Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Question of the Week (10/22/10)

Cite incidents from the play to support or refute the following statement: At his death, Cyrano is content with his relationship with his relationship with Roxane and does not regret that they were never anything more than cousins. Using MLA format cite specific quotes that support or refute your statement.
OR
Of the characters Cyrano, Christian, Ragueneau, and De Guiche, which do you believe are idealists? For each character cite one incident from the play to support whether or not he is an idealist. (Same rules apply, use MLA format.) Post by the end of the school day on Monday. Don't forget to respond to a fellow classmates' response. Enjoy your weekend.

18 comments:

Hudson Schuchman said...

I believe that when Cyrano is faced with death at the end of the play, that he is content with his relationship with Roxane. Cyrano is portrayed all throughout the book as the man who often does something that is not in his best interest for the well being of people around him. He is a highly honorable and courageous character who puts others before himself. Because of his personality type I believe he copes with the fact that although he never built the relationship he desired with Roxane, he helped to make her happy and honored the promises he made to her.

(p.s. I apologize for the lack of MLA format citations. I didn't have my book.)

Haiti quilter said...

I agree with Hudson. I think that Cyrano was content with his relationship with Roxanne at the end of his life. All he wanted was to have her know that he was really the one who had written the letters, and the one that was truly in love with her. In this quote he says that he has finally conquered his enemies. "Falsehood! There! There! Prejudice! Compromise! Cowardice! What's that? Surrender? No! Never! Never!" He realizes at the end of his life that he has conquered compromise. Just because he has a large nose doesn't mean that he will be unhappy in life. He realizes that Roxanne loved him for him, and that was all that he wanted.

Carl Tischbein said...

I agree with all the above. I think that even though Cyrano would have liked to had more of a relationship with Roxane (which is gross), I think Cyrano was content when he died because all he wanted was for Roxane to know that it was Cyrano who wrote the love letters and it was Cyrano whom Roxane was in love with. This is of course true, because at the very end, she laments: “I never loved but one man in my life, and I have lost him-twice” (Rostand, 224). We can clearly see that Roxane realizes she loves Cyrano and tells him just before he dies. As a result, he is content and can die peacefully.

Meryl said...

I agree with everyone above. If Cyrano wanted something to happen between him and Roxane, he would have done something about it. I especially agree with Hudson that he very honorable and courageous. He never puts himself before anyone else. And is often doing things for other people. At the end of the play when he is dying, he is fighting all his enemies that he never killed. "Falsehood! There! There! Prejudice! Compromise! Cowardice! What's that? Surrender? No! Never! Never!"(Rostand) This is saying that he was never able to kill of these enemies and he wanted to do it before he died. They were the only ones left. And the fact that he now knows that Roxane loved him for who he was not what he looked like. This makes Cyrano happy and content to die.

Meryl said...

Oops, I forgot to put in the page number, it is pg. 227.

Alli said...

I agree with everyone. I think Cyrano was really content with his relationship with Roxane towards the end of his life. I agree with Hudson when he stated that Cyrano was honorable. Cyrano does things for everyone else, even if it makes him unhappy. At the end when he is dying, he ends up fighting his greatest enemies that he has never been able to overcome. "Falsehood! There! There! Prejudice! Compromise! Cowardice! What's that? Surrender? No! Never! Never!" (227) This quote shows that Cyrano wants to overcome these enemies and wants to get it done before he dies. Before he dies, Cyrano learns that Roxane loves him for who he is and not for the way he looks. This made him much happier and made him realize that you shouldn't be unhappy just because of the way you look. This made Cyrano happy because e found out that Roxane loved him for who he is.

Kate Kerin said...

