The Use Of Platonic Love In Edmond Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac

The Plague of Platonic Love on Precieuses Successful relationships today are characterized by a high level of communication between two partners, where both people are accustomed to talking and spending quality time together. The relationship between Christian and Roxane in Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac is in stark contrast to this. At the time of their marriage, the two had only exchanged a few spoken words, and they had rarely seen each other. Despite their distance, they are deeply in love with each other. Christian values Roxane only for her beauty, while Roxane loves Christian just for the flattering poetry Cyrano writes. Inevitably, the falsehood of their relationship is exposed. The interactions between these main characters allow

Roxane’s desire for beautiful language and exquisite confessions of love heavily affect the behavior of Christian and Cyrano. When Christian attempts to tell Roxane that he loves her, Roxane, angered, pouts, “You offer skimmed milk when I ask for cream. Tell me how you love me” (76). While, for many people, a simple declaration of love is more than sufficient, Roxane expects her love to come in the form of exquisite, extravagant, and embellished poetry. Her demands for flowery language place an immense, stressful burden on Christian, who struggles to please her. To cope with her requirements, Christian seeks help from Cyrano, who tediously writes letters to Roxane. These letters pique Roxane’s nascent interest in Christian. After reading some of these letters, Roxane states, “I’ve never in my life known anyone who could say those little things so beautifully” (68). In this statement, Roxane expresses the strong feelings of love that she feels while reading letters of love from Christian. The eloquent language used in the letters induces a feeling that Christian truly cares for her and takes the time to write beautiful poetry, making her image of Christian increasingly incorrect. The quote shows how Roxane values superficial language over other traits such as perseverance, dedication, and honesty. While reading Christian’s letters, Roxane develops a highly-idealized picture of him that turns out to be very different from the true Christian. The desperation that Christian faces while trying to keep Roxane’s love, coupled with the false image of him that Roxane sees, ultimately depict Rostand’s theme that a love of reality is the only path to