Example research essay topic: Cyrano De Bergerac Outward Appearance - 795 words

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Cyrano de Bergerac The plays protagonist, a poet, swordsman, philosopher, playwright, musician, and member of the Cadets of Gascoyne, a company of guards from Southern France. For all his prodigious talents, he is cursed with a ridiculously long nose, which keeps him from revealing his love for his cousin Roxane This is certainly the case with Cyrano de Bergerac. Edmond Rostands historical romance is a masterpiece of heroic storytelling, larger-than-life characters, and impeccable comic timing; unless we take Cyrano's nose to be a metaphor for the existential burden of mankind, the play is not a referendum on human existence. The story of Cyrano's tragic love for Roxane, and of the elaborate scheme he concocts with Christian to win her, is based on one very old, very simple literary theme: the contrast between inner worth and outward appearance. Cyrano is ugly but brilliant and valiant; Christian is beautiful but simple and unpoetic. The conflict inherent in that difference is the thematic engine of the play.

The values embodied in Cyrano's character honesty, courage, wit, passion, extraordinary power of will Perhaps most importantly, Cyrano's argument with Le Bret over his rash behavior provides Rostand with the opportunity to express in words the code of action by which Cyrano lives, the values of which integrity, impetuousness, bravery, wit, the pursuit of glory, and the idealization of love and women, all in the face of great enmity are the most important themes of the play. Another important theme of Cyrano de Bergerac is the very old and simple theme of the contrast between inner worth and outward appearance, embodied mainly in the characters of Cyrano and Christian. Cyrano, ridiculous to look at, is the best friend and the bravest soul alive, a brilliant man at everything he tries and a great soul; Christian is beautiful to look at, but his character lacks poetry and fire. By working together to woo Roxane, Cyrano believes that they will almost form a single person. (This idea recurs throughout the play: In the Fifth Act, after both Christian and Cyrano have died, Roxane exclaims I never loved but one man in my life, / And I have lost him twice) But, of course, any play founded on this theme must eventually show why inner worth is more important than outward appearance. Cyrano is no exception: As the play progresses, Roxane comes to realize more and more that what she truly loves about Christian is his Solid other words, she truly loves Cyrano. When she tells Christian in the Fourth Act that she would love him even if he were ugly, Cyrano's triumph the triumph of inner worth over exterior forms complete, though he does not have long to enjoy it.

This is the moment in which all the forces of the play come together: Christian realizes that Cyrano loves Roxane just as Roxane tells Christian she loves his Soul and that she would still love him even if he were ugly. Cyrano can see happiness stretching out before him until Christian is killed, at which moment Cyrano realizes he can never honorably tell Roxane how he feels. He seems to perceive the depth of Christians goodness after his death, assuring Roxane that he was A heart deeper than we knew / A soul magnificently tender. One of the important aspects of Cyrano's character is his ironclad willingness to accept privation rather than violate his principles. He would rather go hungry and unknown than have a single comma of his play altered, even if altering the play would enable its performance; by the same token, he would rather spend the rest of his life apart from the woman he loves than dishonor the memory of his friend. Cyrano's death scene is marvelously appropriate to his life: As he says, he is denied the chance to die in battle on the sword of a hero; he is ambushed by a falling log instead.

But Cyrano always manages to one-up his fate of failure, and he dies fighting, not a mortal hero, but the specters of Falsehood, Cowardice, Compromise all his old enemies. Throughout the play, Cyrano has suffered privation both because of his appearance and because of his unwillingness to sacrifice his principles. By this time, his long nose has become so allied with his fortitude that it has become a symbol of both his nobility and a reminder of its consequences. Cyrano dies fighting unconquerable vices, but he dies knowing that Roxane loves him at last, despite his appearance. And he says he will take his unstained white plume with him to heaven the white plume, the mark of a leader on the battlefield, the symbol of courage and of what Cyrano called in the Fourth Act the privilege / Of being a target.

Research essay sample on Cyrano De Bergerac Outward Appearance