Cyrano de Bergerac

Verse drama in five acts by Edmond Rostand, performed in 1897 and published the following year. Set in 17th-century Paris, the action revolves around the emotional problems of the noble, swashbuckling Cyrano, who, despite his many gifts, feels that no woman can ever love him because he has an enormous nose. Secretly in love with the lovely Roxane, Cyrano agrees to help his inarticulate rival, Christian, win her heart by allowing him to present Cyrano's love poems, speeches, and letters as his own work. Eventually Christian recognizes that Roxane loves him for Cyrano's qualities, not his own, and he asks Cyrano to confess his identity to Roxane; Christian then goes off to a battle that proves fatal. Cyrano remains silent about his own part in Roxane's courtship. As he is dying years later, he visits Roxane and recites one of the love letters. Roxane realizes that it is Cyrano she loves, and he dies content. Cyrano de Bergerac was based only nominally on the 17th-century nobleman of the same name, known for his bold adventures and large nose. --The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature Edmond Rostand was born in Marseilles in 1868 and died in 1918. His thirty-year literary career is marked primarily by one astronomical success and a number of plays of lesser note. Early on, Edmond displayed an interest in marionette theater and poetry. While attending the College Stanislas in Paris, Rostand studied French literature, history, and philosophy. He followed his own inclination and deviated from the course his father had designed for him as a lawyer, although he did finally earn a legal degree and gain admission to the bar. His first poetry appeared in the small academy review Mireille. In 1888, his LeGantRouge was produced and, in 1890, Rostand published his first book of poetry, LesMusardises. His play LesRomanesques was produced in 1894, followed a year later by LaPrincessLointaine. The playwright's name and influence spread. Rostand's fame peaked in 1898 with the first production of CyranodeBergerac, a five-act verse drama. The play was important to the drama of its time for its romantic nature, a departure from the realistic conventions then in vogue. It was an enormous success. After his next success, L'Aiglon (1900), ten years followed before Rostand completed another play. He spent the remaining years of his life in semiretirement, and died in 1918.?