Cyrano did not get to tell Roxane that he is the man who wrote her the letters and that he is in love with her until the end of his life. By not telling her that Christian was a fake, he is able to uphold Christians honor and maintain his own moral values. He would be going against these values if he dishonored Christian and he would never be content with his relationship with Roxane, but at the end of his life Roxane is able to guess the truth. This means that Cyrano is able to die knowing that Roxane knew that the man she was in love with all those years was Cyrano. After Roxane tells Cyrano, “I never loved but one man in my life, and I have lost him-twice” (Rostand, page 224) he is able to fight off his last enemies and die peacefully. Those words satisfy him and he finally gains the strength to fight off demons that have tormented his life. Thereafter he can die knowing that he has overcome all the obstacles in hi life and Roxane really lived him.

Parker Gardner said...

I believe that at the very moment of his death, Cyrano was content and ready to die with the knowledge that Roxanne loved him. After reading the letter he wrote to Roxanne many years ago under Christians name, Roxane discovers whom she truly loved and the following exchange between the two occurs. “ROXANE: (to Cyrano) oh my love. CYRANO: Not here, not lying down. Let no one help me, no one, only this tree. It is coming, I feel, already shod with marble, gloved with lead. Let the old fellow come now, he shall find me, on my feet, sword in hand. (195 GB/ 227 RB)” I believe Cyrano is referring to death when he says the “old fellow” and after learning that Roxane loves him, he is ready to stand up unassisted and great death, having learned and being content to die with roxane’s love. I agree with everyone who says that Cyrano is content before he dies. I especially agree with Hudson when he says Cyrano is brave. Cyrano shows considerable bravery when he prepares fearlessly for death and the lose of roxane.

Unknown said...

I agree with most people above in saying that Cyrano was content with his relationship with Roxane at the end. He knew that she knew what he'd written the love letters that were supposedly from Christian, but he didn't directly tell her because he was protecting Christians honor. If he had told Roxane about the letters he would have felt unhonorable, so doing what he did he was being very noble. Roxane demonstrates that she knows who wrote the letter by saying " I have never loved but one man in my life, and I have lost him-twice." (224).

Marlou Taenzer said...

I agree with everyone above who says that Cyrano was content with his relationship with Roxanne at his death. I believe he is at peace with that fact that they were never more than cousins because he knows that she did love him. At other points during his life he was probably not content with their relationship, however when dying I believe he was content with his relationship with her. I also really like the quote that Emily uses above, "I never loved but one man in my life, And I have lost him-twice...."(224). Here Roxanne is telling Cyrano that she loved him all along, and that it was always Cyrano that she loved. She thought she had lost the man she loved the first time when Christian died, and she did not realize that it was Cyrano who wrote all the letters. And then again when Cyrano dies.
Cyrano is content because he knows that Roxanne knows he wrote the letters, and it was therefore all along he who she loved and not Christian. He can then die knowing that Roxanne did love him. Perhaps this gave him the strength to face death with such bravery, which is something (as people already said) quite remarkable and impressive.

Parker said...

I also agree that Cyrano was content when he died. Even though he died a painful death, he was loved by Roxanne. I think that his main goal in his life was to be loved for his words and personality and not for his outward appearance. When Roxanne told Cryano that she loved him, his goal was accomplished, and therefore he was content with himself and his life. He had achieved many great things in his life. He was a very well respected soldier and a man of the arts, with a high reputation of being a very smart and witty man. Cyrano had also let the secret of Christian and the letters come out, and I think bearing that secret had put a heavy load on him, and when the secret was found out the load was lifted. I believe that Cyrano was truly happy when he died.

daniel said...

I think that Cyrano was content with his death becuase he new that Roxane loved him. All his life he loved Roxane and was always afriad to ask for her love. When he found out that Roxane loved christian he helped Christain because he did not want to see Roxane dissaponted. He loved her but never had the courage to go up to her. I agree with Parker when she says that his goal was acomplished and that he finally got Roxanes love. I belive Cyrano was content with his life and was happy when he died.

Oren said...

