4 h 1 minAudiobook9 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 1 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
He can face a drawn sword without fear—but can he let the woman he loves hear his own heart?
In seventeenth-century Paris, Cyrano de Bergerac fights with a sword and dazzles with words. A soldier and poet, he fiercely guards his independence. Yet he believes his appearance makes him impossible to love. When Roxane, his intelligent, poetry-loving cousin, asks to meet him privately, he dares to hope.
Roxane admires Christian, a handsome young soldier who cannot find the words she longs to hear. Cyrano lends him his own, hiding his love behind another man’s face. In Edmond Rostand’s play, this fragile arrangement unfolds amid theatrical quarrels, friendship, and war, while the powerful Count de Guiche pursues Roxane.
What you’ll discover
- A sword and a sentence Meet a man whose dazzling wit is as ready as his blade.
- Words beneath the balcony Enter the darkness where Cyrano can speak with an honesty that daylight forbids.
- Love behind another face Feel the strain as Christian borrows the words Cyrano cannot claim as his own.
- Pride without protection Watch Cyrano refuse compromises that might bring him powerful friends or advancement.
- Courage with a hidden cost Explore the painful gap between bold public gestures and the fear of being unloved.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy swordplay mixed with jokes and big speeches, or if you like stories of unspoken love and loyal friends.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A riot at the theatre starts the play
- Cyrano mocks his own nose and hides his love
- Roxane asks Cyrano to protect another man
- Two men agree to share one lover
- A balcony, a monk and a wedding
- Words and faces: who is really loved
- Pride, panache and the courage to stand alone
- How Rostand tells the story in verse and in tones
Who’s who
- Cyrano de BergeracA Gascon swordsman, poet and cadet with a huge nose, he loves his cousin Roxane in secret and lives by pride and wit.
- RoxaneCyrano's clever, fashionable cousin, she loves beautiful words and falls for the handsome young cadet Christian.
- Christian de NeuvilletteA handsome, brave but tongue-tied young cadet who loves Roxane and wishes to win her heart.
- Count de GuicheA powerful nobleman and colonel who wants to marry Roxane to another man and holds a grudge against Cyrano.
- Le BretCyrano's loyal friend and fellow soldier, who scolds him for making enemies and worries about his future.
- RagueneauA kind pastry cook who adores poets, pays for verse with cakes and remains a faithful friend to Cyrano.
- Carbon de Castel-JalouxCaptain of the Gascon cadets, who admires Cyrano and leads his hungry, boastful men in the siege of Arras.
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Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand · 1898
A poet with an enormous nose woos Roxane with words he lends to a handsome rival, Christian.
Medium level2–5 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What would you do if you had the finest words in Paris but believed no woman could bear to look at your face? That is the problem of Cyrano de Bergerac, a swordsman, poet and soldier with an enormous nose.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A riot at the theatre starts the play
The play opens in 1640 in the hall of the Hotel de Bourgogne, an old tennis court turned into a theatre. Rostand introduces half the cast amid soldiers fencing, lackeys throwing dice and pages shooting peas.
A young man named Christian de Neuvillette stands among them, new in Paris and about to join the Guards. He keeps looking at an empty box. His friend Lignière tells him it belongs to Roxane, a clever and fashionable woman. Count de Guiche loves her and wants her to marry a pliant viscount named Valvert. Christian is already in love with her from afar.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1898
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac.
Rostand, E. (2026). Cyrano de Bergerac. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac (Original work published 1898)
Rostand, Edmond. Cyrano de Bergerac. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac.
@book{rostand2026cyrano,
author = {Rostand, Edmond},
title = {Cyrano de Bergerac},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/cyrano-de-bergerac},
note = {First published 1898}
}
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What is Cyrano de Bergerac about?
It follows a witty, proud swordsman who loves his cousin Roxane but fears his large nose makes him unlovable. He helps a handsome cadet win her with words, and the play follows the cost of that bargain.
Who is Cyrano de Bergerac in real life?
A real French writer of the seventeenth century shares the name and is known for fantastical tales of travel to the moon. Rostand borrowed the name and spirit, but the love story and most events are his own invention.
Why is the nose so important in the play?
The nose stands for everything Cyrano thinks keeps him from love. He turns it into a source of wit and pride, and he fights anyone else who jokes about it, which shapes the play's comedy and its sadness.
The author
Edmond Rostand
1868–1918 · French poet and dramatist
Edmond Rostand was a French poet and playwright born in Marseille in 1868. He lived in Paris and later in Cambo-les-Bains in southwestern France. He wrote Cyrano de Bergerac, first performed in 1897, and L’Aiglon, first performed in 1900. He died in Paris in 1918.
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