"Cyrano De Bergerac" By Edmond Rostand

Essay by lahonuHigh School, 10th gradeA+, April 2006

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In the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand, the antagonist Cyrano is an eloquent, charming, and abrasive man whose extremely large nose gives him much insecurity. Cyrano is in love with a beautiful woman named Roxane but, because of his insecurity, he does not tell her. Instead, he joins with a dashing young man named Christian and combines his own charm, wit and eloquence with the looks of young Christian to form the "perfect man" whom Roxane falls in love with. Cyrano's insecurity is the root of all of his dilemmas throughout the play.

Cyrano's insecurity is mainly due to his childhood. While in the garden during the last scene, he explains to Roxane an aspect of his insecurity. He says, "Never on me has rested woman's love. My mother even could not find me fair... I feared the woman that would mock me." Cyrano admits to his fear of mockery by women, showing his insecurity.

Cyrano is speaking of one of the things that caused his insecurity - his mother's love she withheld - and the reason that he does not reveal to Roxane his love for her - his fear of women. This fear of women sprouts from rejection of his mother and continues throughout his life. When he was younger, his mother most likely shunned him and verbally abused him, wondering how she gave birth to such a hideous thing. He cannot bear to hear Roxane say that she does not love him in return, so he decided to not take the chance at all.

Another reason that Cyrano is insecure is because he has been exploited throughout his life. An example of this is when he is in the garden and Ragueneau delivers the news that he has, yet again, been...