by Xi Lin

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: February 09, 2011

In Rostand's famous play Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano is presented as a unique individual. He possesses many different talents and is both praised and envied by others. There is one possession Cyrano has not yet acquired- the love of his cousin Roxane.

However, this possession is unnecessary. The reason any individual would take an action at all was to eventually achieve a good used to attain no other. The Greek Philosopher Aristotle explains, "If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good" (Aristotle). This means that the chief good must be a good that cannot be used to attain another. This end must be an end in and of itself.

Aristotle further states, "Now such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for self and never for the sake of something else" (Aristotle). This means the chief good is happiness because it is an end that is not used to attain another. However, this pleasure must be intellectual happiness because it is continuous and not ephemeral. Other pleasures such as having a full stomach or winning games are insufficient, because they must be continuously achieved in order to attain happiness; however, intellectual happiness evades this problem because knowledge is everlasting. Aristotle explains that to achieve this truth or happiness, man needed to fulfill at least two cardinal virtues, which are justice and courage.

Cyrano demonstrates his will to serve justice when he continuously obeys his verbal contract with Roxane. Roxane makes Cyrano agree to protect her lover Christian and to have Christian write letters to her. Cyrano makes the just decision of not killing Christian even though Christian insults his long nose by constantly making jokes such as someone "Nosed you out in the darkness" (Rostand 92). Cyrano is then enraged against Christian, which acts as the test to see if Cyrano is true to his words of protecting Christian. Evidently, Cyrano refrains himself from attacking Christian and upholds his promise.

Furthermore, Cyrano fulfills his other obligation out in the battlefield when he states, "I'm going to write another one [letter]" (Rostand 144). Cyrano writes a letter to Roxane everyday and even crosses

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>