Proclaim your pride and bitterness loudly to the world, but to me speak softly and tell me simply that she doesn't love you.
That's Cyrano in a nutshell. His deep-seated insecurities and and low self-esteem make him act like a dick. There's still something admirable about him, of course: he sticks to his guns, even when they're damn stupid guns. He's witty. He's skilled. He's also the ugliest dude this side of Uglyville.
Honestly, here's the part where the play would diverge the most from a printed version: the director has discretion to make Cyrano as ugly or vaguely okay as he'd like: characters mention a gigantic nose, but no other deformities. The thing about Cyrano is that we're meant to sympathize with this poor, deformed dude whose lady love likes someone much hotter, but he deals with that situation like he deals with most situations: by being a giant jerk and writing all of the hot guy's letters. In his defense, he's a renowned wit and the hot guy is (in a stunning display of evolutionary justice) duller than a knife that is also a perfect sphere. Here's a quote from Cyrano:
Your name is in my heart like a bell shaken by my constant trembling, ringing day and night: Roxane, Roxane!
Here's a quote from hot guy:
I love you... very much!
Cyrano's tragedy is that he's so caught up in his low self-esteem that he doesn't recognize his ability to be awesome. Dude fights off a hundred swordsmen by himself and barely blinks an eye, but one glance at his nose and he falls over himself in despair. And the reason I can't take Cyrano's huge tragedy seriously is that he straight-up lies to the woman he supposedly loves for 10+ years because of it.
Like... come on. If you don't respect a lady enough to tell her who you are, chances are you ain't really in love.
Rating: Three out of five stars, 'cause the play's kind of funny, I guess.
Turd rating: Two out of five turds, because even though it's kind of a dick move, he 1) never blames or feels entitled to the woman he loves and 2) didn't do it for the Vine.
Currently reading: The Adventures of Augie March, up to the point where Saul Bellow goes on a tangent for yet another mediocre character description (which, if you try to find it, could be anywhere in the book!).
Like... come on. If you don't respect a lady enough to tell her who you are, chances are you ain't really in love.
Rating: Three out of five stars, 'cause the play's kind of funny, I guess.
Turd rating: Two out of five turds, because even though it's kind of a dick move, he 1) never blames or feels entitled to the woman he loves and 2) didn't do it for the Vine.
Currently reading: The Adventures of Augie March, up to the point where Saul Bellow goes on a tangent for yet another mediocre character description (which, if you try to find it, could be anywhere in the book!).