In an effort to attract the audience of today, the producers of the movie Roxane
retold the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rustond in a way that is
appropriate and at the same time appealing. In order to give the audience of
today a story that they can understand and relate to, the producers have
adjusted and manipulated the play itself. As a result, several similarities and
differences exist between the play Cyrano de Bergerac and its movie
reproduction. The characteristics of a romantic hero in Rustond’s time is not
equivalent to the characteristics of a romantic hero today. In the play for
example, Cyrano, a very ugly, old, yet intellectual man who loved Roxane, his
cousin, with all his heart and soul was unable to profess his love for fear that
she will have rejected him because of his looks. Enter Christian in the story, a
young, average, yet handsome individual who also loved Roxane. The two made a
pact with each other to create Roxane’s image of a perfect romantic hero—one
that was breath-takingly handsome and at the same token, smart in a fun and
interesting way. Together they charmed Roxane and she ultimately fell in love
with Cyrano’s enchanting personality and Christian’s captivating appearance.
Cyrano is portrayed as a great romantic hero because he died in silence to honor
his friendship with Christian. When all the while he could have accumulated
enough courage to pronounce his love for Roxane. During his life of silence,
Cyrano looked after Roxane when Christian died in the war. Everyday for fifteen
years he would go to the convent, where she stayed because of her vow to
Christian, and recite to her the local news. In this manner, he has proven
himself worthy to the title of a romantic hero during Rustond’s time. On the
other hand, someone in Cyrano’s position in the present would not have
neccessarily kept his secret for that long. Eventually, that someone would
probably approach the person that they were in love with and declared their
love. Just as Charlie in the movie, the equivalent of Cyrano in the play, was
about to tell Roxane that it was him who wrote the letters illustrating his love
for her with his alluring and sincere words, before she had found out for
herself. For this reason, the majority of people today would appeal to the movie
more than the play. Aside from the obvious fact that the play was set in a
sophisticated, more actively virtuous, and far less technologically-advanced
period of time than the movie’s present time, is the distinct contrast of the
two versions’ endings. During Rustond’s time, his audience prefered stories
with a much more dramatic part for the romantic hero, Cyrano. At the time,
Cyrano dying for honor and dignity was much more admired than if he were to
reveal the truth about himself and Christian to Roxane, and then living
“happily ever after” with her. On the contrary is the story of Roxane, the
movie. Today, people would much prefer a happy ending with the hero/ heroine
finishing first and uniting with their “damsel” in distress. Similarities
exist in both the play and movie through people’s fascination of each other.
Cyrano in the play and Charlie in the movie both value talent and personality in
a person, and yet they can’t help to also add appearance on to the list.
Cyrano was in love with Roxane from the very beginning when they were young and
playing pretend with each other. He adored her friendly and mother-like
personality. However, the adult Roxane also attracted him to her because he
thought she was the loveliest girl he had ever seen. In the same fashion,
Charlie fell in love with Roxane the minute he laid his eyes on her. When he
found out later on how incredibly smart and great to be around she was, he fell
in love with her even more than before. The minor difference between Charlie and
Cyrano is that although they both loved Roxane, they fell in love with her
personality and looks at different times. Furthermore, the admiration for both
Cyrano and Charlie is credited to their grand gestures. They sacrificed
themselves for a good cause. Cyrano is respected by his by Rustond’s audience
because, (1) he had given up all of his money to refund the crowd watching a
play at the beginning, and (2) lied to Christian about how Roxane chose
Christian over him so that Christian could die happy. Charlie’s job as a
firemen makes him also respected in our time because he risked his life to save
others, animals or humans. As a result of Christian in both the play and the
book, Roxane and Cyrano (a.k.a. Charlie) are unable to be together immmediately
or at all. His looks persuaded Roxane that he was right for her—both his looks
and false personality. Christian’s fears to approach Roxane as himself pushes
Cyrano and Charlie to help him in order to transfer the words of love from their
hearts to Roxane. In the play, Christian served as a permanent barrier for
Cyrano’s and Roxane’s happiness because Cyrano refused to say that he loved
Roxane up until his death to honor his friendship with Christian. Although
Christian served as an obstacle in the movie, the block for Cyrano’s and
Roxane’s happiness was only temporary. At the end of the movie, Christian
decided to go to Reno with one of Roxane’s friend. Therefore, Cyrano and
Roxane were finally able to come together when Cyrano had finally told Roxane
the truth. All in all, Christian was a barrier to the coming together of Roxane
and Cyrano immediately or at all. Overall, Cyrano de Bergerac interested the
people of Rustond’s time because Cyrano reflected their views of a true
romantic hero—someone who was willing to sacrifice the profession of his love
to honor his friendship with Christian. The ending of the story was very
dramatic and much respected as well as expected. On the other hand, Roxane got
people of today’s attention because its plot was more light-hearted as a whole
and ended with the hero living “happily ever after”.