Romanticism In Roxanne's Cyrano As A Tragic Hero

This is one aspect of romanticism which Cyrano most definitely embodies with his characteristics of a tragic hero. He is a man controlled by fate, which is a favorite theme of Rostand. With this theme, Smith emphasizes that Cyrano is a pawn of his fate. Smith then proves this notion by explaining how romantic heros are pawns of “fate and events” (374). This shows how Cyrano, despite his positive qualities, is bound for failure due to the nature of the play. It could be argued that Cyrano is not a failure in the fact that his love for Roxanne does not go unanswered. It is devastating that Cyrano spent so much time trying to obtain this happiness and realises all along that “he could have won Roxanne’s love for himself” (“Debating Deception,” n.p.).

This is emphasized when Roxanne realizes that Cyrano was the one who had written these letters after many years. He denies that it was him because he does not want to tarnish her memory of Christian. She recognizes Cyrano’s voice and declares how it was him she loved all this time. His fate, sorrowfully, is that they would have had the opportunity for a long lasting love if she had accepted his appearance and seen the poet underneath. His long nose stands

This is also a way to contrast Christian and Cyrano through the use of deception. Rostand uses this to further Cyrano’s stance as a tragic hero. This is done to contrast the different motives of the two characters. Christian is shown as using deception as a way to fool Roxanne in believing he is something he is not. This shows his vain character and need to appear as a perfect man. Cyrano, however, is shown to have compassion by assisting Christian and putting himself aside to find a way to express his love to Roxanne. It’s is noted in “Debating Deception,” how it is evident that Cyrano seems “heroic and selfless” due to his sacrifice for the