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Act 2, Scene 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Cyrano De Bergerac, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Appearances and Identity
The Many Kinds of Love
Panache
Social Hierarchy and the Romantic Ideal
Loyalty and Honor
Summary
Analysis
Cyrano de Bergerac enters Ragueneau’s pastry shop, and tells Ragueneau that he has one hour to wait. Ragueneau greets Cyrano and compliments him on his impressive actions the previous night. (It’s not specified what Ragueneau’s talking about.) Lise, who’s strolling in and out of the shop as she works, greets Cyrano and asks him what’s wrong with his hand—Cyrano says that he cut it, but doesn’t elaborate.
Instead of coming right out and saying that Cyrano fought an enormous battle against many foes, Rostand draws out the comedy, slowly giving hints as to what Cyrano has done. The fact that Cyrano was able to defeat so many opponents with no more than a small hand injury is a testament to his bravery, as well as just how inspired he was by Roxane’s attention.
Themes
Cyrano sits in the shop. To pass the time, he decides to write love verses to Roxane. He produces a pen and goes to work as Ragueneau and Lise go about their mornings.
Cyrano breathes poetry—he passes the time by channeling his feelings for Roxane into verse. To Cyrano, writing about Roxane is as natural as thinking about her, and indeed, the two processes are almost one and the same for him. In contrast to his insecurities about his physical appearance, he can best express himself through the verbal “appearances” of verse and wit.
Themes
