How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Act.Line)
| Quote #13 CYRANO
I fought, not for my nose, but your bright eyes.
ROXANE
And then, to tell you – but before I can
Tell you – Are you, I wonder, still the same
Big brother – almost – that you used to be
When we were children, playing by the pond
In the old garden down there - (II. 265-270) |
Cyrano’s compliment to Roxane’s beauty goes unnoticed; she’s so used to being praised for her beauty that the comment means nothing to her.
| Quote #14 ROXANE
Listen:
I…love someone.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Someone who does not know.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
At least – not yet.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
But he will know
Some day.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
A big boy who loves me too,
And is afraid of me, and keeps away.
And never says one word.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Let me have
Your hand a moment – why how hot it is! –
I know. I see him trying…
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
There now!
Is that better? –
(She finishes bandaging the hand with her handkerchief.)
Besides – only to think –
(This is a secret.) He is a soldier too,
In your own regiment –
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Yes, in the Guards,
Your company too.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
And such a man! –
He is proud – noble – young – brave – beautiful –
CYRANO (Turns pale; rises.)
Beautiful? –
ROXANE
What’s the matter?
Cyrano (Smiling)
Nothing – this –
My sore hand! (II. 192-205) |
Cyrano’s hopes increase with every word Roxane says until she hits "beautiful." What is simply another wonderful trait of Roxane’s ideal man is, for Cyrano, a clear sign that she is not speaking about him.
| Quote #15 CYRANO
But, my dear child! You, who love only words,
Wit, the grand manner – Why, for all you know,
The man may be a savage, or a fool.
ROXANE
His curls are like a hero from D’Urfé.
CYRANO
His mind may be as curly as his hair.
ROXANE
Not with such eyes. I read his soul in them.
CYRANO: Yes, all our souls are written in our eyes!
But – if he be a bungler?
ROXANE
Then I shall die –
There! (II. 217-225) |
Cyrano is so overwhelmed with his own predicament that he assumes the rest of the world operates the same way; his claim that beauty and wit rarely coincide is a projection of his singular experience.
