Cyrano De Bergerac :: Cyrano De Bergerac Essays

While reading Cyrano de Bergerac, I found myself often wondering whether or non Cyrano had led a happy life. Actually, I never once wondered that, but that is irrelevant, because Cyranos rapture is the focus of this essay. Was he happy? Truth be told, I cannot say for sure. If we look upon his life, it would seem that he was a bit of a martyr, always sacrificing his happiness for the sake of others. This is belike the case, but I do not believe that he led his life with his happiness as any sort of goal. That will be a defining case in my argument. What I really believe is that he simply did not care about his happiness. In that sense, he did not so much sacrifice it, as he annexed and divided it when he saw fit. To a come on extent, this apathy towards himself probably came from a low self-worth, almost for certain spawned not from his elephantine nose, but the fair maiden Roxanne. Finally, the nose itself, the very icon of de Bergerac, was probably not the problem that Cyrano believed it to be. All of this, however obscure it may seem, is crucial to the question posed of me now. Cyranos happiness was not viewed by him with either a favor or a goal. I cannot believe that Cyrano cared about his own happiness whatsoever. Really, that apathy would probably be the only way that he could emotionally accept his dangerously selfless undertakings. Case in point, his giving of Roxanne to the incredibly undeserving Christian. No real happiness in that action. Roxanne and Christians, maybe, but certainly not his own, and he loved Roxanne. Had Cyrano actually wanted to be happy, the pangs of grief that he would feel as he gave her away would certainly be possessed of ripped him apart. unless if Cyrano convinced himself that he did not care about his own happiness, then it would at least take the edge off of those bitter emotions that surely plagued his disposition whenever he saw his loves face. This triggered diffidence, with all the sacrifice that Cyrano made, may have been the only defense mechanism that he had. Continuing on from Cyranos carelessness for his happiness, we may easily make a jump to his sense of self-worth. Any man who would sacrifice his own love, thus, his entire world, for the sake of his rival cannot have a concern for himself.