How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #1
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. (I.336-342)
Cyrano considers his nose something that is part of himself and representative of his deepest values: sophistication, courage, intelligence, and manliness. Yet this would seem to be pretense when we see how ashamed he is of his appearance.
Quote #2
VALVERT (Choking)
Oh—These arrogant grand airs!—
A clown who—look at him—not even gloves!
No ribbons—no lace—no buckles on his shoes— (I.414-416)
Vicomte de Valvert, a nobleman, is obsessed with appearances and proper attire. His concerns are rendered petty when compared to the nobility of Cyrano’s love and devotion.
Quote #3
CYRANO
I carry my adornments on my soul.
I do not dress up like a popinjay;
But inwardly, I keep my daintiness.
I do not bear with me, by any chance,
An insult not yet washed away—a conscience
Yellow with unpurged bile—an honor frayed
To rags, a set of scruples.
I go caparisoned in gems unseen,
Trailing white plumes of freedom, garlanded
With my good name—no figure of a man,
But a soul clothed in shining armor, hung
With deeds for decorations, twirling—thus—
A bristling wit, and swinging at my side
Courage, and on the stones of this old town
Making the sharp truth ring, like golden spurs! (I.417-431)
Cyrano’s most characteristic virtues are unseen—wit, courage, and a devotion to truth. Unfortunately, Roxane is blind to these attributes and sees only appearances.
Quote #4
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.587-593)
Cyrano has such respect for the dignity of sorrow that he dares not defame it with his ugly crying face. This respect for tears is one of his most deeply held values.
Quote #5
DE GUICHE
I suppose you have written a tragedy—
They all have.
LE BRET (Aside to Cyrano)
Now at last you’ll have it played—
Your "Agrippine!"
DE GUICHE
Why not? Take it to him.
CYRANO (Tempted)
Really—
DE GUICHE
He is himself a dramatist;
Let him rewrite a few lines here and there,
he’ll approve the rest.
CYRANO (His face falls again.)
Impossible.
My blood curdles to think of altering
One comma.
DE GUICHE
Ah, but when he likes a thing
He pays well.
CYRANO
Yes—but not so well as I—
When I have made a line that sings itself
So that I love the sound of it—I pay
Myself a hundred times. (II.335-346)
Cyrano shows his integrity by refusing to sell himself and his work to the Cardinal for money. He loves his craft so much that he staunchly refuses to let anyone alter a single word of it.
Quote #6
DE GUICHE
I hired them to do the sort of work
We do not soil our hands with—punishing
A drunken poet… (II.354-356)
De Guiche’s concern for appearance dictates his attitudes toward fighting and battle, just as Cyrano’s concerns for principles do for him.
Quote #7
LE BRET
At least this latest pose of yours—
Ruining every chance that comes your way—
Becomes exaggerated—
CYRANO
Very well,
Then I exaggerate!
LE BRET (Triumphantly)
Oh, you do!
CYRANO
Yes;
On principle. There are things in this world
A man does well to carry to extremes. (II.371-376)
Cyrano admits to the overblown nature of his principles, but doesn’t apologize for it.
Quote #8
CYRANO
So, when I win some triumph, by some chance,
Render no share to Caesar—in a word,
I am too proud to be a parasite,
And if my nature wants the germ that grows
Towering to heaven like the mountain pine,
Or like the oak, sheltering multitudes—
I stand, not high it may be—but alone! (II.428-434)
These lines are particularly interesting when we consider them in the light of Cyrano’s later action in cahoots with Christian; he stands not alone, in this case, and arguably takes a parasitic approach to winning Roxane’s love.
Quote #9
DE GUICHE
I leave to-night—but—let you through my hands
Now, when I feel you trembling?—Listen—Close by,
In the Rue d’Orleans, the Capuchins
Have their new convent. By their law, no layman
May pass inside those walls. I’ll see to that—
Their sleeves are wide enough to cover me—
The servants of my Uncle-Cardinal
Will fear his nephew. So—I’ll come to you
Masked, after everyone knows I have gone—
Oh, let me wait one day!—
ROXANE
If this be known,
Your honor—
DE GUICHE
Bah!—
ROXANE
The war—your duty—
DE GUICHE (Blows away an imaginary feather.)
Phoo!
Only say yes! (III.119-130)
De Guiche, in sharp contrast to Cyrano, has no problem throwing away his reputation for lust. His action of waiting inside a convent (a place for God’s virgin daughters) to fornicate with Roxane has not the least wisp of honor or duty in it.
Quote #10
CARBON (Softly to Cyrano)
You make them weep—
CYRANO
For homesickness—a hunger
More noble than that hunger of the flesh;
It is their hearts now that are starving.
CARBON
Yes,
But you melt down their manhood.
CYRANO (Motions the drummer to approach.)
You think so?
Let them be. There is iron in their blood
Not easily dissolved in tears. (IV.99-105)
Cyrano appeals to the men through one of his most deeply held devotions: the love of home, the Gascon country. He nobly believes that one can overcome physical hardship—starvation, in this case—by relying on intense loyalties for comfort and courage.
Quote #11
A CADET (Looks up stage.)
Aha—Monsieur de Guiche!
