Cyrano de Bergerac (Characters)

Characters

Bellerose

The stage manager of the theater where Montfleury was set to perform, he is put in the position of calming the crowd when Cyrano runs Montfleury off the stage. He allows Le Bret and Cyrano to wait in the theater while the mob leaves after the duel with Valvert.

Christian

A handsome but tongue-tied soldier from Touraine; Christian comes to Paris to join the Gascony Guards (Cyrano’s regiment) and to find the beautiful Roxane.

So overcome is he with Roxane’s beauty that he allows Cyrano to woo Roxane with words when it becomes obvious that his good looks are not enough to win her heart. Even after he is married to her, it is Cyrano who continues the relationship, composing moving love letters for Christian. When he finds that the words (Cyrano’s heart and soul) are what she loves, the starving and sickly Christian begs Cyrano to tell Roxane the truth. Knowing he cannot continue to dishonestly accept Roxane’s love, he seeks death in battle.

Christian is a man with honorable intentions and a good heart. He is also easily led and a victim of his own desires. He willingly allows Cyrano to act as a kind of “emotional surrogate” to make up for the qualities he lacks. He is truly in love with Roxane but knows that her love for him has not been fairly won. He sees an honorable death in battle as the only solution to this problem. It is Christian’s hope that, in his absence, Cyrano and Roxane can find true happiness together.

The Citizen

The Citizen is a member of the audience at the theater. An otherwise insignificant character, he serves as a means by which Rostand illustrates his hero’s sensitivity regarding his appearance as well as his rapier-sharp wit. The citizen is caught staring at Cyrano’s sizable sinuses and subsequently initiates the play’s famous “nose tirade.”

Cyrano

See Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac is a man who excels at poetry and swordsmanship in order to overcome his “physical limitation” — a very large nose. In the words of the character Ragueneau, “there never walked,/stalked rather, strutted, so extravagant, bizzare,/far-fetched, excessive, hyperbolic, droll,/mad a gentleman-ruffian as this Bergerac.”

From the first sight of Cyrano ridiculing the lackluster skills of the actor Montfleury, it is clear that his wit is a weapon as sharp as his sword. When challenged to a duel by the Vicomte de Valvert, he composes a “ballade” (poem) as they fight. He taunts his opponent,“when the poem ends, I hit.” It is clear that Cyrano is in complete control, both in the swordfight and in the verbal repartee; as he states, he completes the poem and defeats de Valvert. For Cyrano, composing the poem is an integral part of the fight itself, an illustration that there is little distinction between his mental and physical prowess — and that these powers serve as tools to maintain his individuality and freedom.

Cyrano’s dedication to his art (and obsession with independence) is also depicted in his rejection of de Guiche’s patronage. His statement, “I might, (take a patron)/if the thought of anyone’s changing a single comma,/didn’t make my blood curdle,” shows his revulsion at the thought of anyone meddling in his affairs. In the end, his insistance on being an independent man brings about his death.

Just as he fights with words, Cyrano can also employ them in the pursuit of love. Believing that his beautiful and intelligent cousin Roxane could not love him because of his looks; he offers to woo her for the handsome but tongue-tied suitor, Christian. It is with Cyrano’s words that Roxane is won into marriage, not Christian’s looks. Cyrano, his self-esteem so low, cannot believe, even after Roxane’s letter to the front in the siege of Arras, that she could love him. For fifteen years he keeps the secret, fearing her rejection, until he is, himself, about to die. Cyrano is a passionate man, whose independence eventually leads to his downfall. He does, however, achieve a bittersweet triumph before his death, learning that Roxane does in fact love him for his soul, not his outward appearance. Cyrano’s tale illustrates the concept of true beauty coming from within.

Comte de Guiche

A courtier and somewhat foppish aristocrat; de Guiche, though married to the niece of French leader Cardinal Richelieu, is in love with Roxane. He believes that if he cannot have her he will force her to marry his ally, the Vicomte de Valvert. De Guiche will do whatever is necessary to win Roxane, and is determined to crush whomever stands in his way. When Cyrano thwarts his attempt at a late-night meeting with Roxane and enables her marriage to Christian; he sends Cyrano, Christian, and their regiment, the Gascony Guards, to the siege of Arras in retribution. It is only after many years that de Guiche learns to respect Cyrano for his independence and understands the loyalty of Roxane.

Christian de Neuvillette

See Christian

The Foodseller

The Foodseller is a young woman who shows Cyrano kindness by trying to give him food after he gives his purse to Jodalet at the theater. He refuses her offer but kisses her hand. This illustrates Cyrano’s easy and natural charm with women and takes place as he tells Le Bret that no woman will ever want him.

Lebret

LeBret is Cyrano’s friend in the Gascony Guards and is the perfect foil (a character who offers complementary — often contrasting — behavior) for Cyrano. He is a staunch supporter and loyal friend to Cyrano, but also reminds Cyrano when he is being reckless (as when Cyrano gives his entire purse to Bellerose, the theater owner). Protective of Cyrano, he tries to keep him safe in the siege of Arras and again at the convent fifteen years later. He has enormous respect and love for Cyrano, and also for Roxane.

