Cyrano de Bergerac Read online

  Table of Contents

  From the Pages of

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  EDMOND ROSTAND

  The World of Edmond Rostand and

  Introduction

  CYRAN0 DE BERGERAC

  DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

  ACT ONE

  SCENE I

  SCENE II

  SCENE III

  SCENE IV

  SCENE V

  SCENE VI

  SCENE VII

  ACT TWO

  SCENE I

  SCENE II

  SCENE III

  SCENE IV

  SCENE V

  SCENE VI

  SCENE VII

  SCENE VIII

  SCENE IX

  SCENE X

  SCENE XI

  ACT THREE

  SCENE I

  SCENE II

  SCENE III

  SCENE IV

  SCENE V

  SCENE VI

  SCENE VII

  SCENE VIII

  SCENE IX

  SCENE X

  SCENE XI

  SCENE XII

  SCENE XIII

  SCENE XIV

  ACT FOUR

  SCENE I

  SCENE II

  SCENE III

  SCENE IV

  SCENE V

  SCENE VI

  SCENE VII

  SCENE VIII

  SCENE IX

  SCENE X

  ACT FIVE

  SCENE I

  SCENE II

  SCENE III

  SCENE IV

  SCENE V

  SCENE VI

  Inspired by

  COMMENTS & QUESTIONS

  FOR FURTHER READING

  From the Pages of

  CYRANO DE BERGERAC

  Hat with triple feather, doublet with twice-triple skirt, cloak which his interminable rapier lifts up behind, with pomp, like the insolent tail of a cock; prouder than all the Artabans that Gascony ever bred, he goes about in his stiff Punchinello ruff, airing a nose.... Ah, gentlemen, what a nose is that! (page 16)

  His blade is half the shears of Fate! (page 16)

  Face about, I say ... or else, tell me why you are looking at my nose.(page 27)

  Be it known to you that I am proud, proud of such an appendage! inasmuch as a great nose is properly the index of an affable, kindly, courteous man, witty, liberal, brave, such as I am! (page 28)

  “It is a crag!... a peak! ... a promontory! ... A promontory, did I say? ... It is a peninsula!” (page 29)

  Of wit, O most pitiable of objects made by God, you never had a rudiment, and of letters, you have just those that are needed to spell “fool!” (page 30)

  My foppery is of the inner man. (page 30)

  I am without gloves? ... a mighty matter! I only had one left, of a very ancient pair, and even that became a burden to me ... I left it in somebody’s face. (page 31)

  My rapier prickles like a foot asleep! (page 31)

  As I follow with my eyes some woman passing with some cavalier, I think how dear would I hold having to walk beside me, linked like that, slowly, in the soft moonlight, such a one! I kindle—I forget—and then... then suddenly I see the shadow of my profile upon the garden-wall! (page 38)

  To displease is my pleasure. I love that one should hate me. Dear friend, if you but knew how much better a man walks under the exciting fire of hostile eyes, and how amused he may become over the spots on his doublet, spattered by Envy and Cowardice! (page 70)

  Eloquence I will lend you! ... And you, to me, shall lend all-conquering physical charm... and between us we will compose a hero of romance! (page 75)

  Roxane shall not have disillusions! Tell me, shall we win her heart, we two as one? will you submit to feel, transmitted from my leather doublet into your doublet stitched with silk, the soul I wish to share?

  (page 76)

  You shall never find us—poets!—without epistles in our pockets to the Chlorises ... of our imagining! (page 76)

  My heart always cowers behind the defence of my wit. (page 93)

  Your name is in my heart the golden clapper in a bell; and as I know no rest, Roxane, always the heart is shaken, and ever rings your name!

  (page 94)

  Terrible and jealous, is love ... with all its mournful frenzy!

  (page 94)

  The madman is erudite. (page 104)

  I came to implore your pardon—as it is fitting, for we are both perhaps about to die!—your pardon for having done you the wrong, at first, in my shallowness, of loving you... for mere looking!

  (page 132)

  While I have stood below in darkness, others have climbed to gather the kiss and glory! (page 158)

  Thanks to you there has passed across my life the rustle of a woman’s gown. (page 158)

  Published by Barnes & Noble Books 122 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10011 www.barnesandnoble.com / classics

  Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac was first published in French in 1898.

  Gertrude Hall’s English translation appeared later that year.

  Originally published in mass market format in 2004 by Barnes & Noble Classics with new Introduction, Notes, Biography, Chronology, Inspired By,

  Index, Comments & Questions, and For Further Reading.

  This trade paperback edition published in 2008.

  Introduction, Notes, and For Further Reading

  Copyright © 2004 by Peter Connor.

  Note on Edmond Rostand, The World of Edmond Rostand and Cyrano de Bergerac,

  Inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac, and Comments & Questions

  Copyright © 2004 by Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Barnes & Noble Classics and the Barnes & Noble Classics colophon are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc.

  Cyrano de Bergerac

  ISBN-13: 978-1-59308-387-8

  eISBN : 978-1-411-43202-4

  ISBN-10: 1-59308-387-4

  LC Control Number 2007941533

  Produced and published in conjunction with:

  Fine Creative Media, Inc.

