Comparing the Anti-Social Plays of Cyrano de Bergerac and Night of the Iguana

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.

In the play Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, is a book about Cyrano de Bergerac, who is one of the main characters in this book that has a downfall in the his love life. Cyrano had a flaw in his life that lead to his downfall in the end. The contributions that lead to this would be his tragic flaws, which truly prevented him from achieving the women of his dreams. Cyrano may have had favorable traits about himself like being able to take control as a leader; gaining him respect from others. Surely, that would have given him the confidence to gain Roxane’s but he stood in the shadows because of his honorary code. Roxane did love him, but she loved him through Christian. Cyrano would be considered a tragic character because he

Ptolemy, a Roman astronomer came up with the theory that the universe revolved around Earth and all the creatures inhabiting it (Doc. C). This theory, The Geocentric Universe of Ptolemy, was adjusted by most of the people during The Middle Ages. However, much later on, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, disagreed with Ptolemy’s theory. With his use of math and reason, he came up with a new theory called The Heliocentric Universe of Copernicus (Doc. C). He said that the universe & Earth itself revolves around the sun. The Church denied this theory because they did not want to be proven wrong. If the Church was wrong about this part of the universe, this would then cause man to wonder what else they could be wrong about, or even lied to them about. This new theory taught men to think for themselves and not to rely on the Church for

During the Pre-Enlightenment and Enlightenment periods, man began to question that model of the Universe. Copernicus' revolutionary model of the Universe placed the Sun at the centre of the Universe. Though Copernicus' ideas were only allowed to b e published as he was on his deathbed, the Church grudgingly agreed to Copernicus' model of the Universe as it still placed man's solar system in the centre of the Universe. Later, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler adjusted Copernicus' model so that it fit both observation and mathematics. The final Enlightened blow to the Catholic Church came when Isaac Newton proposed-and subsequently proved-that not only is out planet and the solar system not at the centre of the Universe, but that the Universe itself is a machine: it can be governed only be natural and physical laws. This presented a great change in society and proved to be a most fatal blow to the Catholic Church. For, if the Universe is governed by natural and physical laws, how could God possible interfere with events in the Universe? This only proves that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of changed-and, indeed, such change meant breaking away from the

His more relaxed viewpoint on the interpretations of the Bible and scripture allowed him to accept the Copernican theory. He even justified his stance through principals. The first principle was called biblical limitation. “I should judge that the authority of the Bible was designed to persuade men of these articles and propositions which, by science, or by any other means than through the very mouth of the Holy Spirit.” This principle overall explained that the bible could only be understood and interpreted correctly by the Holy Mother Mary. This gave a justification against claims from previous scholars such as St. Aquinas and St. Augustine. These two scholars took ideas for the overall argument from interpretations of the Bible made from either themselves or those before them. Therefore, Galileo believed that the interpretations were false. This allowed for science to not come in conflict with Catholicism as no one truly understood it. Another principle was the priority of physical demonstration. This principle stressed more on the empirical evidence before scriptural evidence. For this principle, Galileo focused primarily on nature and this allowed him to protect the concept of the Copernican theory from the bible. Since he used empirical evidence on nature, it allowed him to determine that the sun was at the center of the universe. Thus, observation, a major part of scientific

1). Copernicus came from Poland, a very Catholic nation, which explains his choice to dedicate his book to Pope Paul III. John Calvin, a theologian who founded the Calvinist sect of Protestantism, was very fond of astronomy, saying that it shows the wisdom of God (Doc. 2). Other religious figures condemned the work of scientists, like Giovanni Ciampoli, who in a letter to Galileo insisted that Galileo censure facts due to the disagreement of church doctrines to the findings of Galileo (Doc. 3). Other philosophers merged their ideas on the sciences to religious beliefs to please the church and their own traditional beliefs. In a book by Walter Charleton, an English doctor and philosopher, he states that the creation of atoms and arrangement of them could only be achieved by a higher power (Doc. 8). His occupation as a doctor may have led him to this conclusion as the human body is a very complex machine, and it seemed that only God would be capable of engineering such an organism. Another philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz, compares God to an engineer manipulating his machines, further affecting the work of scientists by meshing religious and scientific ideas (Doc. 12). Many scientists’ works were condemned by the church at this time for blasphemy, so many turned to deism, where God made the Universe like a clock and let it run on its own. Many scientists’ work during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was

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

Similar to Huck's willingness to face punishment for illegal activity and nonconformity, Galileo went against the Catholic Church's beliefs and declared that the Earth went around the Sun. An Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo Galilei invented the telescope in 1609 and his observations supported Copernicus' theory that all planets revolved around the Sun. However, Galileo's belief faced much opposition as it did not follow the ideas of the Church, which had monumental influence on society at that time. This indeed set the scene for an individual's clash with the ideals of society. Although Galileo did not want to instigate conflict, he could

“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.

In Edmund Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano as a selflessness man toward Roxane and Christian through his grand gestures. Cyrano first displays selflessness when he agrees to assist Roxane to protect Christian for her despite the fact that Cyrano loves her deeply, even though Roxane was hesitant about it “Enough. I will help your little baron.” (Rostand 42) but then is overcome with joy at Cyrano’s response. Cyrano also displays selflessness to cross the active battlefield at sunrise “This passes everything! To risk your life Each day at dawn to get a letter through!”(83) to keep his promise to write to Roxane posing as Christian. Cyrano is severely injured and bound to die soon and yet he still visits Roxane “ The last And most persistent

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.

Over two centuries ago the Catholic Church tried Galileo, because he published his book in 1632 that supported the heliocentric ideas that originated from Copernicus. The church claimed that the heliocentric theory went against scripture. During this time the Catholic Church believed in the idea that the Earth was at the center of the universe. This was called the geocentric theory, which had been around for nearly 1500 years. Galileo was tried less than a year later in 1633. The trial was private, because the church feared the community would support him, because he was one of the most achieved astronomers of their time. The church’s committee unanimously voted that his book, the Two Chief World Systems violated his

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?

All movies, plays and stories have a victim and a villain in the story. The victim is forced to overcome obstacles and is often hurt physically and emotionally while the villain is the one who wreaks havoc and tries to stop the victim from achieving their goal. In the play Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare there is a character so elaborate and confusing that an argument could be made that he is both. This character, Shylock, suffers from persecution and humiliation for being a Jew as well as attempting horrendous actions in hopes of retaliation. The play starts out with a young Venetian man, Bassanio, needing a substantial loan so that he can attempt to win over Portia, a young, “richly left” woman(1.1.68). A

A villain in a play is a “character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot” and a victim in the terms of this play is “a person who has come to feel helpless and passive in the face of misfortune or ill-treatment”. Shylock in Merchant of Venice is a Jewish moneylender and Jewish people during Shakespearean time were looked down upon, treated unfairly with no respect. Shylock in Merchant of Venice is portrayed as how a stereotypical Jew would be portrayed as, a villain and an antagonist.