Ligniere

A poet and a drunk, Ligniere serves to introduce Christian to all at the theater. De Guiche sends one-hundred “ruffians” to kill Ligniere because he wrote a scandalous song about him. Thanks to Christian’s warning, Cyrano protects Ligniere, fights off the hundred ruffians, and saves his life. This victory for Cyrano helps solidify his reputation as a fighter at the pastry shop the next day and wins over the crowd until his disagreement with de Guiche over patronage.

Lise

Lise, Ragueneau’s wife, has no patience for her husband’s love of poetry. She destroys his books to wrap pastries. Irritated by her husband’s poet friends, she eventually runs off with a musketeer. Cyrano warns Ragueneau of Lise’s friendliness with the musketeer but it is too late.

Magdeleine Robin

See Roxane

Montfleury

Montfleury is a notoriously overweight and very bad actor on the Paris stage. Defying Cyrano’s warning to stay off the stage for a month, he finds himself kicked off and run out of town by Cyrano.

Mother Marguerite de Jesus

The Mother Superior of the convent in which Roxane takes refuge after Christian’s death, she is an understanding woman, who tells her young sisters Marthe and Claire not to try to convert Cyrano. She enjoys Cyrano’s Saturday visits to Roxane. Her presence serves as a narrative bridge, shading in the events in the fourteen years since the siege of Arras.

Ragueneau

Ragueneau is a baker and would-be poet. A friend to Cyrano, he opens his pastry shop to poets who listen to his verse in exchange for food and drink. He supports Cyrano both in friendship and with food from his shop. He also allows his shop to be used as a meeting place for Cyrano and Roxane. He warns Cyrano of the danger of making too many enemies and tries to help him when he can.

Ragueneau’s wife, Lise, leaves him for a musketeer after he bankrupts himself by publishing a book of recipes in verse — “Ragueneau’s Rhymed Recipes”. By the end of the play he works odd jobs to survive, but he remains a loyal friend to Cyrano until the end.

Roxane

Roxane is one of the most sought after women in Paris. Beautiful, intelligent, and fiercely independent, she lives with her duenna (chaperone) in a comfortable home in Paris. She is Cyrano’s cousin, and the object of desire for not only Cyrano and Christian, but the Comte de Guiche and the Vicomte de Valvert as well. Described by Rostand as “delicately reared and bookish,” she is a lover of words and not men.

While attracted to Christian’s good looks, his lack of social skill and clumsy attempts at conversation turn her off. It is only when Roxane hears the words of Cyrano — spoken through Christian — that she is charmed. Convinced that Christian is both handsome and intelligent; it is she that devises a plan to thwart the Comte de Guiche’s late-night meeting so that she may marry Christian. It is her quick thinking that convinces the Capuchin (priest) to marry them; despite this cunning, she is nevertheless fooled by Cyrano’s ruse.

Roxane proves to be a faithful and loving wife to the end by staying in a convent after Christian’s death. She resists the advances of the still-ardent Comte de Guiche, and her only link to the outside world is her faithful cousin Cyrano, who is her regular visitor. It is only when she realizes that the words Christian spoke came from Cyrano that she declares her love for him. Roxane’s physical attraction to Christian — and her enduring belief that it was he who spoke such beautiful words to her — blinds her to Cyrano’s deep love. As Cyrano lies dying, however, she realizes her true love in Cyrano.

Roxane’s Duenna

The duenna is a chaparone who is easily bribed by Cyrano’s cream puffs at Ragueneau’s pastry shop. She is at times cynical and sarcastic, yet very protective of her charge, Roxane.

Sister Claire

Counterpart to Sister Marthe, she is concerned about Cyrano and expresses her concern to Mother Marguerite.

Sister Marthe

One of the two sisters at the convent who play out a comic moment as each tells the other’s sins to Mother Marguerite. Marthe wishes to convert Cyrano, and Cyrano, before his death tells her to pray for him.

Valvert

See Vicomte de Valvert

Vicomte de Valvert

Valvert is the man de Guiche wishes Roxane to marry in the hopes of keeping her from Cyrano and Christian. Foppish and slightly dim-witted, he provokes Cyrano into a duel in the theater. Unable to come up with a witty retort against Cyrano’s torrent of poetry, he enters into the fight. He is slain by Cyrano’s sword with the line “the poem ended/and I hit.”

Media Adaptations

• The earliest film adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac is a silent film from 1925 with Pierre Magnier as Cyrano. Available from Kino on Video.
• The most famous film version of Cyrano de Bergerac is the one in which Jose Ferrer reprised his famous stage role as the title character. The film was released in 1950 by United Artists and is available on Nostalgia Family Video.
• The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1985 production of the play, with Derek Jacobi as Cyrano, is available on video from Turner Home Entertainment.
• For a newer adaptation of the play, see Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s 1990 version of Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano, a performance for which he won the 1990 Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor award. Available on Orion Home Video.
• Steve Martin’s comedy Roxanne (1987) tells the story of Cyrano de Bergerac in a modern American setting. Starring Steve Martin as C. D. Bales (Cyrano) and Daryl Hannah as Roxanne. Available on Columbia Home Video.