Cyrano de Bergerac is a play by Edmond Rostand that was first performed in 1897. The play tells the story of Cyrano, a poet and swordsman who is in love with the beautiful Roxane. However, Cyrano is afraid to tell her how he feels because he believes she will not love him back because of his large nose.
Cyrano’s friend Christian asks Cyrano to help him woo Roxane, and Cyrano agrees. Cyrano writes letters to Roxane on Christian’s behalf, but eventually Christian confesses his love for her and they get married. Cyrano is heartbroken but continues to write letters to Roxane on Christian’s behalf.
Roxane, the movie, is a modern adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. The movie was released in 1987 and stars Steve Martin as Cyrano and Daryl Hannah as Roxane. In the movie, Cyrano helps Christian woo Roxane by teaching him how to dance and helping him write love letters. Cyrano falls in love with Roxane from afar, but never tells her how he feels. When Christian dies, Cyrano realizes that he will never be able to tell Roxane how he feels so he leaves town. The movie ends with Cyrano’s letter to Roxane being read at his funeral.
While both Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne are based on the same story, there are some key differences between the two. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play, while Roxanne is a movie. Cyrano de Bergerac is set in the 17th century, while Roxanne is set in the 20th century. Cyrano de Bergerac is written in verse, while Roxanne is written in prose. Cyrano de Bergerac ends with Cyrano’s death, while Roxanne ends with Cyrano’s letter being read at his funeral.
Despite the key differences between Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne, both works tell a touching story of unrequited love. Cyrano de Bergerac is a classic play that has been adapted for the silver screen, while Roxanne is a modern adaptation of the original story. Whether you prefer the play or the movie, Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne are both worth watching.
In Rustond’s day, a romantic hero didn’t exist. For example, Cyrano was a very unattractive, old, yet intelligent guy who loved his cousin Roxane with all of his heart and soul but was unable to declare his love for fear that she would reject him because he was ugly. Enter Christian in the tale, a young, average-looking guy who also liked Roxane.
Cyrano would then feed Christian the words to say in order to win Roxanes heart, and Cyrano would be content in just being able to love her from afar. Cyrano de Bergerac is a story of unrequited love, self-sacrifice, and deception wrapped up in a comedic play.
In film version, Cyranos nose is not as big as it was originally described in the play and he is not ugly either. Cyranos profession as a soldier allows him to woo Roxane on behalf of the less experienced Christian while still being able to compete with him for her attentions.
Cyranos self-confidence is shaken when he overhears Roxane say that she prefers the smell of Christian over Cyranos own scent, but Cyrano continues to help Christian in his pursuit of Roxane. When Cyrano is severely wounded in a duel, Roxane confesses her love for him and they share a kiss before Cyrano dies.
While the play and movie both offer different takes on the character of Cyrano de Bergerac, they are similar in that Cyrano is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of true love. In the play, Cyrano knows that he will never be able to win Roxanes heart because of his looks, so he helps Christian to woo her instead.
In the movie, Cyrano is attracted to Roxane but believes that she will never return his feelings because he is not as handsome as Christian. Cyrano therefore helps Christian in order to stay close to Roxane and make sure that she is happy, even if it means that Cyrano himself will never have a chance with her.
Both Cyrano de Bergerac, the play and Cyrano de Bergerac, the movie are ultimately about self-sacrifice and unrequited love. Cyrano loves Roxane so much that he is willing to give up his own happiness for hers. While the two versions of Cyrano de Bergerac differ in some ways, they both capture the essence of what it means to love selflessly.
They charmed Roxane, who fell in love with Cyranos charming personality and Christians gorgeous appearance. Because to his dedication to Christian, Cyrano is seen as a magnificent romantic hero. He died silently in order to respect his friendship with Christian throughout his life of silence. While he had the ability to say how much he loved Roxane while he was still alive.
Cyrano was the one that saved Roxane from a life of misery and he never told her that it was him. Cyrano de Bergerac is a great example of a selfless romantic hero because he died for his friend and the woman they both loved.
During Rustond’s time, he has shown himself worthy to the moniker of a love hero. Someone in Cyranos situation now would not necessarily have kept his secret for that long. That individual would eventually approach the individual they were in love with and declare their affection. Just as Charlie in the film was about to tell Roxane that it was him who wrote the love letters he sent her, before she discovered for herself, the equivalent of Cyrano in the play was about to tell Roxane that it was him who wrote them with his alluring and genuine words.
Cyranos confession at the end of the play seemed a bit abrupt, and it was as if he had given up on Roxane completely, even though it was his own doing that she was getting married to another man. Cyrano had put so much effort into making sure that Roxane and Christian fell in love with each other, instead of him, that it was as if he had forgotten his own feelings for her.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play about unrequited love, and more importantly self-sacrifice for the sake of true love. Cyrano may not have professed his love for Roxane at the end of the play, but his actions throughout speak louder than any words could have.
Cyranos selflessness is further explored in the scene where he meets up with Christian and tells him to leave town because people are out to get him because of his involvement with Ligniere. Cyrano is well aware of the danger that Christian is in, but instead of sending him away for his own safety, Cyrano offers to go with Christian and help protect him.
Cyrano puts himself in harms way to save Christian, even though he knows that Christian is the one that Roxane loves and not him. This scene best illustrates Cyranos selfless character because he is more concerned with Christians safety than his own. Cyranos selfless act of love is what makes him the true romantic hero, not his grandiose words or his skill with a sword.
In the movie Roxanne, Cyrano (played by Steve Martin) is also a selfless character, but his selflessness is directed towards helping Charlie (played by Daryl Hannah). Cyrano helps Charlie win the affections of Roxanne (played by Darryl Hannah) by writing love letters to her on Charlies behalf and giving him tips on how to woo her. Cyranos help is not given with any ulterior motive; he genuinely wants Charlie to be happy and does not want anything in return.
Cyrano could have easily told Charlie to leave Roxane alone and pursue her himself, but Cyrano knows that Charlie is not good with words and would not be able to win her over on his own. Cyrano steps in and helps Charlie, even though it means that he will never have a chance with Roxane himself. Cyranos selfless act of love is what makes him the romantic hero in Roxane, just as his selfless act of love makes him the romantic hero in Cyrano de Bergerac.
While Cyranos selfless love for Roxane is what ultimately makes him the romantic hero in Cyrano de Bergerac, his grandiose words are also a large part of what makes him a romantic hero.