Aiyana Holton AP English Evans Period 8 31 March 2013

Comedy in Cyrano

In Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand creatively displays the life of Cyrano. Rostand uses various comedic forms and literary techniques to convey a theme of outer versus inner beauty. The outer appearance does not always reflect the personality; in fact, looks can often be exceedingly deceiving. Rostand demonstrates his theme by combining humorous comedy and comedy of menace with the dramatic irony of Cyranos life. Rostand effectively overlaps each characters life at impactful and amusing moments to accentuate the validity of his work. A humor in comedy, by definition, is a trait which dominates a characters personality; Cyranos humor is his nose. Cyranos nose caused a commotion throughout the play, and Rostand makes its presence apparent. In the opening scenes, an insult is thrown towards Cyranos nose by a stranger. Cyranos response is to embarrass the stranger by rattling off a number of insults that put his to shame. This situation is an example of the embarrassment Cyranos nose has the potential to cause him and his ability to overcome it. Again in Act One, Cyrano makes it a point to embarrass another man, questioning why the man was looking at his nose. He points out the ugliness of his own nose to show pride, but allows no one else to do so due to his own insecurity. Rostand also includes examples of the comedy of menace. A prime example is in the final scenes of the play, where Cyrano is dying. A colossal tree branch falls straight onto his

Holton 2 head, which is a comical scene in itself. But the true humor comes when Cyrano throws a hat over the injury and continues to Roxanes house, as if nothing ever happened. This is a pure representation of the love Cyrano has for Roxane and how, though it was a bit late, he wanted to make her understand his feelings. Of course, once Roxane realized Cyranos injury, Cyrano began to over-dramatize the situation. He starts rattling off poetry about his life and accomplishments, until he stumbles and falls over. He refuses to allow himself to look weak in death; he pulls out his sword and starts fighting the air. He begins to call out Falsehood! ...There! There! Prejudice- Compromise- Cowardice; all the enemies with whom he is fighting. Although his shame didnt allow him to fully express himself sooner to Roxane, he still refused to go out shamefully. Cyrano was still prideful and died the same way he lived his life, with a flourish. Dramatic irony plays a large role in both the plot and the theme of this play. The most evident example of this literary tool is the love triangle between Cyrano, Christian, and Roxane. Cyrano is in love with Roxane, who is in love with Christian, who happens to be quite unintelligent. So, out of sheer adoration for Roxane, Cyrano helps Christian to woo her by writing her letters and poetry with his own feelings, and sending them under Christians name. Lo and behold Roxane falls in love with Christian, not for his looks, but more so for his beautiful words, which she does not know are Cyranos. Here, Rostand successfully shows that looks can be exceedingly deceiving and are not something on which anyone should rely. He also utilizes dramatic irony throughout the novel pertaining specifically to Cyrano; Cyrano is proud and radiates panache through the entirety of the play. He does not hesitate when it comes to putting someone in their place. Yet, when faced with his own dilemmas, explicitly his unrequited love for Roxane, he is unable to let his genuine thoughts surface. Cyrano feels that Roxane will never

Holton 3 see past his appearance and, therefore, does not allow himself to reveal his emotions to Roxane. It is this discomfort and lack of assuredness which drives Cyrano to continue helping Christian; the only way Cyrano can fully express his feelings is through his writing to Roxane. Although she does not know it is him, she sees the beauty in his words, and that suffices for Cyrano. Rostand made distinct use of dramatic irony to deliver his belief that looks can be deceiving. Cyranos inner conflict was the pivotal point for every key event throughout the play. Cyranos deep love for Roxane willed him to do anything for her; yet in the same breath, Cyrano felt morally obligated to make Christian loveable for her, since he himself did not feel up to her standards. Combined with these ironic situations, Rostands comedic usage implemented the theme of beauty versus brains in a clever manner. Not only did Rostand create a lighthearted air of humor around Cyrano and his nose, but he also managed to include a climactic and amusing ending to the play. Rostand pulled in all loose ends with the final scenes of Cyranos life. By intertwining the characters lives through comedic and ironic situations, Rostand was able to carry out this theme to his readers.