  322 Eighth Avenue

  New York, NY 10001

  Michael J. Fine, President and Publisher

  Printed in the United States of America

  QM

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  FIRST PRINTING

  EDMOND ROSTAND

  Edmond Rostand was born on May I, 1868, in Marseille to wealthy, literary-minded parents. His father, an avid essayist, versifier, and translator of Catullus, instilled in young Edmond what would be a lifetime devotion to such literary masters as Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Victor Hugo. Indeed, although Rostand lived well into the beginning of the modern age, many scholars contend that he carried on the romantic tradition of Hugo and other writers.

  Edmond completed his secondary education at the College Stanislas in Paris, where he showed his considerable literary talent, then studied law, which he never practiced. While hiking in the Pyrenees in 1888 he met his future wife, Rosemonde Gerard, an aspiring poet of moderate success. Rosemonde’s family helped Rostand’s early career immensely: He wrote his first play, a four-act vaudeville-style piece called Le Gant rouge (The Red Glove), with her half-brother, William Lee, and published his well-received first collection of verse, Les Musardises, with the help of Gerard’s godfather, the poet Leconte de Lisle.

  Cyrano de Bergerac premiered to a rapturous reception in 1897 and remains one of the great classics of nineteenth-century France. The
flamboyant character Cyrano, rural hero and national champion, was a charismatic representative of the grandeur of France and helped a wounded nation recover from defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, and a series of political and military scandals that included the Dreyfus Affair. Rostand achieved success with other notable productions—including La Princesse lointaine (The Faraway Princess) and La Samaritaine (The Woman of Samaria), both with the great actress Sarah Bernhardt in the leading role—but Cyrano remains the work for which Rostand is known. He spent most of his last twenty years in near-retirement at his home in the Pyrenees and died of Spanish flu in 1918 .

  The World of Edmond Rostand and

  CYRANO DE BERGERAC

  1619 Savinien de Cyrano, the real Cyrano de Bergerac, is born in Paris.

  1640 While fighting for France in the Thirty Years War, de Bergerac receives a stab wound to the throat during the siege of the town of Arras in northern France and leaves the military.

  1641 Cyrano begins studying at the College de Lisieux under the philosopher Pierre Gassendi, known for his libertine views.

  1654 Two of Cyrano’s plays, La Mort d‘Agrippine (The Death ofAgrippine) and Le Pédant joué (The Pedant Imitated), are published.

  1655 Cyrano dies on July 28, possibly of injuries sustained when a scrap of wood falls from a building and strikes him on the head (some believe the accident was planned) or from complications of a venereal disease.

  1657 Cyrano’s Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon) appears posthumously . In this and a companion volume, Histoire comique des états et empires de la soleil (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Sun), published in 1662, he satirizes contemporary socety and the prevailing belief that Earth is the center of the universe.

  1858 Cyrano’s works are published for the first time since the seventeenth century.

  1868 Edmond Rostand is born into a well-off family in Marseille on May 1.

  1872 De Bergerac’s tragedy Le Mort d’ Agrippine is revived for one performance in Paris.

  1878 Rostand begins his studies at the lycee of Marseille.

  1884 The Rostands move to Paris, and Edmond continues his studies at the College Stanislas. Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, and Theodore de Banville are his literary heroes.

  1887 The Académie de Marseille gives Rostand top honors for his entry in the essay contest “Deux romanciers de Provence: Honoré d‘Urfé et Emile Zola” (“Two Provencal Romantic Writers: Honoré d’ Urfé and Emile Zola”).

  1888 While on vacation in the Pyrenees, Rostand meets aspiring poet Rosemonde Gerard, goddaughter of the poet Leconte de Lisle, and falls in love.

  1889 The Eiffel Tower is completed. Rostand’s first play, a four-act, vaudeville-style piece called Le Gant rouge (The Red Glove), written with Gérard’s half-brother, William Lee, premiers without success.

  1890 Rostand and Gerard marry. Gerard helps Rostand publish his first collection of verse, Les Musardises, to critical praise.

  1892 The Comédie-Française accepts Rostand’s Les Romanesques (The Romancers), Rostand’s first full-length play.

  1894 Les Romanesques premiers at the Comédie-Française. An innocent Jewish army officer named Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of leaking French military secrets to Germany, beginning the disastrous Dreyfus Affair, which deeply divides France.

  1895 Sarah Bernhardt stars in the premiere of La Princesse lointaine (The Faraway Princess), which Rostand wrote with the star in mind, but it closes before finishing its 35-performance contract . Bernhardt introduces Rostand to well-known actor Constant Coquelin, who asks Rostand to write him a part in his next play. The role and the play will be Cyrano de Bergerac.

  1897 La Samaritaine (The Woman of Samaria), starring Bernhardt, premiers in April, and has a brief yet popular run. President François Grévy is forced to resign upon the revelation that his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, has been selling membership in the

  Legion d‘Honneur. The Dreyfus Affair reaches its peak, rocking France, as Mathieu Dreyfus discovers that the army and government are suppressing evidence that would exonerate his brother, Alfred. In the midst of the turmoil Cyrano de Bergerac premieres on December 28, to enormous success.

