Fear

Cyrano is afraid to declare his love for Roxane, his cousin, because he fears rejection and ridicule he believes that a woman as beautiful as Roxane could never love a man who is not also physically beautiful. This fear drives him to succeed at swordsmanship, poetry, and scathing wit. He dnves the actor Montfleury from the stage, and fights a duel with the Vicomte de Valvert with both his sword and his words. Cyrano fights not only against his foes, but against his own fear of rejection.

Beauty

There is much talk of beauty and and its counterpart ugliness in Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano believes himself too ugly to be loved by the beautiful Roxane (or any woman). Yet he fails to properly value the more elusive beauty that he possesses in his mind and heart. A beauty that can create his moving poetry and cause Roxane to...