Analysis of Cyrano de Bergerac as a Romantic Work
Appeal to emotions, individualism, and intellectual achievement were three important elements of Romanticism. This essay will explore the degree to which Cyrano de Bergerac exemplifies these elements of Romanticism.
First and foremost is the appeal to emotions. All of the other facets of romanticism can be related to the emotional appeal in Cyrano de Bergerac. Because strong emotional appeal is perhaps the most important method used by the author to create identity with the reader, especially in romantic works, the actions which elicit the emotional responses must, then, show a great deal about the character. The character's motives and philosophies can be determined
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The reader feels strongly for Cyrano to "go for it!" and is proud and respectful toward him because of his "magnelephant" actions.
Cyrano's actions and the resulting emotional response from the reader, then, portray him as an individual. During this age of romanticism, this was considered to be the "chic" thing to do. Here we have the feeling of the fashionability of Cyrano's actions. He is a moral leader which the people look up to.
As the play progresses, we are shown various incidents in the play which elicit emotional responses from the reader: the longing Cyrano has for Roxane; his belief that he can never have her because of his appearance; a comical intervention as Christian gets a nose up on Cyrano; Cyrano and Christian working together to court Roxane; the author of the letters to Roxane being unknown to her; the passionate speech which Cyrano delivers to Roxane from behind the shrub; the existence of the cadets in such grim conditions; the death of Christian; the final resolution of Cyrano's love for Roxane and his death.
These emotions are what define the play and make it great.
A second characteristic of romanticism is individualism. Throughout the play, it is regarded as noble in spirit to be individualistic, and Cyrano demonstrates to this effect repeatedly. His "white plumes of freedom" are perhaps the most vivid example of this independent spirit. He openly and willingly defies the standards set forth by traditional culture in
In the play Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano changes by transitioning from a man with little compassion to a person who shows compassion and kindness. Cyrano’s change is caused by his friendship with Christian. Cyrano’s compassion is shown after his changes through his interactions with Christian as well as his general Demeanor. Cyrano ’s habit of insulting people before his friendship with Christian shows that he lacked compassion.
Through the 8th Juror’s characteristic of a brave individual, it is evident that the play is symbolising him as a ‘hero’. From the beginning, he puts himself
William Shakespeare is the world’s pre-eminent dramatist whose plays range from tragedies to tragic comedies, etc. His general style of writing is often comparable to several of his contemporaries, like Romeo and Juliet is based on Arthur Brooke’s narrative poem, “The tragical history of Romeo and Juliet”. But Shakespeare’s works express a different range of human experience where his characters command the sympathy of audiences and also are complex as well as human in nature. Shakespeare makes the protagonist’s character development central to the plot.
A characteristic tone of Romanticism is to evoke empathy within the reader to gain a
Literature helped describe the movement of Romanticism because Romantics embraced nature, so they exalted the creative individual in the person of the hero. (Fiero) Much like the hero’s from stories of the past, the Romantic hero was an epic character with an awesome amount of ambition and determination. Unlike the fictional hero’s of the past that defended the traditions and moral values of a society, the Romantic hero might challenge to seek or reform them. (Fiero)
Society tends to misjudge people base on their appearances instead of their personality. This can be seen in the play Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In which Roxane represents that vile aspect of society. Roxane is attracted to Christian based on his looks, and under minds Cyrano because of his appearance. Society misjudgment of people cause oppression on an individual and it is from oppression and misjudgment f character that causes self consciousness to be born. Cyrano exhibits this self consciousness by helping Christian. Such oppression or self conscious aids to form magnificent characteristics attributes such as the ones portrayed by Cyrano throughout the novel. After all of its societies misjudgment that causes Cyrano to be
While courage is thought of as only actions, Cyrano exhibits his courage through his actions and words. Subsequently, Cyrano de Bergerac is a main character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac. As a matter of fact, de Bergerac is a character people ensure not to meddle with. He duels with anyone who challenges him. He stands bold and daring in all his actions. After warning an actor not to perform, Cyrano illustrates his courage by bellowing, “ Let Montfleury go home, or stay, and, having cut his ears off, I will disembowel him!” while the play is in session (22). Most individuals keep their opinions to themselves in fear of what others might ruminate about them. De Bergerac displays his audacity verbally by shouting out in the middle of a production. He dauntlessly demonstrates his opinion to Montfleury, by threatening him to continue. Secondly, another way that Cyrano flaunts his daring acts is when he declares, “let me hear that song again, I will do you all to death with my stick!”(23). Deliberately, Cyrano practices his courage towards the impetuous side of the spectrum. He challenges anyone who fancies him to fight him. For instance, this shows he is confident about his fighting skills and is brave
