Previous
Magdalene Robin / Roxane
The Count de Guiche is arguably the most confusing character in Cyrano de Bergerac. As the play begins, he’s clearly a villainous character: a corrupt, leering aristocrat who quarrels with Cyrano, the hero, and who wants to use his power to force Roxane to love him. During the Siege of Arras, we see that the Count is a coward—willing to boast of his high rank by wearing a white plume, but only when wearing it won’t endanger his life. And yet the Count seems capable of acts of decency and respect, as well. During the famine he bonds with his troops, the Gascon cadets, and seems to be shedding his pretentiousness and privilege. In the final act of the play, we learn that de Guiche has ascended to become a powerful duke. Puzzlingly, de Guiche may be responsible for one or both of the major tragedies in the play: the death of Christian and the death of Cyrano. It’s impossible to know for sure whether de Guiche has orchestrated these characters’ murder out of a desire for revenge, or if the deaths are strictly accidents. As with so many plays, it’s up to the director and the performers to offer their own interpretation of this ambiguous character.
Count de Guiche Quotes in Cyrano De Bergerac
The Cyrano De Bergerac quotes below are all either spoken by Count de Guiche or refer to Count de Guiche. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 3, Scene 11
Quotes
CYRANO (in a dreamy voice):
What's o'clock?
DE GUICHE:
He's lost his mind, for sure!
CYRANO:
What hour? What country this? What month? What day?
DE GUICHE:
But. . .
CYRANO:
I am stupefied!
DE GUICHE:
Sir!
CYRANO:
Like a bomb
I fell from the moon!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 4, Scene 4
Quotes
CYRANO (without lifting his eyes from his book):
And your white scarf?
DE GUICHE (surprised and gratified):
You know that detail?. . . Troth! It happened thus:
While caracoling to recall the troops
For the third charge, a band of fugitives
Bore me with them, close by the hostile ranks:
I was in peril—capture, sudden death!--
When I thought of the good expedient
To loosen and let fall the scarf which told
My military rank; thus I contrived
--Without attention waked--to leave the foes,
And suddenly returning, reinforced
With my own men, to scatter them! And now,
--What say you, Sir?
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cyrano LitChart as a printable PDF.
Count de Guiche Quotes in Cyrano De Bergerac
The Cyrano De Bergerac quotes below are all either spoken by Count de Guiche or refer to Count de Guiche. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 3, Scene 11
Quotes
CYRANO (in a dreamy voice):
What's o'clock?
DE GUICHE:
He's lost his mind, for sure!
CYRANO:
What hour? What country this? What month? What day?
DE GUICHE:
But. . .
CYRANO:
I am stupefied!
DE GUICHE:
Sir!
CYRANO:
Like a bomb
I fell from the moon!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 4, Scene 4
Quotes
CYRANO (without lifting his eyes from his book):
And your white scarf?
DE GUICHE (surprised and gratified):
You know that detail?. . . Troth! It happened thus:
While caracoling to recall the troops
For the third charge, a band of fugitives
Bore me with them, close by the hostile ranks:
I was in peril—capture, sudden death!--
When I thought of the good expedient
To loosen and let fall the scarf which told
My military rank; thus I contrived
--Without attention waked--to leave the foes,
And suddenly returning, reinforced
With my own men, to scatter them! And now,
--What say you, Sir?
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
