Riassunto
Riassunto di Cyrano de Bergerac
A chi è rivolto
Readers who love sparkling wit, duels fought in rhyme and a love story built on a daring secret will find a great deal to enjoy, and so will anyone who likes a hero with a big voice and a bigger heart.
Che cos’è questo libro
Cyrano de Bergerac is a verse play in five acts by the French dramatist Edmond Rostand, first staged in 1897. It is set in Paris and at the siege of Arras in the 1640s, and ends in 1655. Its hero is a soldier, poet and duellist whose enormous nose has convinced him that no woman could ever love him.
The play gives you swordplay, comedy, a balcony scene and a battlefield, all driven by one secret. Cyrano loves his cousin Roxane, and she loves a handsome young cadet named Christian who cannot speak of love. What happens when one man has the words and the other has the face? Let us begin in a crowded Paris theater, where Cyrano first strides into view.
In questo riassunto
- 1A Hero Stops the ShowFree
- 2A Duel Fought in Verse
- 3A Secret Love and a Rendezvous
- 4Roxane Confesses Her Love
- 5The Balcony and the Wedding
- 6Hunger and Arras
- 7What the Play Is About
Punto chiave 1 di 7
A Hero Stops the Show
The play opens in 1640 at the Hotel de Bourgogne, a Paris theater where the audience mills about before a performance of a pastoral play called La Clorise. Soldiers fence, pages play tricks, pickpockets give lessons and fashionable marquises arrive to be seen. Among the crowd is a young man named Christian de Neuvillette, new to Paris and about to join the Guards.
Christian is distracted. He keeps looking toward an empty box, where a lady named Roxane will sit. His friend Lignière, a drinking poet, tells him who she is, a clever and refined young woman, an orphan, and a cousin of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Everyone is talking about Cyrano. His friends call him poet, soldier, philosopher and musician. They also warn that he will cut down anyone who mentions his nose. He has forbidden the fat actor Montfleury to appear on stage for a month, and the actor is about to defy him.
When Montfleury begins his speech, a voice booms from the pit. Cyrano climbs onto a chair, orders the actor off and counts to three with claps of his hands. The actor vanishes, and the crowd is left laughing and stunned.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- A brilliant poet and swordsman, he loves his cousin Roxane but fears his appearance makes him unlovable.
- Roxane
- Cyrano’s intelligent cousin admires poetry and loves Christian, believing the eloquent words he offers are his own.
- Christian
- A handsome young soldier, he borrows Cyrano’s eloquence to court Roxane because he struggles to express his feelings.
- Count de Guiche
- A powerful nobleman with authority over the soldiers, he pursues Roxane and represents the patronage Cyrano resists.
- Ragueneau
- A pastry cook devoted to poetry, he is Cyrano’s friend and offers him practical support.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 36,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 25 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Cyrano de Bergerac
What is Cyrano de Bergerac about?
It is a verse play about a brilliant poet and swordsman with a huge nose who loves his cousin Roxane. He helps a handsome cadet win her with his own words, and keeps his love secret.
Is Cyrano de Bergerac a true story?
Rostand wrote the play in 1897 and based the hero on a real seventeenth century writer and duellist. Most events, including the love story, are invented for the stage.
Who is Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac?
Roxane is Cyrano's cousin, a clever, refined young woman who loves poetry and fine speech. She falls in love with the cadet Christian and is moved by the letters she thinks are his.
What does panache mean in Cyrano de Bergerac?
Panache means a plume on a hat, and in the play it stands for Cyrano's proud spirit, his wit, courage and refusal to bow to flattery or fear.
Is Cyrano de Bergerac easy to read?
The play moves quickly with duels, jokes and clear scenes. Its speeches are lively and easy to follow, and the love triangle is simple to grasp from the first act.