Theme Of Appearance Vs. Reality In Edmond Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac

Throughout his play Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand builds and interweaves his theme of appearance versus reality. By having a positive moral tone towards this theme, Rostand shows that he supports this theme as a quality that his readers should consider in their own lives. For this reason, this theme should be traced throughout the entire the play and expounded upon as much as possible. In Act I, Cyrano exemplifies an appearance of wealth when he tosses the bag of money to the theater manager to repay the spectators. To their amazement, the reader and Le Bret soon discover that Cryano had actually thrown away his entire paternal inheritance in one act. Following the theme into Act II, the reader encounters Roaxane's disheartening revelation to Cyrano that she is really in love with Christian, a breathtakingly handsome cadet. While Cyrano reasonably questions the fact that his curls might reveal his witlessness, Roxane continues to

Cyrano hides his disappointment masterfully and again demonstrates an air of happiness and wit for the people, though his heart is broken by Roxane's devastating news. In Act III, Cyrano and Christian form a collusion to woo Roxane with Christian's looks and Cyrano's words. To Roxane, it appears as though Christian embodies both the curls and the wit. However, the reader, Cyrano, and Christian are all aware of the fact that her dream is not reality. The famous balcony scene in Act III exhibits this theme of appearance versus reality exquisitely. Although Edmond Rostand's attitude toward this theme has been positive so far, in Act IV we observe a subtle change of attitude towards the theme. When De Guiche boasts of his subterfuge during the battle, Rostand considers his lies extremely contemptible and makes his feelings