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Love in literature essay
Love in literature essay
Love in literature essay
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The phrase “you win some, you lose some” can pertain true to many different situations including love. In the novels, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, the respective characters Sydney Carton and Cyrano de Bergerac experience a loss. This loss comes in a form of unrequited love, where they are both unable to be loved by the one they recognize as their true loves. Due to their experiences with unrequited love, both Sydney Carton and Cyrano are led to the discovery of their own inner strengths as well as self-sacrifice.
Both Sydney and Cyrano are very smart and talented characters. Despite being smart and talented, they are still able to learn additional things about themselves through their experiences with unreturned love. Sydney, while in England, is a sad, depressed but none the less talented man. According to Dickens, “If Sydney Carton ever shone anywhere, he certainly never shone in the house of Doctor Manette…When he cared to talk, he talked well; but, the cloud of caring for nothing, which overshadowed him with such a fatal darkness, was very rarely pierced by the light within him” (Dickens 198). Mr. Dickens describes Sydney as a smart man, who could “talk well”, but is overshadowed by a dark cloud of ideal laziness and disregard. He is not a confident man and does not believe he can do anything the right way. After an encounter with Lucie Manette, the woman whom Sydney loves and as the setting shifts to France, he experiences change. Carton gains that confidence and strength to become himself – a smart, worthy and confident man. Carton shows this by saying, “Shall I do well, in the mean time, to show myself? I think so. It is best that these people should know there is such a...
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...some couple you – and God – have joined [t]ogether!
[De Guiche]: (Regarding him with a frosty eye.) Quite so” (Rostand 146). Cyrano stalls De Guiche by pretending he is a drunk scientist as he talks about the moon while Roxane and Christian are being married. These examples show how Cyrano and Sydney are committed to their loves and they do keep their word by only allowing the man their woman loves to the right path.
Both Sydney and Cyrano are still able to gain a lot despite being on the wrong side of the love story. Because of unreturned love, they learn a variety of characteristics both personal and involving love, which enable them to grow as characters in their novels.
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Lodi: Everbind Anthologies, 2002. Print.
Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. Trans. Brian Hooker. New York: Bantam Classic, 2004. Print
The 'Standard' of the ' Outline I. Introduction A. Background B. Inspiration II. Leading to Cyrano A. Reasons B. Rostand's style C. Debut III. Precis of Cyrano IV. Commenting on Cyrano A. Length of Play B. Mentality of Cyrano characters. C. Examples V. Rhetoric devices A. Tone 1.
One of Cyrano’s most significant traits as a friend was his loyalty. He would always look out for friends in their time of need, which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards him. Because Cyrano is such a loyal friend, the audience feels angry with Roxane for manipulating him, and taking advantage of his loyalty. An example of Cyrano’s loyalty was when Ragueneau’s wife was having an affair with a musketeer, Cyrano confronted her, “Make sure you do./I like your husband, and I don’t intend/To see him made a fool of./Is that clear?”(II.iv.115-118). He stood up for his dear friend, and did not want him be made a joke of. I believe this is important because it shows that he is not only loyal to his friend, but also caring and has strong moral principles. What Lise was doing was wrong, and the author put this part in to emphasize the reader’s sympathy for Cyrano. Later when Ragueneau’s wife left him, Cyrano did not hesitate to support Ragueneau by talking him out of killing himself and providing him with a proper job. Furthermore, as everyone must be aware of, Cyrano was in love with Roxane. But because he was such a trustworthy friend, he agreed to protect Christian...
...es Apollo left” (89). Poetry destroyed the marriage of Lise and Ragueneau; she didn’t value art as much as he did. Conversely Christian decides to talk to Roxane without any of the poetic letters that Cyrano has been giving him. Christian has no other words to say than, “ I love you” (102). Christian does not have the same ability to woo her as Cyrano has. So then come Cyrano for the rescue and he says, “ Let us try what can be done; It is more than you deserve—stand over there, Idiot—there! —before the balcony—Let me stand underneath. I’ll whisper you what to say” (104). Cyrano helps Christian, being useful the setting in the Balcony, the darkness and Cyrano hiding and telling Christian what to say sets up the appearance for Christian. Cyrano’s poetic language saves Christian from getting rejected from Roxane; Cyrano saved their relationship.
To begin, Rostand proves the theme that loyalty forms a bond that proves more durable than love through Cyrano’s relationship with Roxane. At one point, Cyrano and Roxane reminisce about their childhood at Ragueneau’s bakery. Roxane remembers fondly, “Sometimes when you had a hurt hand you used to come running to me and I would be your mother”(Rostand 72; Act 2). Even before Cyrano became romantically interested in Roxane, the cousins had a strong friendship built on loyalty and willingness to care for another. Now that Cyrano is infatuated with Roxane, his desire to help her continues strong, regardless of the cost to himself. Putting his own interests aside, he helps the foolish Christian earn Roxane’s love. Even as Cyran...
