While reading Cyrano de Bergerac, I found myself often wondering whether or not Cyrano had led a happy life. Actually, I never once wondered that, but that is irrelevant, because Cyrano’s happiness is the focus of this essay. Was he happy? Truth be told, I cannot say for sure. If we look upon his life, it would seem that he was a bit of a martyr, always sacrificing his happiness for the sake of others. This is probably the case, but I do not believe that he led his life with his happiness as any sort of goal. That will be a defining case in my argument. What I really believe is that he simply did not care about his happiness. In that sense, he did not so much sacrifice it, as he annexed and divided it when he saw fit. To a further extent, this apathy towards himself probably came from a low self-worth, almost certainly spawned not from his elephantine nose, but the fair maiden Roxanne. Finally, the nose itself, the very icon of de Bergerac, was probably not the problem that Cyrano believed it to be. All of this, however obscure it may seem, is crucial to the question posed of me now.
Cyrano’s happiness was not viewed by him with either a favor or a goal. I cannot believe that Cyrano cared about his own happiness whatsoever. Really, that apathy would probably be the only way that he could emotionally accept his dangerously selfless undertakings. Case in point, his giving of Roxanne to the incredibly undeserving Christian. No real happiness in that action. Roxanne and Christian’s, maybe, but certainly not his own, and he loved Roxanne. Had Cyrano actually wanted to be happy, the pangs of grief that he would feel as he gave her away would certainly have ripped him apart. But if Cyrano convinced himself that he did not care about his own happiness, then it would at least take the edge off of those bitter emotions that surely plagued his soul whenever he saw his love’s face. This triggered diffidence, with all the sacrifice that Cyrano made, may have been the only defense mechanism that he had.
Continuing on from Cyrano’s carelessness for his happiness, we may easily make a jump to his sense of self-worth. Any man who would sacrifice his own love, thus, his entire world, for the sake of his rival cannot have a concern for himself.
After demolishing the theories of other critics, Bradley concluded that the essence of Hamlet’s character is contained in a three-fold analysis of it. First, that rather than being melancholy by temperament, in the usual sense of “profoundly sad,” he is a person of unusual nervous instability, one liable to extreme and profound alterations of mood, a potential manic-depressive type. Romantic, we might say. Second, this Hamlet is also a person of “exquisite moral sensibility, “ hypersensitive to goodness, a m...
As an audience member of playwright Edmond Rostand’s renowned production of Cyrano de Bergerac, one comes to adore the heroic, witty, affectionate, poetic, and honorable French soldier, Cyrano; however his unique qualities are overshadowed, literally, by his rather gargantuan nose. It is through discussions and insults concerning this physical attribute that the audience discovers he is in fact in love with the woman he has held close to his heart for many friendly years, his cousin Roxane. Completely unbeknownst to Roxane, Cyrano’s love and admiration for her is not simply on a relative scale as she perceives it to be, but rather the much more drastic level of physical, emotional, and intellectual attraction. As the play’s focal point is the life of Cyrano, the audience effectuates in the idea that he, being the sincere and devout man he is, is deserving of Roxane’s love. However, the true question is: is she worthy of him even though her afflictive unattainability and major faults?
Superficial passion revolves around outward beauty, but true love is always found in the heart. In Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand conveys this truth beautifully. This play follows Cyrano in his quest for love from Roxanne, believing she could not love him due to his oversized nose. Little do they know that she does not truly love the handsome Christian, but rather Cyrano, the master of words.
In Cyrano De Bergerac, written originally by Edmond Rostand in French and translated to English by Brian Hooker, Cyrano de Bergerac stars in an epic of his fictional life as a high minded man. Aristotle, a great philosopher, states that a high minded man must have a mind that is concerned with all great things. Now, what are these "great things"? There are plenty of great things that a high minded man must value. I have chosen to explore three of them to show that Cyrano is an example of Aristotle?s high minded man. The first great thing is honor, Cyrano is a very honorable person. The second one is helping people but not asking for anything in return, Cyrano likes to help those in need, even when he does not receive any credit. The third one is bravery, courage, and never asking for help, Cyrano, even at the edge of existence, does not ask for any assistance from others to stay alive. Therefore, Cyrano is a great example of Aristotle's high minded man.
When we think about the force that holds the world together and what makes humans different from animals, one answer comes to our minds - that humans can love. Love is a state of mind that cannot be defined easily but can be experienced by everyone. Love is very complicated. In fact it is so complicated that a person in love may be misunderstood to be acting in an extremely foolish manner by other people. The complexity of love is displayed in Rostand’s masterpiece drama Cyrano de Bergerac. This is accomplished by two characters that love the same woman and in the course neither one achieves love in utter perfection.
The theme of this play is inner beauty and outer beauty. In the beginning of Cyrano de Bergerac, it seems like the theme focuses heavily on outer beauty. As you continue to read on, the play actually puts more emphasis in inner beauty. Symbolism is very important in this play. The letters written by Cyrano symbolizes Cyrano’s inner beauty because what you write comes from your soul which is shaped by your personality. Cyrano’s nose symbolizes his ugliness and his insecurity. Because Cyrano knows Roxane would never consider him because of his nose, he decides to help Christian since Cyrano believes he can help Christian win Roxane’s heart. “
Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Edmond Rostand, is a play about a poetic swordsman with a bad temper, an attitude, and a hideously long nose. As one reads along in this drama, one will find that the people are different in the way they speak, dress, and socialize. With the characters in this book living in 17th century France, it is not a wonder that their customs are far removed from ours today. Cyrano de Bergerac has three cultural themes: attitude, social status, and dress. The attitude of this play is very interesting.
In Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano is one of the main characters, and us readers can infer many of his character traits through his actions. For example, Cyrano tosses a bag of money on the stage to cause a big scene. By Cyrano throwing the money, it makes him seem arrogant. Cyrano makes jokes and bullies the people, who stare at his nose. Cyrano is insecure about his extremely large nose. Towards the end of act one, Cyrano offers to defend Ligniere from the one hundred attackers. Cyrano wants to prove everyone he is strong enough to take all of those men on. All of Cyrano
Throughout Edmond Rostand’s classic play, Cyrano de Bergerac, the title character, Cyrano, is a passionate writer whose complex and rich personal qualities are the foundation of his peerless eloquence. Cyrano’s unrivaled sense of humor is a defense against those who humiliate him for his outlandish appearance. For example, during the “nose” speech, Cyrano challenges Valvert with twenty stunningly varied and complex alternative suggestions, one more stinging than the next, to replace Valvert’s banal attempt at insult. Cyrano's retaliation against Valvert's feeble attempt at embarrassment backfires as Cyrano destroys his opponent with a tirade of ingenious examples of how better to insult "the nose": “It’s a rock, a peak, a cape! No, more than a cape: a peninsula!” (41). In addition to Cyrano’s wit, his language is deeply thought-out and rich with poetic imagination. Cyrano amplifies upon a single word by using concrete words to spin a simple concept into a memorable poetic experience. Cyrano illustrates the value of Christian’s need for a kiss from Roxane: “After all, what is a kiss? A vow made at closer range, a more precise promise, a confession that contains its own proof, a seal placed on a pact that has already been signed; it’s a secret told to the mouth rather than to the ear, a fleeting moment filled with the hush of eternity…” (126). Furthermore, it is in compensation for Cyrano’s great suffering that his verbal style is so sensitive and brilliant. He will always love in vain:
Few words can be more humorous, or more upsetting, than a well thought out and witty phrase. The only skill that matches Cyrano’s skill with a sword, is his skill with his tongue. With a wit unmatched by any poet, Cyrano made enemies wherever he went, simply by out-smarting all who came against him. In the first act of the play, Cyrano crashes a performance of the well-known actor Montfluery. After many insults, Cyrano heaps upon them by saying, “I would never venture out in public with a soiled conscience, a tarnished honor, or scruples grimy and dull. I do not adorn myself with gems and ribbons, like you. Instead, I decorate myself with truth, independence, and a clean soul.”
Cyrano De Bergerac has had an enormous, revolting nose ever since birth. Cyrano is an idealist who fights against the harsh reality of ordinary life. He feels that love is based too much by looks and appearance and thinks that no one will ever love him because of his appearance. Because of this, Cyrano alienates himself from society and lives in a world where love exists without appearance. Throughout the book, Rostand uses the motifs platonic love and beauty to highlight the idea that idealism requires nobility, integrity, courage, and self-sacrifice.
“Othello”, by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy’s potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one’s ability to recognize it or deny it. It seems that the important theme of “Othello” is that if jealousy is not recognized and immediately dealt with, it receives a head start to commence the process of rotting away all normal human reason. Othello’s speech in Act III scene iii beginning with line 178 is the first and most important indicator of the trouble ominously looming on Othello’s horizon. His immediate response to Iago’s accusations is that of total denial. By depriving himself of that initial venting process, Othello gives his jealousy the perfect culture on which his jealousy can turn cancerous and grow out of control. Othello does not spit out the seed that Iago has planted within himself soon enough and thus lets Iago water it with smooth speech until its roots spread and cannot be uprooted. The only way to appropriately illustrate this point is through an in depth analysis of specific text from the play.
vanity, pride, and self - knowledge intervenes in the development of the virtue of the characters,
In many instances in literature, the flaws of characters lead into conflicts that arise and that the characters must attempt to overcome over the duration of the storyline. In some cases, the character facing these problems, typically the protagonist, is unable to triumph over such issues. This can cause their major character flaws to overwhelm them, and they can encounter even more troubles or even their own downfall. A comparable situation as the aforementioned is found in the Shakespearean tragedy, Othello, where the character flaws of the protagonist, Othello, cause weakness in his character, which ultimately leads to his downfall and death. One of the flaws that lead Othello to his downfall is the fact that he has very poor judgement, which is indisputably seen through the consistent trust that he finds in Iago. His downfall also occurs due to his overwhelming struggle against jealousy, which materializes primarily from the relationship that his wife has with Cassio. Furthermore, Othello’s insecurities cause weakness in his character, allowing the antagonist of the story, Iago, to use them in order to lead Othello into his downfall. With these faults in his character, it is evident that Othello’s downfall comes about due to his major character flaws.
Jealousy, whatever it may be driven by, can produce many different actions in a person depending on their desires. Othello craftly examines a few examples of these with highly contrasting characters driven by vastly different things. The different manifestations of jealousy in said characters can be analysed through the characters of Roderigo, Othello, and Iago, while also proving how jealousy can sometimes be a front for more cynister feelings.