You ask me whom I love? The answer should be clear to you! Whom else would I love but the most beautiful woman in the world?” (Act one, Scene V, Page 49) Cyrano feels that Roxane is one of a kind and like a god to him. His insecurity plays a big part on him feeling she’s too good for him, and that he dreams and can only dream of being with her. The Duenna tells Cyrano that Roxane wants to speak with him about something in private. Cyrano agrees to meet Roxane at Ragueneau’s shop, knowing all of this is about to happen Cyrano becomes worried and over whelmed. “The Duenna: My lady wishes me to ask her valiant cousin where she can see him in private. Cyrano: see me? The Duenna: Yes. She has things to tell you. When she leaves the church, where can she go to talk with you? Cyrano: Where? . . . I . . . My God! . . . Where? Cyrano: At . . . at Ragueneau’s shop Ragueneau, the pastry cook . . . . Cyrano: Me! She wants to see me! Le Bret: I see your sadness has vanished! Cyrano: Ah, for whatever reason, she knows I exist! Le Bret: Please be calm. Cyrano: No! I’m going to be frenzied and turbulent! I need a whole army to vanish! I have ten hearts , twenty arms! It’s no longer enough for me to cut down dwarfs . . .I need giants!” (Act one, Scene VI, page(s) 52-54) Le Bret tries to calm down Cyrano. Cyrano’s insecurity gets in the way once again & he is frightened to speak to Roxane. He finally
Cyrano shows him the farewell letter he has written. Christian notices the teardrops on the letter and questions Cyrano about it. Cyrano explains that he was moved to tears writing the letter. Roxane enters and she confesses to Christian that she was touch by his letter and would even love him if he were ugly. Christian mentions this to Cyrano, after denying he confesses.
In Cyrano de Bergerac, the complexity of love is displayed through Roxane, Christian, and Cyrano’s characters. Cyrano loves Roxane more than anyone else in the world, but he’s too shy to tell her, due to feeling so ugly because of his very large, very long nose. At first, Cyrano has Eros for Roxane, or sexual attraction.
Imagine a candle-lit dinner on a starry night in Paris, the Eiffel Tower just in view with dazzling lights shining into the night. This image is probably what you think of when you hear the word “romantic,” correct. However, this image is a stumbling block when people think of the “Romanticism Period” in literature. Where “romantic” means having a lovely time with the person you love the most, “Romanticism” is a piece of literature written with key themes in mind. Those themes tend to be a strong emotion, imagery or worship of nature, and individuality and subjectivity. The peak of inspiration for these pieces was in the years 1800-1850, and there are famous poems that are well loved today from this period. Many of the poets that you enjoy reading and know are, in actuality, Romanticism writers, and instill the themes above in our minds.
Throughout the play Cyrano de Bergerac written by Edmond Rostand, the audience comes to hold dearly the heart of the protagonist, Cyrano a strong man with a rather gargantuan nose. It is through discussions and insults concerning his physical attributes 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 is centered on the life of Cyrano, the audience comes to understand the sincerity of the love he feels and devotion he has for his relative and ultimately concludes that he is in fact worthy of the affection from the woman he truly adores. However, is Roxane truly worthy of such a man’s adulation, when in fact her unattainability ever steadily nibbles at Cyrano’s heart making him ultimately feel undeserving of her?
M. H. Abrams defines romantic themes in prominent writers of this school in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as being five in number: (1) innovations in the materials, forms and style; (2) that the work involve a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”; (3) that external nature be a persistent subject with a “sensuous nuance” and accuracy in its description; (4) that the reader be invited to identify the protagonist with the author himself; and (5) that this be an age of “new beginnings and high possibilities” for the person (177-79).
When Mikhail Lermontov wrote A Hero of Our Time, his main character, Gregory Alexandovich Pechorin was arguably the prototype of what was to become the "superfluous man," which would become prominent in so many other Russian novels. As most literature's subtle goals are not so easily discernable, Lermontov subtly used Pechorin to debunk romanticism in an indirect way. He did so in a way that shocks readers out of their ordinary idea of what a protagonist (specifically romantic) should be, because Pechorin is in fact, a superfluous man.
Both Alfred de Vigny and Victor Hugo were important writers during the Romantic period of literary history. The Romantics were a group of writers and artists who desired to see a return to beauty in the world. The imagery they used was designed to elicit strong emotion in their audience. Like all literary or artistic movements, there were a series of unspoken rules about what could and could not be included in a Romantic work. In both Alfred de Vigny's Chatterton and Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas, the author utilizes the techniques of the Romantic period to transform traditional stories of common men in uncommon circumstances into some of the most memorable pieces of literature ever written.