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Cyrano de Bergerac. By Edmond Rostand “The last great romantic dramatist”. The author- Edmond Rostand. Lived in Paris with his wife (also a writer) Completed Cyrano in 1897 Wrote plays for Sarah Bernhardt – great French actress Coquelin – legendary comic star played the lead in Cyrano
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Cyrano de Bergerac By Edmond Rostand “The last great romantic dramatist”
The author- Edmond Rostand • Lived in Paris with his wife (also a writer) • Completed Cyrano in 1897 • Wrote plays for Sarah Bernhardt – great French actress • Coquelin – legendary comic star played the lead in Cyrano • Rostand died in Paris in 1918
History of 17th Century Paris • 1610 – Louis XIII becomes King of France. • 1618 – The Thirty Years War begins – Austria and Spain go to war with a group of German Princes. • 1624 – Cardinal Richelieu becomes first minister of France. • 1634 – Spanish troops invade central and northern Europe. • 1635 – France declares war on Austria and Spain.
1639 - The real Cyrano is wounded in battle. • 1641 – Cyrano leaves the army and takes up literature. • 1643 – Louis XIII dies, Louis the XIV becomes king. • 1645 – Cyrano dies from head • injuries from a log dropped • on his head.
Terms you should know • Comic relief – a witty exchange, skit, or soliloquy that the author inserts to ease tensions within a serious work. • Melodrama – a romantic or sensational plot carried to the extremes of emotion in weeping, or dismay. The final act of Cyrano has been labeled melodrama
Troubadours • lyric poets in Southern France, northern Italy, and northern Spain, who composed songs about courtly love. • A strolling minstrel. • The “real” Cyrano was said to be a minstrel and great swordsmen.
Dramatic Irony • The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity.
Unrequited Love "Let no one who loves be unhappy. Even love unreturned has it's rainbow."-James Matthew Barrie "Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love."-"Charlie Brown"
Tragedy A drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.
Themes and Motifs in Cyrano • Unrequited love • Physical beauty vs. spiritual beauty (is one more real than the other?) • Heroism • Arrogance • Loyalty • Sacrifice