Cyrano confides with his friend Le Bret that he is in love with his cousin Roxane. Le Bret advises Cyrano that he should tell Roxane his feelings because there was no better time than now to tell her his feelings after she witness...
Cassandra Clare, author of the best-selling novel City of Bones, once wrote, “To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed”. As an author of a series of young adult books, Clare wishes to send a message to adolescent readers regarding the destruction that young, passionate love can lead to. A similar theme is explored in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where two adolescents from feuding families fall in love with one another. When they first see each other on the night of the Capulet party, they quickly fall in love and are soon married by Romeo’s friend and mentor, Friar Lawrence. Their love, being full of passion in its quick course, faces many trials such as Romeo’s banishment from their hometown of Verona, as well as Juliet being forced to marry Paris, kinsman of the Prince. The affection they feel for one another, being all consuming, often leads them to want to sacrifice everything for each other, including their own lives. Their self-destructive, rushed love ends with their deaths, occurring just a multiple days after they first met. In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, many characters such as Friar Lawrence, Romeo, and Juliet illustrate that young, passionate love is a powerful force that leads to destruction.
Cyrano has many traits that allow him to express his true feelings towards Roxane, but because of his insecurity about his nose he destroys his own chance of experiencing true love. Christian is only loved for his outer beauty, but throughout the play Roxane learns to love his soul proving inner beauty is always more valuable than outer
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” (Confucius) Cyrano’s insecurity of his nose effects his relationship with Roxane. In Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano De Bergerac, Cyrano’s insecure and eloquent self-perception results in Cyrano’s companionship & loving in his relationship with both Christian & Roxane. Cyrano’s level of eloquence helps him combat the insults of his nose. Cyrano is a poetic, witty, & eloquent man who is insecure & has trouble showing his true feelings for Roxane .Cyrano and Christian work together to win Roxane’s heart, and at the end Cyrano allows love to kill him, even after Roxane discovers & reciprocates his feelings.
After reading the entire play, the reader can safely say that fate works in mysterious ways. To love and be loved in return is considered by many to be one of the greatest gifts a human being can receive. At the same time, it is thought of as unbearable to love someone you cannot be with. Especially when the reasoning behind limitations is cau...
There are many stories about a guy with the name, Cyrano. Each story is interesting in its own way. One version of the story is the movie, Roxanne. The director of Roxanne is Fred Schepsi. The original play is written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. The two stories shares similarities, but also there are differences. Each version has its pros and cons. They are both about men who are not very good looking, but they are full of “inner beauty.” There is a very pretty woman that they fall in love with, but the woman falls in love with a very handsome guy. The woman has to choose between either “inner beauty” or “outer beauty.” In the beginning the woman chooses physical attractiveness, but later on the woman chooses “inner beauty.”
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 has unknowingly created a sort of psychological trap in which women are kept on the outside and men are free to roam within. Lacking confidence around women, he is forced to pour his heart out on to letters and is deprived of any kind of physical contact with the opposite gender. Without confidence, a man's attempts at any kind of a relationship with a woman are almost always thwarted because in order for a woman to be attracted to a man, she must first see confidence in him. Since Cyrano has no confidence in his ability with women, he is stuck in a never-ending cycle of rejection and loneliness.
Cyrano always thought that he is less fortunate to have a nose this big. That’s why when people made fun of him he got very angry but he never lost his charisma and he always made himself look smart. Roxane thinks that Christian is the most handsome boy and most outstanding poet in the world but she doesn’t know that it is Cyrano who is writing the letters to her. Cyrano’s disguised letters have moved her inexpressibly. Christian tells Cyrano he no longer wants Cyrano’s help, and then makes a fool of himself while he tries to speak to her
Extreme passion results in irrational actions with horrifying consequences. The indecisive and fervent whims regarding love and the human heart are often selfish and fickle. For the victims of love, destruction is often inevitable. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, unrequited love forces both Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide, as neither one believes it is possible to continue life without the other. Both, through mere days of desperation, elation, deception, and grief, were ultimately cheated out of their lives by their love. Shakespeare develops a similar opinion through Helena in A Midsummers Night’s Dream. Helena is able to recognize love as a volatile creature, yet with uncontrollable power over the heart.The transient nature of love is channeled through deception and clouded judgement.
...he will do anything for her, even die for someone she loves. Lucie recalls Sydney by opening him up to doing something with his life. He later uses this new mindset to save Charles’s life. After Sydney is inspired to make something of his life he vows to do something good. To do this, he dies for Charles Darnay to show his love for Lucie. This is how Sydney Carton is recalled to life.