Cyrano de Bergerac the Play vs Roxane
Cyrano de Bergerac - the Play vs RoxaneCyrano de Bergerac, the Play vs. Roxane, the Movie In an effort to attract the audience of today, the producers of the movie Roxane retold the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rustond in a way that is appropriate and at the same time appealing. In order to give the audience of today a story that they can understand and relate to, the producers have adjusted and manipulated the play itself. As a result, several similarities and differences exist between the play Cyrano de Bergerac and its movie reproduction. The characteristics of a romantic hero in Rustond’s time is not equivalent to the characteristics of a romantic hero today. In the play for example, Cyrano, a very ugly, old, yet intellectual man who loved Roxane, his cousin, with all his heart and soul was unable to profess his love for fear that she will have rejected him because of his looks. Enter Christian in the story, a young, average, yet handsome individual who also loved Roxane. The two made a pact with each other to create Roxane’s image of a perfect romantic hero—one that was breath-takingly handsome and at the same token, smart in a fun and interesting way. Together they charmed Roxane and she ultimately fell in love with Cyrano’s enchanting personality and Christian’s captivating appearance. Cyrano is portrayed as a great romantic hero because he died in silence to honor his friendship with Christian. When all the while he could have accumulated enough courage to pronounce his love for Roxane. During his life of silence, Cyrano looked after Roxane when Christian died in the war. Everyday for fifteen years he would go to the convent, where she stayed because of her vow to Christian, and recite to her the local news. In this manner, he has proven himself worthy to the title of a romantic hero during Rustond’s time. On the other hand, someone in Cyrano’s position in the present would not have neccessarily kept his secret for that long. Eventually, that someone would probably approach the person that they were in love with and declared their love. Just as Charlie in the movie, the equivalent of Cyrano in the play, was about to tell Roxane that it was him who wrote the letters illustrating his love for her with his alluring and sincere words, before she had found out for herself. For this reason, the majority of people today would appeal to the movie more than the play. Aside from the obvious fact that the play was set in a sophisticated, more actively virtuous, and far less technologically-advanced period of time than the movie’s present time, is the distinct contrast of the two versions’ endings. During Rustond’s time, his audience prefered stories with a much more dramatic part for the romantic hero, Cyrano. At the time, Cyrano dying for honor and dignity was much more admired than if he...
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