Cyrano De Bergerac Beauty Essay

What is your definition of beauty? If you were to ask a group of people what their definition of beauty and love is, you would get a different answer every time. In Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand, we see how beauty is seen in different perspectives. For example the saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning that what one finds beautiful may appear differently to another. This saying applies to Cyrano and Roxane, and their views on beauty, especially on inner and outer beauty. The views that Cyrano and Roxane have on beauty is what causes the conflicts in the play.

The belief that Cyrano has engraved in his mind is that in order to be loved you must have outer beauty. In the quote, “Come now, think a moment: this nose of mine,

which precedes me by a quarter of an hour whenever I go, forbids me ever to dream of being loved by an ugly women.”PG. 49, it expresses how Cyrano feels about his appearance. Cyrano’s nose is the only thing that is blocking him from pursuing his love for Roxane. Cyrano is insecure about his face and believes that since Roxane is beautiful he doesn’t deserve to be with her, but that is not the case. Roxane’s idea of beauty varies throughout the play but mainly her idea of beauty is the amount of intelligence and wit that a person may have. Edmond Rostand, the author, takes Cyrano’s idea of beauty and Roxane’s idea of beauty to create a classic story of “unrequited love”.
In Cyrano de Bergerac, we learn from the get-go as to who our major characters are.

The protagonist: Cyrano and the rest of the major characters: Christian, and Roxane. Cyrano was a man of many talents, he was a great poet, and a remarkable sword fighter, in the quote, “He’s an extraordinary man, isn’t he? The most delightful man under the sun” PG. 18, it conveys how Cyrano is even admired by those around him. However, Cyrano always lived by his idea in self-worth, Cyrano is very intelligent and skilled, but he lacks in self confidence which is revealed in the quote, “My friend, I have bad moments now and then, feeling myself so ugly, all alone….” PG.50. In addition to Cyrano we have Christian, the other half of Cyrano or can also be seen as Cyrano’s “outer beauty”. Christian is a handsome man who is also in love with Roxane but does not have the intelligence and courage to speak to her as seen in the quote, “I may have a certain quick, soldiery wit, but with women I’m always at a loss for anything to say.”PG.101. After meeting Christian, Cyrano uses this coincidence to help Christian by being his “conscience” or “inner beauty”, while Christian is Cyrano’s “outer beauty”. Furthermore we have Roxane, the beautiful and intelligent Roxane, whom almost everyone is in love with. The plot of the play surround solely around Roxane, Cyrano and Christian’s endeavor is to win Roxane’s love, and the ending of the play is determined by Roxane’s concept in

beauty.
As said before, Cyrano was an extremely poetic man which could be seen in his letters and astute way in words.

In Cyrano’s words he uses many metaphors, for example Cyrano says, “No! I love Cleopatra--do I look like a Caesar? I adore Berenice--have I the appearance of a Titus?” PG.51, he says that Roxane is Cleopatra and Berenice and that he can never be the Caesar to her Cleopatra and the Titus of her Berenice because of his appearance. Once again the idea of outer appearance comes up as a barrier for Cyrano to get closer to Roxane. Cyrano continuously addresses how his ugliness and Roxane’s beauty do not match up, but he does not understand that Roxane doesn’t see beauty the same way he does, she sees the heart of a person as the most beautiful not the outside. At first Roxane loved Christian for his looks but eventually she conveyed to him how she loved his “soul”, but in reality his “soul” was actually Cyrano the whole time. Another example of Cyrano’s metaphors is, “My heart always timidly hides itself behind my mind.”PG.128, he is expressing how he can never show his true feelings because his mind is telling him

no.
In conclusion, Cyrano’s concept of beauty and Roxane’s idea of beauty differ, which further enhances my thesis of people having different ideals according to their preferences. But the thing is, why do people have different opinions on beauty? Why do some people think that a person can only be with another if their appearance matches? Could the beliefs of others be shaped by the way the society is? Of course attraction to an outer appearance is important, but just looking at face won’t make you love them forever, it’s about who they really are in the inside that really keeps two people together.