I agree with everyone in saying Cyrano was content with his relationship with Roxane at the very end of his life. His honor prevented himself from revealing to her that he was whom she loved, and I think that he realized that from the beginning of Christian's death onwards, he would have to be her friend and not her lover. "My old friend takes the place of my Gazette, Brings me all the news. Even Saturday,". This is when Roxane is telling De Guiche about Cyrano fifteen years after the battle and Christian's death, and it shows that she does not regret having him as a love, but that she loves having him as a friend and a comfort (pg 206). An example of when Cyrano says his love for Roxane is over and friendship has taken it's place is (page 221): " No, no, my own dear love, I love you not!..." This means that he loves her with friendship, and his true love for her is gone.
I agree with Hudson and Parker when they said that Cyrano is brave, and I think this because he was willing to cast aside his love for her, and be brave and honor Christian, by not telling her until the very end of his "role".

David said...

I agree with Oren and everybody else who said that Cyrano was happy at the time of his death. He had spent the past fifteen years upholding Christians honor by making sacrifices for himself, and when he was hit by the log and knew he was going to die, he went to Roxane for the purpose of making the last moments of his life happy. Ragueneau says to Roxane that "He (Cyrano) has killed himself by coming here" (190 gb). Cyrano knows that by going there he will die, and he still goes because he has the intention of revealing his true feelings towards Roxane before his death. Roxane first realizes that Cyrano loves her when he finishes reading the letter in the dark, "you loved me" she says "even now, you love me" (190 gb). Since this is what Cyrano intended by his visit, he is happy that Roxane finally knows his secret. Finally, very shortly before his death Roxane realizes that she loves Cyrano, saying "you shall not die! I love you" (192 gb). Knowing that Roxane loves him is what Cyrano had dreamed of for his entire life, and finally in the minutes before his death, she finally tells him.

erbear508 said...

When Cyrano is dying Roxane finds out he loves her and he wrote her the letters . Cyrano is dictating the letter, but it's really dark and Roxane realizes it is impossible for him to be reading the letter. "ROXANE: It was you. CYRANO: No, no, Roxane, no!" (220). Cyrano is dying and despite his deepest desire, he lies and tells Roxane it wasn't him. This shows that he was content with their relationship because he never expected to even have one with her. He didn't tell Roxane the truth because he knew it would hurt her and he was content that he was protecting her. I agree and disagree with David. I agree that Cyrano was content that Roxane loved him, but I don't think that he wanted her to know it was him. I think he didn't want her to be hurt anymore so he didn't want her to know.

sam merrens said...

Q2:

I believe that of the four men, Cyrano, Christian, Ragueneau, and De Guiche, only Cyrano and Ragueneau are idealists. They both are extremely poetic, and they each will sacrifice everything for art and poetry, even their money and lives. Cyrano gave all of his money to the theater, and put all of his life into supporting art. Ragueneau allows poets to eat for free at his pastry shop, as long as they compose poetry. But when his wife made him wrap pastries in the ripped out pages of his books, he said: "Pst—Children—Give me back the bag. Instead of three patties, you shall have six of them!" (Rostand, 60) Here it proves that he would rather make no money at all than lose even one page of the poetry that he holds so close to his heart. This shows that Ragueneau truly is an idealist, for he could never sustain such a practice forever, but in the short term, it is a beautiful statement of chivalry to the arts. Both Ragueneau and Cyrano are extreme idealists towards the arts.

Since no one has answered this question yet, I have no one to respond to.

Eleanor S. said...

I think that Cyrano was content with his relationship with Roxane at the end of the book. Cyrano was such an honorable man that I don't think he could have ever forgiven himself for disrespecting Christian's memory by revealing the secret about the letters. However, I agree with Parker when she says that the secret would have weighed down on him and that it is a good thing that Roxane found out before his death.
Despite not having a romantic relationship with Roxane, each character has been the other's closest friend for fifteen years. When Cyrano denies writing the letters to Roxane, he says, "No, no, my own dear love, I love you not!" (Rostand 221). I believe that his fierce, unrequited passion for his cousin early in the book has mellowed into a more brotherly love, and he is content with this.

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