is demonstrated by Cyrano’s extreme lack of confidence in regards to his physical appearance. Rostand’s title character, revered by all others in the play for his mastery in nearly every skill that has acquired, is confident in his deeds and clearly in his wit, however he is crippled by his own embarrassment over his nose. This one flaw is able to prevent him from getting the one thing he wants most: love. Ironically, he believes his nose is that one flaw, while in reality it becomes abundantly clear that is his own self-consciousness that is holding him back.

Secondly, and more subtly, I believe that Rostand’s true point is an even more timeless moral: lying for a good cause will only cause ruin in the end. Christian and Cyrano, for all their supposedly good intentions, spend the majority of the play deceiving Roxane. Not coincidentally, by the end of the play, both Cyrano and Christian have died without ever living with Roxane’s love, and Roxane, through no fault of her own, has had to feel the pain of losing the “man” she fell in love with twice and is doomed to spend her entire life alone, holding onto a memory of her one true love that never actually existed.

Both of these messages certainly carry on in the world today. As a matter of fact, the warning against being overly self-conscious holds truer today than in Rostand’s time, as society as become increasingly vain, and the vast majority of boys and girls growing into adulthood have to overcome their own feelings of no self-worth.