Does society affect relationships? Do others’ opinions have an impact on what people say or do? Many believe that other people's opinions don’t affect their relationships, or even how they see the world- I disagree. Society can and does affect relationships negatively. This is shown through the play Cyrano de Bergerac when Cyrano repeatedly sees situations differently because of his insecurities, in The Adoration of Jenna Fox when Jenna is defined by what she is, and through my own experience. In Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac, we see how relationships are affected by society negatively when Cyrano sees situations differently because of his insecurities. In this play, Cyrano’s biggest insecurity is his nose. He thinks that because of it, …show more content…
This shows just how deeply Cyrano’s insecurity goes, he can not even see that his soul might make her love him. Society has a major impact on one’s self-confidence and the worth they place on themselves. According to society, some features are “not desirable”. Social views cloud our minds and make people view others in a different way, usually negatively. Another example of Cyrano de Bergerac is when Cyrano is spiteful and paranoid that people might be making fun of his appearance. This happens throughout the play, and Cyrano repeatedly treats people in harsh ways just to distract from his own self doubt. Cyrano declares, “Let it be known that if the jester is a nobleman, he will not just taste my boot but will taste my steel instead!” (Rostand 28). Cyrano becoming insecure and then angry is a common theme throughout the play, and it directly correlates with his own insecurity placed on him by society’s beauty standards. This insecurity allows Cyrano to make many enemies because of his behavior, which ultimately leads to his death. These are all examples of how society can affect relationships, and in Cyrano’s case, very
This is partially demonstrated through the internal conflict in Cyrano. In the first act, he, with his incomparable wit and combat expertise, appears to be undefeatable, until confessing his affection for his beautiful cousin to his closest companion in scene five. Cyrano then refuses to admit his admiration to Roxanne because he dreads the thought
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” (Confucius) Cyrano’s insecurity of his nose effects his relationship with Roxane. In Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano De Bergerac, Cyrano’s insecure and eloquent self-perception results in Cyrano’s companionship & loving in his relationship with both Christian & Roxane. Cyrano’s level of eloquence helps him combat the insults of his nose. Cyrano is a poetic, witty, & eloquent man who is insecure & has trouble showing his true feelings for Roxane .Cyrano and Christian work together to win Roxane’s heart, and at the end Cyrano allows love to kill him, even after Roxane discovers & reciprocates his feelings.
Appeal to emotions, individualism, and intellectual achievement were three important elements of Romanticism. This essay will explore the degree to which Cyrano de Bergerac exemplifies these elements of Romanticism.
Society tends to misjudge people base on their appearances instead of their personality. This can be seen in the play Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. In which Roxane represents that vile aspect of society. Roxane is attracted to Christian based on his looks, and under minds Cyrano because of his appearance. Society misjudgment of people cause oppression on an individual and it is from oppression and misjudgment f character that causes self consciousness to be born. Cyrano exhibits this self consciousness by helping Christian. Such oppression or self conscious aids to form magnificent characteristics attributes such as the ones portrayed by Cyrano throughout the novel. After all of its societies misjudgment that causes Cyrano to be the character that he is.
Few words can be more humorous, or more upsetting, than a well thought out and witty phrase. The only skill that matches Cyrano’s skill with a sword, is his skill with his tongue. With a wit unmatched by any poet, Cyrano made enemies wherever he went, simply by out-smarting all who came against him. In the first act of the play, Cyrano crashes a performance of the well-known actor Montfluery. After many insults, Cyrano heaps upon them by saying, “I would never venture out in public with a soiled conscience, a tarnished honor, or scruples grimy and dull. I do not adorn myself with gems and ribbons, like you. Instead, I decorate myself with truth, independence, and a clean soul.”
In The play Cyrano de Bergerac, the main character, Cyrano, is a noble idealist who fights against the harsh reality of ordinary life, and creates his own world. On the outside he is a strong man with a hard shell, but inside he is a melancholy poet yearning for love. He feels that the world bases love too much on appearance. He believes that no one will ever love him because of his grotesquely long nose. For this reason Cyrano cuts himself off of true reality and creates a world where love exists without appearance.
