He has fancy rather than imagination; delicacy and charm rather than passion. He belongs to that great band of lesser French geniuses, such as Charles d’ Orleans, Du Bellay, Voiture, and, among the moderns, Banville, Coppee, and Régnier—the poets of a silver rather than golden Latinity. For him sunlight and shadow flit across the earth’s rough surface, and the playful, optimistic mood of the poet is admirably attuned to express them.

On the other hand, what Rostand lacks in originality and depth of thought he possesses in brilliancy and mastery of style. Except for Cyrano, he can scarcely be said to have created a real character; but he can spin a dramatic situation out of a mere physical or moral detail, he can lift his audiences out of themselves by a succession of scintillating images, and in one respect his style is a continuous creation—namely, in the “cliquetis des mots” or the humorous portrayal of moods through the mere clash and jingle of words.

—May 17, 1922

QUESTIONS

1. In literature, improbabilities (such as Polyphemous, the one-eyed giant in the Odyssey) often serve as metaphors or allegories for something metaphysical or psychological or moral. What are the improbabilities in Cyrano—certainly the character’s nose is one—and do you think they work? Why? And what purpose do they serve?

2. One often hears of great men and women whose accomplishments seem to be compensations for some lack or defect: a failed father, an unloving mother, short stature, poverty. Cyrano’s panache is his great achievement. Do you think he has developed this quality in compensation for his unattractive nose? If so, what sort of clues does the play provide?

3. What can be made of the friendship between Christian and Cyrano? Without the goal of wooing Roxane, would they be friends at all? Are they alter egos—that is, is there any Christian in Cyrano or Cyrano in Christian?

4. Is Roxane worth the fuss made over her? Is she a heroic character in any way?

5. Would it be possible for a man like Cyrano to exist and flourish today—with his panache intact? What are some of the things he might set out to do in today’s world?

FOR FURTHER READING

OTHER WORKS BY EDMOND ROSTAND

Le Gant rouge (The Red Glove), 1889

Les Romanesques (The Romancers), 1894

L’Aiglon (The Eaglet), 1900

Chantecler (1910)

La Dernière Nuit de Don Juan (The Last Night of Don Juan), published posthumously in 1921

WORKS BY THE HISTORICAL

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

La Mort d’Agrippine (The Death of Agrippine), 1654

Le Pédant joué (The Pedant Imitated), 1654

Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon), 1657.

Histoire comique des états et empires du soleil (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon), 1662

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Translated by Lowell Bair. New York: New American Library, 1972. With an afterword by Henry Hewes. Excellent unrhymed translation; commentary in the afterword on various stage productions and translations of Cyrano into English.

Translated by Anthony Burgess. New York: Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 1998. This version by the British novelist was used by Derek Jacobi for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Cyrano in 1983, as well as for the subtitles in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s French film version.

Translated by Christopher Fry. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Introduction and notes by Nicholas Cronk. A rhyming—more precisely, “chiming”—verse translation. The excellent introduction places Rostand in his literary and historical context.

Translated by Brian Hooker. New York: Bantam Classics, 1981. Good verse translation made at the request of American Shakespearean Richard Mansfield; used on stage and in film by such fabled Cyranos as Walter Hampden and José Ferrer.

Translated by Edwin Morgan. Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1992. A verse translation into the native Glaswegian of this talented Scots poet; a tour de force.

Translated by Louis Untermeyer. 1954. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000. Blank verse translation.

FRENCH EDITIONS OF

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Edited by Claude Aziza. Edition revue et augmentée. Paris: Pocket, 1998. Includes a “Dossier Historique et Littéraire” with contemporary reviews of Cyrano as well as analyses of the work’s structure, characters, etc.

Edited by Patrick Besnier. Paris: Gallimard, 1999. Includes a chronology, well-chosen critical materials, and a fine introduction by Besnier.

Edited by Pierre Citti. Paris: Livre de Poche, 1990. Contains excellent notes and a preface. Le Bret’s Life of Cyrano is included in the Annexes.

Edited by Patrice Pavis. Paris: Classiques Larousse, 2000. Designed for use by French students, this edition contains many useful lexical and historical footnotes.

Edited by Jacques Truchet. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1983. The definitive edition of Cyrano, exhaustively researched, contains a wealth of material relating to the