Cyrano de Bergerac | Rostand's Sharply Defined Title Character and the Nature of Heroism
In the following essay, the author examines Rostand's sharply defined title character and the nature of heroism.
In As You Like It, William Shakespeare offers the famous line, "All the world's a stage," an idea that takes on a literal meaning in Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, his play featuring one of the most theatrical of characters ever created. In the foreword to his translation of the play, Anthony Burgess writes that while "Cyrano de Bergerac may not be the best play ever written," its central figure "is surely one of the great characters in all drama." What makes Cyrano such a remarkable and popular character is, primarily, his devotion to his own code of honor, despite the fact...
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