Cyrano De Bergerac

Paper Summary:

This paper asks several questions. What if there is no such thing as a real self? What if underneath the mask is just another mask? Cyrano De Bergerac is a representation of this sad possibility. The paper proves that there is no single 'real' Cyrano.

From the Paper:

"In As You Like It, William Shakespeare offers the famous line, "All the world's a stage," an idea that takes on both literal and figurative meaning in Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, his play featuring one of the most theatrical of characters ever created. In the foreword to his translation of the play, Anthony Burgess writes that while "Cyrano de Bergerac may not be the best play ever written," its central figure "is surely one of the great characters in all drama." What makes Cyrano such a remarkable character is not his poetic eloquence, glorious swordsmanship, nor his great devotion to his own code of honor; rather, it is the human truth Cyrano represents. In Cyrano's failed search for his self-and the conflict between who he is and who he'd like to be-he manages to bring to question whether we all are inwardly conflicted to the point of total loss of ourselves. Cyrano creates several images of himself for different relationships, even living through another being's image in one relationship. However, most notably Cyrano's private image of himself, when there are no witnesses, is still a created, plastic one. After peeling off all layers of his mask, there is nothing, no essential self within him. Through Cyrano, Rostand reveals his existential notion that the world is indeed on stage, but possibly prolonging its performance even after the curtains have come down."

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