How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #1
CUIGY (Aside to Brissaille, looking at Christian)
Rather
A fine head, is it not? The profile…
FIRST MARQUIS (to the second)
He is not ill-looking; possibly a shade
Behind the fashion. (I.47-50)
From the very beginning, Christian is noted for his good looks. His attractive appearance even draws the attention of the marquis, whose vanity is itself laughable.
Quote #2
RAGUENEAU
Truly, I should not look to find his portrait
By the grave hand of Philippe de Champagne.
He might have been a model for Callot—
One of those wild swashbucklers in a masque—
Hat with three plumes, and doublet with six points—
His cloak behind him over his long sword
Cocked, like the tail of strutting Chanticleer—
Prouder than all the swaggering Tamburlaines
Hatched out of Gascony. And to complete
This Punchinello figure—such a nose!—
My lords, there is no such nose as that nose—
You cannot look upon it without crying: "Oh, no,
Impossible! Exaggerated!" Then
You smile, and say: "Of course—I might have known;
Presently he will take it off." But that
Monsieur de Bergerac will never do.
LIGNIÈRE
He keeps it—and God help the man who smiles!
RAGUENEAU
His sword is one half of the shears of Fate! (I.121-138)
Just as we immediately note Christian’s good looks, we are right away made conscious of Cyrano’s odd appearance. The contrast between these two characters is established early and will drive much of the action in the play.
Quote #3
SECOND MARQUIS (With excited little cries)
Ah!
Oh! Oh! Sweet sirs, look yonder! Is she not
Frightfully ravishing?
FIRST MARQUIS
Bloom of the peach—
Blush of the strawberry—
SECOND MARQUIS
So fresh—so cool,
That our hearts, grown all warm with loving her,
May catch their death of cold! (I.40-45)
An interesting question is whether Roxane is valued only for her good looks, just as she values Christian.
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.
Quote #7
LE BRET
Hmph!—Well, then, the real reason why you hate
Montfleury—Come, the truth, now!
CYRANO (rises)
That Silenus,
Who cannot hold his belly in his arms,
Still dreams of being sweetly dangerous
Among the women – sighs and languishes,
Making sheeps’ eyes out of his great frog’s face—
I hate him ever since one day he dared
Smile upon—
Oh, my friend, I seemed to see
Over some flower a great snail crawling! (I.532-540)
It is hypocritical that Cyrano mocks Montfleury for his appearance, but not his character.
Quote #8
LE BRET
May I know? You have never said—
CYRANO
Whom I love? Think a moment. Think of me—
Me, whom the plainest woman would despise—
Me, with this nose of mine that marches on
Before me by a quarter of an hour!
Whom should I love? Why—of course—it must be
The woman in the world most beautiful. (I.542-548)
Cyrano falls victim to the same shallowness as those around him: he judges himself for his appearance, not for his character.
Quote #9
LE BRET
Who and what is this woman?
CYRANO
Dangerous
Mortally, without meaning; exquisite
Without imagining. Nature’s own snare
To allure manhood. A white rose wherein
Love lies in ambush for his natural prey.
Who knows her smile has known a perfect thing.
She creates grace in her own image, brings
Heaven to earth in one movement of her hand—
Nor thou, O Venus! balancing thy shell
Over the Mediterranean blue, nor thou,
Diana! marching through broad, blossoming woods,
Art so divine as when she mounts her chair,
And goes abroad through Paris! (I.551-563)
Cyrano admires Roxane solely for her beauty.
Quote #10
LE BRET
And why not? If you love her, tell her so!
You have covered yourself with glory in her eyes
This very day.
CYRANO
My old friend—look at me,
And tell me how much hope remains for me
With this protuberance! Oh I have no more
Illusions! Now and then—bah! I may grow
Tender, walking alone in the blue cool
Of evening, through some garden fresh with flowers
After the benediction of the rain;
My poor big devil of a nose inhales
April…and so I follow with my eyes
Where some boy, with a girl upon his arm,
Passes a patch of silver…and I feel
Somehow, I wish I had a woman too,
Walking with little steps under the moon,
And holding my arm so, and smiling. Then
I dream—and I forget…
And then I see
The shadow of my profile on the wall! (I.566-583)
Cyrano’s biggest mistake is assuming that Roxane is too shallow to ever love him.