THE CADETS (Mutter among themselves.)
Ugh!...
CYRANO (Smiles)
Flattering
Murmur!
A CADET
He makes me weary!
ANOTHER
With his collar
Of lace over his corselet—
ANOTHER
Like a ribbon
Tied round a sword!
ANOTHER
Bandages for a boil
On the back of his neck—
SECOND CADET
A courtier always!
ANOTHER
The Cardinal’s nephew! (IV.109-114)
Carbon’s men hate Comte de Guiche for his petty vanity. They paint him as effeminate with all his lace trimmings and his fussiness to get the smallest of wounds bandaged. Again, we see that this man is the opposite of Cyrano.
Quote #12
DE GUICHE
From that spy of mine
I learned of their intention. His report
Will determine the point of their advance.
The fellow asked me what to say! I told him:
"Go out between the lines; watch for my signal;
Where you see that, let them attack there."
CARBON (To the Cadets)
Well,
Gentlemen!
(All rise. Noise of sword belts and breastplates being buckled on.)
DE GUICHE
You may have perhaps an hour.
FIRST CADET
Oh—An hour!
(They all sit down and resume their games once more.)
DE GUICHE (To Carbon)
The great thing is to gain time.
Any moment the Marshal may return.
CARBON
And to gain time?
DE GUICHE
You will all be so kind
As to lay down your lives!
CYRANO
Ah! Your revenge?
DE GUICHE
I make no great pretence of loving you!
But—since you gentlemen esteem yourselves
Invincible, the bravest of the brave,
And all that—why need we be personal?
I serve the king in choosing… as I choose!
CYRANO (Salutes)
Sir, permit me to offer—all our thanks.
DE GUICHE (Returns the salute.)
You love to fight a hundred against one;
Here is your opportunity! (IV.189-206)
De Guiche sends the entire company to its death in a hopeless battle simply to get revenge on Cyrano.
Quote #13
CHRISTIAN (faintly)
Roxane!...
CYRANO (low and quick, in Christian’s ear, while ROXANE is dipping into the water a strip of linen torn from her dress.)
I have told her; she loves you.
(CHRISTIAN closes his eyes.) (IV.524)
When he sees Christian dying, Cyrano makes his decision; though he honors truth as one of his highest morals, he still lies to Christian and maintains Roxane’s illusion. The question is whether he does this for a dying man’s honor or for the happiness of the woman he loves.
Quote #14
MOTHER MARGUÉRITE
He [Cyrano] is poor;
Very poor.
SISTER MARTHE
Who said so?
MOTHER MARGUÉRITE
Monsieur Le Bret.
SISTER MARTHE
Why does not someone help him?
MOTHER MARGUÉRITE
He would be
Angry; very angry… (V.32-34)
Cyrano’s pride will not allow him to accept money from anyone. As in everything he does, Cyrano wants everything he earns or loses to be solely the product of his own effort.
Quote #15
DE GUICHE
And you [Roxane] remain here, wasting all that gold—
For ever in mourning? (V.39-40)
De Guiche’s material concern is petty when compared with Roxane’s undying love for Christian.
Quote #16
ROXANE
I understand everything now: The letters—
That was you…
CYRANO
No!
ROXANE
And the dear, foolish words—
That was you…
CYRANO
No!
ROXANE
And the voice… in the dark..
That was… you!
CYRANO
On my honor—
ROXANE
And… the Soul!
That was all you. (V.254-259)
Cyrano, still guilt-ridden over Christian’s death, refuses to acknowledge the truth—that it is he who has loved Roxane all this time. His loyalty to Christian is a testament to his own integrity; he defends the man who shared so many of his own virtues: courage, love, and truth.
Quote #17
ROXANE
Why were you silent for so many years,
All the while, every night and every day,
He gave me nothing—you knew that—You knew
Here, in this letter lying on my breast,
Your tears—You knew they were your tears—
CYRANO (holds the letter out to her.)
The blood
Was his. (V.263-268)
Cyrano’s set of morals considers the sacrifice of one’s life to a cause the greatest virtue one can have. Christian’s sacrifice for Roxane to discover the truth touched Cyrano so much that he would rather live with Roxane loving another man forever than spoil the immaculate image Roxane maintains of Christian.
Quote #18
CYRANO
Yes, all my laurels you [Death] have riven away
And all my roses; yet in spite of you,
There is one crown I bear away with me
And to-night, when I enter before God,
My salute shall sweep all the stars away
From the blue threshold! One thing without stain,
Unspotted from the world, in spite of doom
Mine own!
(He springs forward, his sword lifted aloft.)
And that is…
(The sword escapes his hand; he totters, and falls into the arms of LE BRET and RAGUENEAU.)
ROXANE (Bends over him and kisses him on the forehead.)
—That is…
CYRANO (Opens his eyes and smiles up at her.)
My white plume…(V.377-384)
Here at the end, Cyrano’s white plume comes to symbolize his many virtues: courage, honor, love, truth, and his good name. Cyrano has lost everything—his friend in Christian, his youth, his life—and soon he will not be able to enjoy the one thing he has honestly won, Roxane’s love. His white plume, he feels, is the only thing that he may still call his own, that can never be taken away from him even in death.