Loyal, devoted, selfless, prideful, and knowledgeable. These are just a few of the many traits that will be sincerely missed. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac’s life impeccably emphasized that a positive soul is worth more than a beautiful face. There is currently a lot of media nowadays that highlights the importance of looks and the perfect face. They create products to alter your face and weight and people begin to forget what is really important. We see past the loyalty, the devotion, the selflessness, and go no deeper than our each other’s skin. However, Cyrano saw the good in everyone and he taught people, who may or may not have been in love, what is important in a relationship.
The attitude of this play is very interesting. Looking closely, one notices that most of the characters in Cyrano de Bergerac are very formal in the way they address others. They always seem to keep their opinions to themselves, or if they do share it, they do so in a very inoffensive way. Cyrano, however, is very loud and obnoxious. He likes attention and he wants to be the superior. He doesn’t care if other people think he is rude or boastful as long as they are afraid of him. In Cyrano’s first appearance, he frightened an actor off a stage. In Act One, a man asks Cyrano, “Why do you make so many enemies?” (24). The man starts naming some of them, and after a few, Cyrano replies, “Enough. I’m overjoyed.” Cyrano’s attitude, it seems, is quite different than that of his peers.
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
The theme of this play is inner beauty and outer beauty. In the beginning of Cyrano de Bergerac, it seems like the theme focuses heavily on outer beauty. As you continue to read on, the play actually puts more emphasis in inner beauty. Symbolism is very important in this play. The letters written by Cyrano symbolizes Cyrano’s inner beauty because what you write comes from your soul which is shaped by your personality. Cyrano’s nose symbolizes his ugliness and his insecurity. Because Cyrano knows Roxane would never consider him because of his nose, he decides to help Christian since Cyrano believes he can help Christian win Roxane’s heart. “
Christian De Neuvillette is introduced as an impulsive baron with charming features. Christian can be interpreted as a naïve, and shortsighted character, although within the play, his character bonds between more than just two negative attributes. The most desirable personality traits that a character would acquire are strenuous to preserve. One of these strenuous traits includes courtesy, which readers would target their attention to. The readers’ concentration targets to characters with high qualities that differ from other characters, in this case Christian fits perfectly into the category. After Christian De Neuvillette proves Cyrano De Bergerac that he has fortitude by insulting Cyrano’s extensive nose, Christian hastily apologizes later when Cyrano acknowledged he was the cousin of Roxane. This may be interpreted as an action of remorse, considering Christian did affront the cousin of Roxane; a woman Christian felt adoration towards. The interpretation is partially correct, although stepping into Christian’s point of view, his loyalty focalizes onto Roxane. Christian’s reaction to when he figured Cyrano was Roxane’s cousin, revealed a sudden change in attitude towards Cyrano, creating a much lighter and respectful tone in his speech: “I am so glad to meet you / Believe me...
Continuing on from Cyrano’s carelessness for his happiness, we may easily make a jump to his sense of self-worth. Any man who would sacrifice his own love, thus, his entire world, for the sake of his rival cannot have a concern for himself.
Cyrano has unknowingly created a sort of psychological trap in which women are kept on the outside and men are free to roam within. Lacking confidence around women, he is forced to pour his heart out on to letters and is deprived of any kind of physical contact with the opposite gender. Without confidence, a man's attempts at any kind of a relationship with a woman are almost always thwarted because in order for a woman to be attracted to a man, she must first see confidence in him. Since Cyrano has no confidence in his ability with women, he is stuck in a never-ending cycle of rejection and loneliness.
This is not fate nor coincidence. In complete control of his life, Cyrano is arrogant, deceptive, and hesitant in his actions; this ultimately leads to the great tragedy. As a result, we conclude that Cyrano has technically jeopardized himself. If Cyrano had not been so stubborn when he refused to be under De Guiche’s patronage, had not been so generous to feign the love letters for Christian, and had he not been so hesitatant when he deciding to confess his love to Roxane, the tragedy could become a romantic love story with a sweet ending. Again, Cyrano must hold all the responsibility for his actions and he must recognize that only he is to blame for this tragedy.
Cyrano also revealed that he had no patience for people that made fun of, or picked on those that were less fortunate. Cyrano thought as himself as less fortunate to have a nose like his. So when people made fun of it he got very angry but yet he never lost his cool. So Cyrano would just take care of business with the bully in a entertaining manner and then be on his way.