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Act 3, 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
After de Guiche leaves, Cyrano emerges from the house, and Roxane, the Duenna, and Cyrano walk across the square to the house of Clomire, where the discourse on love is being hosted. Roxane is excited to hear two supposedly wise men lecture on philosophy, but Cyrano mutters that these men are “apes.”
In the 17th century, lectures of this kind were popular among the middle and upper classes. The new popularity of the Petrarchan love sonnet (see Background Info), as well as the continued popularity of the chivalric tradition, gave the public a strong interest in the “science of love.” In retrospect, most of these lectures and treatises on love were nonsensical, as Cyrano says—love can’t be quantified or studied so easily.
Themes
Roxane tells Cyrano that she’s sure Christian will attend the lecture. She tells him that she’s looking forward to talking to Christian off the cuff, so that she can get a better impression of his mind and his wit. Roxane then enters Clomire’s house, leaving Cyrano standing outside. When the door is closed, Cyrano calls for Christian, and Christian rushes toward him. (The script does not specify from where.)
The scene ends on a note of uncertainty. We know very well that Christian is no good in conversation, and we know that Cyrano knows this too. So it’s not certain if Cyrano is letting Christian talk to Roxane because he wants Christian to fail, or because he thinks that Christian is finally ready to handle Roxane on his own. It’s likely that Cyrano himself doesn’t know the answer.
Themes
