Rostand's 1895 play The Princess Far Away is his play concerning Joffroy Rudel, a troubadour who travels to see the beautiful Countess of Tripoli before he dies, despite the fact that they have never met. Like Cyrano, Joffroy is an idealist who commits to a plan of action to realize his dream.

Chantecler, Rostand's 1910 play, focuses on a barnyard rooster who, like his counterpart in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, attempts to uphold his dignity among other "animals" of the world.

Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605,1615) is the renowned novel that follows the adventures of an idealist who lashes out at a materialistic world by engaging himself in various chivalric (and delusionary) adventures. When asked if he has ever read Don Quixote, Cyrano replies, "I have and found myself the hero."