  1898 Four days after the premiere of Cyrano, Rostand is created chevalier de la Legion d’ Honneur and President Felix Faure attends a performance. Emile Zola publishes the immensely influential pro-Dreyfus article “J’ accuse,” which results in Zola’s imprisonment. Despite Rostand’s conservative background, he sides quietly with the Dreyfus supporters, who include Marcel Proust and Anatole France. Cyrano premieres simultaneously in Philadelphia and New York. The Paris Metro opens.

  1899 A comic opera based on Cyrano opens in New York. The Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) orders a retrial for Dreyfus, who receives a presidential pardon.

  1900 Rostand’s L‘Aiglon (The Eaglet), starring Bernhardt, premiers to moderate success. Rostand’s health is declining, and he withdraws to Cambo-les-bains in the Pyrenees. He does not complete another play for ten years. Coquelin and Bernhardt perform Cyrano in New York.

  1901 Rostand is elected to the Académie française, but his continuing poor health prevents him from making an acceptance address . He is created officier de la Legion d’ Honneur. Coquelin and Bernhardt perform Cyrano in London. Henri Toulouse- Lautrec, who created a lithograph of Coquelin playing Cyrano, dies.

  1902 Rostand receives a commission to travel to Hernani, Spain, to participate in festivities marking the centenary of Victor Hugo’s birth. André Gide’s The Immoralist appears. Zola dies.

  1905 Rostand more or less retires to a residence he has built near Cambo-les-bains with his earnings from Cyrano. He will spend the rest of his life living in this house.

  1910 Chantecler, an experimental drama based on stories of fabulist Jean de La Fontaine, premiers to disappointing reviews. The next year Rostand finishes most of his final play, Le Dernière Nuit de Don Juan (The Last Night of Don Juan), inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s novel Don Quixote, but does not release it.

  1913 Cyrano has its thousandth performance in Paris. Marcel Proust publishes the first part of A la recherche du temps perdu.

  1914 World War I begins.

  1915 Rostand visits the trenches.

  1916 Le Vol de la Marseillaise (The Flight of the Marseillaise), a collection of Rostand’s World War I poetry, appears.

  1918 Rostand falls victim to the Spanish flu and dies in Paris on December 2, six weeks after the end of World War I. His current partner, Mary Marquet, as well as Gerard and their two sons, Maurice, a novelist and critic, and Jean, a notable scientist and writer, survive him.

  1922 Le Dernière Nuit de Don Juan premiers.

  INTRODUCTION

  A great deal of lore surrounds the premiere of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin in Paris on December 28, 1897. That just before the curtain went up, Rostand fell at the feet of leading actor Constant Coquelin and exclaimed: “Forgive me! Oh, forgive me, my friend, for having dragged you into this disastrous adventure!” That he then donned a costume and slipped onstage during the first act, causing surprise and confusion among the actors. That the first act was greeted with bravos, the following ones with standing ovations, and the final scene with forty-two curtain calls, so many that at two o’clock in the morning the exhausted stage manager simply left the curtain open and went home to bed.

  Much of this lore comes from an interview given by Rostand himself, as well as from an account of opening night by his wife, Rosemonde Gérard. Theater people, especially when they are also interested parties, can be relied upon to dramatize a little; it is indeed their prerogative. Still, by any account, Cyrano de Bergerac was an immense, indeed a phenomenal, success. At twenty-nine—the English critic Sir Max Beerbohm referred to him as “the talented boy-playwright”—Rostand became what we now know as an overnight sensation: Only Victor Hugo, and the
n only after a long career as a writer and statesman, had known the kind of fame and glory that Rostand achieved in a single night. Paris was in a collective swoon. The most caustic of theater critics—men who were paid to be nasty—hailed Cyrano as “the most beautiful dramatic poem to appear for half a century” (Emile Faguet in Le Journal des débats) and spoke of December 2 8 as “a date that will live in the annals of the theater” (Francisque Sarcey of Le Temps). The 29th started out pretty well, too: On that day the French Minister of Education nominated Rostand for the Legion d‘Honneur, France’s highest honor. Two days later, just in time for the New Year’s honors list, the decree officially naming him a chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur had found its way onto the desk of Felix Faure, president of the Republic, who, having signed it, booked a loge at the Theatre de la Porte-Saint-Martin for himself and his family. More laurels were to follow. Elected to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques in 1898, Rostand would surely have been elected also to the Académie française were its membership not fixed at seventy (someone has to die before a new member can be elected; Rostand had to wait until 1901). Cyrano was soon being performed in New York (at the Garden Theater in 1898), in Berlin (at the Deutsches Theater in 1898), in London (in French at the Lyceum in 1898 , in English at Wyndham’s Theatre in 1900). The play was translated into the major European languages: in 1898 into English (two versions), German, Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, and Polish (two versions); in 1899 into Spanish, Czech, and, once again, into Polish.