Edmond Rostand, the future French playwright and author of the comedy Cyrano de Bergerac, was born on the first day of April 1868 in the city of Marseille. His parents, wealthy and educated people, hosted the whole color of the Provence intelligentsia. They had Obanel and Mistral in their house, and there was talk of a revival of the local Languedoc culture. A couple of years passed, the family moved to Paris, and Edmond continued his education at St. Stanislaus College. But he did not succeed in learning a lawyer. He became interested in literature, especially drama. The samples for the young Rostan were the plays of Alfred de Musset and Victor Hugo.
The formation of a playwright
After college, Edmond began to lead the life of a dandy. The condition of his parents allowed him. He attended salons, exhibitions, theaters. At twenty, he wrote his first play, The Red Glove, which did not bring him success, despite the fact that it was staged at the Cluny Theater (Paris, 1888). The comedy Two Pierrot and the collection of poems Musical Pranks also went unnoticed. The first success came to Rostand with the Romantics. This comedy in verse was written in 1891, and presented to the eyes of the audience in 1894 on the stage of Comedy Frances. But E. Rostan was glorified by the dramatic comedy “Cyrano de Bergerac”. The author radically changed the biography of a real writer of the 17th century, but the public forgave him this in exchange for the spectacular action of the play.
Who is Bergerac
Hercule Sauvignon Cyrano was born in Paris at the beginning of the 17th century. Since he had an estate in Gascony, he added to his last name the noble “de Bergerac”. At first, he frontdled Louis the Sun, but later changed his political views and became a fierce champion of the monarchy. He became famous for epigrams, pamphlets. The French consider him one of the founders of science fiction, because among other works he wrote a philosophical work on a trip to the moon. No less than the literary opuses of Bergerac glorified a long nose. Since then, the name Cyrano has become a household name for a person with this outstanding facial feature. Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac, took only this detail from a real historical character. The rest is love for dueling, the beauty-cousin and so on are myths.
Short story of the play
This heroic comedy in verse tells the story of the love of a Gascon nobleman for the witty cousin Roxanne. The author of Cyrano de Bergerac endows his hero with a noble heart. Knowing a physical handicap (a huge nose), he is afraid to even hint the beauty about his feelings. Between them only sincere friendship. One day, Roxanne admits that she is fascinated by a certain Christian, who just entered the Gascon regiment, in which Cyrano also serves. The girl fears that an uncouth fool is hiding behind the hussar's cute appearance.
Bergerac meets with Christian and makes sure that, alas, not seven spans in his forehead. The rest of the young man is impeccable: handsome, brave, kind and noble. And then the poet decides to create an ideal image for his beloved by weaving together the beautiful look of Cristiano and his wit and eloquence. Further, the author of “Cyrano de Bergerac” transfers the action to the battlefield. Christian dies, struck by a bullet, but the main character sacredly keeps his secret. The inconsolable Roxanne goes to the monastery. The poet and duelist confesses everything to her only ten years later, when he was mortally wounded.
The author of "Cyrano de Bergerac" actually revived and gave a new meaning to romantic comedy and poetic drama - forms of poetry that had almost disappeared by then. Edmond Rostand died during a Spanish pandemic in Paris in 1918.