How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #4
CYRANO
You may go—
Or tell me why are you staring at my nose!
THE MEDDLER (in confusion)
No—I—
CYRANO (stepping up to him)
Does it astonish you?
THE MEDDLER (drawing back)
Your grace
Misunderstands my—
CYRANO
Is it long and soft
And dangling like a trunk?
THE MEDDLER (same business)
I never said—
CYRANO
Or crooked, like an owl’s beak?
THE MEDDLER
I—
CYRANO
Perhaps
A pimple ornaments the end of it?
THE MEDDLER
No—
CYRANO
Or a fly parading up and down?
What is this portent?
THE MEDDLER
Oh!—
CYRANO
This phenomenon?
THE MEDDLER
But I have been careful not to look—
CYRANO
And why
Not, if you please?
THE MEDDLER
Why—
CYRANO
It disgusts you, then?
THE MEDDLER
My dear sir—
CYRANO
Does its color appear to you
Unwholesome?
THE MEDDLER
Oh, by no means!
CYRANO
Or its form
Obscene?
THE MEDDLER
Not in the least—
CYRANO
Then why assume
This deprecating manner? Possibly
You find it just a trifle large?
THE MEDDLER (babbling)
Oh no!—
Small, very small, infinitesimal—
CYRANO (roars)
What?
How? You accuse me of absurdity?
Small?—my nose? Why—
THE MEDDLER (breathless)
My God!— (I.317-335)
Cyrano allows himself to point out the ugliness of his nose, but allows nobody else to do so; he is conscious and accepting of his looks, but doesn’t want to be judged for them.
Quote #5
CYRANO
Magnificent,
My nose!...You pug, you knob, you button-head,
Know that I glory in this nose of mine,
For a great nose indicates a great man—
Genial, courteous, intellectual,
Virile, courageous—as I am—and such
As you—poor wretch—will never dare to be
Even in imagination. For that face—
That blank, inglorious concavity
Which my right hand finds— (he strikes him)
THE MEDDLER
Ow!
CYRANO
—on top of you,
Is as devoid of pride, or poetry,
Of soul, of picturesqueness, of contour,
Of character, of NOSE in short—as that
(Takes him by the shoulders and turns him around,
suiting the action to the word)
Which at the end of that limp spine of yours
My left foot—
THE MEDDLER (escaping)
Help! The Guard! (I.335-348)
Cyrano claims that his nose gives him character, that it’s representative of his uniqueness.
Quote #6
VALVERT
Ah…your nose…hem!...
Your nose is…rather large!
CYRANO (gravely)
Rather.
VALVERT (simpering)
Oh well—
CYRANO (coolly)
Is that all?
VALVERT (turns away with a shrug)
Well, of course—
CYRANO
Ah, no, young sir!
You are too simple. Why, you might have said—
Oh, a great many things? Mon dieu, why waste
Your opportunity? For example, thus:—
AGGRESSIVE: I, sir, if that nose were mine,
I’d have it amputated—on the spot!
FRIENDLY: How do you drink with such a nose?
You ought to have a cup made specially.
DESCRIPTIVE: 'This a rock—a crag—a cape—
A cape? say rather, a peninsula!
INQUISITIVE: hat is that receptacle—
A razor-case or a portfolio?
KINDLY: Ah, do you love the little birds
So much that when they come and sing to you,
You give them this to perch on?
INSOLENT: Your chimney is on fire.
CAUTIOUS: Take care—
A weight like that might make you topheavy.
[…] For I say these things
Lightly enough myself, about myself,
But I allow none else to utter them. (I.338-413)
Cyrano’s response is ridiculously exaggerated, but by turning the tables on Valvert, he makes light of his own ugliness and mocks his opponent for his ineloquence and general stupidity.