Deception and Downfall

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Deception and Downfall
One man’s ultimate demise is caused by his use of deception for the happiness of others. In Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano loves Roxane, but is too afraid to tell her of his love due to his looks. He eventually resorts to helping Christian love Roxane by writing his words for him, leading to the two getting married. However, Roxane swears that she will never love another man and lives in a convent after Christian’s death in battle, leaving Cyrano without love for fifteen years, until just before his death. Cyrano’s insecurities about his appearance prevent him from being honest, proving that his use of deception leads to his downfall, misery and death.
Cyrano is too insecure to tell Roxane that he loves her, instead deceiving her and making her think that Christian is the perfect man. Cyrano allows Christian to use his words as his own, saying, “Would you dare to repeat her the words/I gave you, day by day?” (99). Cyrano gives his original letter to Roxane to Christian, telling him to simply use it as his own. This quote demonstrates how Cyrano ...

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