Quote #11
CYRANO
My friend, I have my bitter days,
Knowing myself so ugly, so alone.
Sometimes—
LE BRET
You weep?
CYRANO (Quickly)
Oh, not that ever! No,
That would be too grotesque—tears trickling down
All the long way along this nose of mine?
I will not so profane the dignity
of sorrow. Never any tears for me!
Why, there is nothing more sublime than tears,
Nothing!—Shall I make them ridiculous
In my poor person? (I.584-593)
Cyrano allows his appearance to dictate his actions.
Quote #12
LE BRET
Speak to her
Speak, man!
CYRANO
Through my nose? She might laugh at me;
That is the one thing in this world I fear! (I.602-604)
Cyrano’s feelings for Roxane have reached paralyzing heights; this is why he acts through Christian—he doesn’t have the guts to act for himself. It is not kindness, then, that dictates his actions, but cowardice.
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.
Quote #16
CYRANO
It grew dark,
You could not see your hand before your eyes.
I marched on, thinking how, all for the sake
Of one old souse
(They slowly sit down, watching him.)
who wrote a bawdy song
Whenever he took—
CHRISTIAN
A noseful—
(Everyone rises. CHRISTIAN balances himself
on two legs of his chair.)
CYRANO (half-strangled)
—Took a notion.
Whenever he took a notion— For his sake,
I might antagonize some dangerous man,
One powerful enough to make me pay—
CHRISTIAN
Through the nose—
CYRANO (wipes the sweat from his forehead.)
—Pay the Piper. After all,
I thought, why am I putting in my—
CHRISTIAN
Nose—
CYRANO
—My oar…Why am I putting in my oar?
The quarrel’s none of mine. However—now
I am here, I may as well go through with it.
Come Gascon—do your duty!—Suddenly
A sword flashed in the dark. I caught it fair—
CHRISTIAN
On the nose—
CYRANO
On my blade. Before I knew it,
There I was—
CHRISTIAN
Rubbing noses—
CYRANO (pale and smiling)
Crossing swords
With half a score at once. I handed one—
CHRISTIAN
A nosegay— (II.494-509)
Here we start to wonder how good a guy Christian really is. At the same time, we admire Cyrano for checking his temper in order to keep his word to Roxane.
Quote #17
THE MUSKETEER
Now we are allowed to talk about his nose! (calls)
Hey, Lise! Come here— (affectedly)
Snf! What a horrid smell!
What is it?...
(Plants himself in front of CYRANO, and looks at his nose in an impolite manner.)
You ought to know about such things;
What seems to have died around here?
CYRANO (knocks him backward over a bench.)
Cabbage-heads!
(Joy. The Cadets have found their old CYRANO again. General disturbance.)
(II.600-603)
Making fun of Cyrano’s nose is a mark of poor character in this play—notice that the musketeer is the man having an affair with Lise.
Quote #18
CHRISTIAN (Desperately, restraining her)
No, not again— I do not love you—
ROXANE (Settles back)
That is better…
CHRISTIAN
I adore you!
ROXANE
Oh!—
(Rises and moves away)
CHRISTIAN
I know
I grow absurd.
ROXANE (Coldly)
And that displeases me
As much as if you had grown ugly. (III.186-189)
Roxane shows how much she values physical beauty by expressing an icy displeasure at the thought of Christian growing ugly. She also equates eloquence (the ability to not repeat yourself) to physical beauty, which, given the circumstance, is just a tad ironic.
Quote #19
CYRANO
There comes one moment, once—and God help those
Who pass that moment by!—when Beauty stands
Looking into the soul with grave, sweet eyes
That sicken at pretty words! (III.295-298)
Cyrano personifies "Beauty" here and claims that at one point in a relationship, compliments and pretty words mean nothing to her. Beauty, he claims, is a demanding mistress. Much like Roxane.
Quote #20
CYRANO
All small things that once meant You—
Remember last year, the First of May,
A little before noon, you had your hair
Drawn low, that one time only. Is that strange?
You know how, after looking at the sun,
One sees red suns everywhere—so, for hours
After the flood of sunshine that you are,
My eyes are blinded by your burning hair!
ROXANE
Yes…that is…Love— (III.308-316)
Cyrano is still defining Roxane only in terms of her looks. He is as guilty as she is for valuing appearances.