Previous
Act 4, Scene 7
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
Christian and Roxane talk to each other while Cyrano, Carbon, and de Guiche busily shout orders. Christian asks Roxane why she’s come to see him, and Roxane replies, surprised, that “his” letters summoned her. Christian’s writing, she explains, is so beautiful that she knew she had to see him.
The ruse starts to fall apart, as Christian is visibly clueless about the power of the letters he supposedly wrote. It seems inevitable that the truth will soon come out.
Themes
Roxane explains that at first, she only loved Christian for his handsome looks. Now, though, she’s sure that he has a brilliant mind as well. Even if Christian lost his handsome face, she insists, she’d still love him. Christian is dismayed by this news, and he urges Roxane to return to the “first kind” of love—that is, to love him for his handsomeness. Christian says that he has a lot to tell her, but first Roxane must go to see the other cadets, as her beauty and kindness will inspire them to fight bravely. Roxane smiles and goes up to the cadets.
From Roxane’s perspective, her relationship with Christian is becoming more and more serious as it becomes more “Platonic”—she’s moving past her physical infatuation with his beauty, and becoming attached to his spirit and intellect alone. From Christian’s perspective, of course, this is disastrous news: Roxane is rejecting her love for what was truly “his” in the Christian/Cyrano alliance—her love for his appearance.
Themes
