Background+&+Cultural+Information


 * Background Information**

This play takes place in France and was originally written in French by Rostand. It was written in the form of a Romantic tragedy during the times of knights and noble figures. __Cyrano de Bergerac__ is actually based on a historical figure who existed in the 1600s, Saviien de Cyrano de Bergerac. The events of his life are chronicled in the events of Cyrano's life in this play. This play takes place during the Thirty Years' War between France, Austria, and Spain. This is why Rostand implements many fighting scenes throughout the play. This is also the reason why the men in this play are overly concerned with their fighting skills. Cyrano and De Guiche are two of the men who fight in order to show skillful and graceful fighting. The men use swords instead of guns to duel against other men to show their gracefulness. Also, the real Cyrano de Bergerac was known for his large nose and graceful fighting skills, just like the fictional Cyrano. In addition, both the real Cyrano and fictional Cyrano died from severe head wounds from logs dropped onto their heads.

The main conflict in this story stems off of Cyrano's large nose. Cyrano loves his cousin Roxane, but he cannot gather the courage to tell her because he feels insecure about his large nose. Things are further complicated when another lover of Roxane shows up in the story. As one may assume, things do not end well for any of the characters.

The most important symbol that the reader must know about prior to reading this play is the white plume. The white plume symbolizes leadership, bravery, and honor for the man who possesses it. The author mentions it as a possession of Cyrano and De Guiche many times throughout the play. The white plume is also the last thing that Cyrano talks about before he dies. Cyrano clearly possesses the white plume, while De Guiche possesses the white plume only at some points during the story. There is even one point in the story where De Guiche completely loses possession of the white plume. This incident serves as a permanent characterization of De Guiche.




 * Cultural Information**

French culture in the 1600s was much different than modern culture. Everyone would speak French in the 17th century. Nowadays, many languages are spoken in France, including English, Italian, and Finnish. Another example of a difference is how family members could love each other and get married. In __Cyrano de Bergerac__, Cyrano and Roxane love each other even though they are cousins. Cyrano and Roxane's relationship would be forbidden in our society today. A man could also have multiple lovers during the 1600s in France. In this play, De Guiche openly loves Roxane even though he is already married to another woman. Many of the romantic relationships that people had in France during the 1600s would be considered obscene and indecent.

French people in the 1600s also dressed much differently than people today. There was a great sense of fashion with both men and women during the 17th century. Men and women dressed elegantly for any occasion, such as going to watch a drama or going to the corner bakery. Men would even dress exquisitely for dueling with others or going to fight in a war. Nowadays, when men and women go to fight in a war, they wear rugged clothing which is perceived as not the least bit elegant. In contrast to today's social norms, 17th century French men, women, and children were forced by their social norms to dress up at all times and for all occasions.