"BRING ME GIANTS!"
In Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, we meet one. A legendary Cadet (nobleman turned soldier) whose fencing ability is known across 17th Century France, Cyrano is equally reknowned for his honey-tongued wit and exceptional bravery. Both are on full display in the first Act, as the man humiliates a rival by orating a poem as they duels and finally, "When I end the refrain, 'Thrust Home'." Victorious, Cyrano apologizes to the theater owner, in whose establishment they dueled and interrupted a performance, and gives him a bag of coins — his entire inheritance! When asked why he would give up his great fortune, Cyrano answers for the sake of "a great gesture" — defeating a bully.
Now alone in the emptied theater, Cyrano confesses to his best friend, Le Bret, his Achilles Heel: he is paralyzed to confess his love to a young woman named Roxane, because of his ugly nose. The Cadet will battle one hundred men single-handed to save a friend — which he does sucessfully later — but he cannot muster the courage to speak the truth to his secret lover, for fear of certain rejection. He even goes so far as to refuse to cry about it, because the idea of something as pure and good as tears spilling down his nose, would be an affront to sorrow itself. They're interrupted then by Roxane's maidservant, who requests Cyrano meet with her tomorrow to discuss a private matter. He agrees and she leaves. Dumfounded but exuberant that Roxane knows he exists, let alone might love him back, Cyrano cries out to Le Bret, "BRING ME GIANTS!"
What happens in the next four acts had me turning pages and so rivetted that I had to finish and was actually late to work. It's without a doubt, my favorite play I've read so far. Rostand's grand view of life, of what men and women can aspire to be, and the sheer wit on display via Cyrano, Roxane, and the other characters, is something worth celebrating.
I picked up Chantecler and The Romancers by Rostand immediately. Chantecler is a 4 Act comedy that takes place on a French farm. The protagonist, a rooster, whose flamboyance and self-crowned importance of causing the sun to rise every morning, has the other farm animals secretly sneering and plotting against him. Will report back soon!
And in case you want a companion to reading Cyrano, I really enjoyed this performance from Bob Jones University. If you have other performances or movie adaptations you'd recommend, please let me know!
Now alone in the emptied theater, Cyrano confesses to his best friend, Le Bret, his Achilles Heel: he is paralyzed to confess his love to a young woman named Roxane, because of his ugly nose. The Cadet will battle one hundred men single-handed to save a friend — which he does sucessfully later — but he cannot muster the courage to speak the truth to his secret lover, for fear of certain rejection. He even goes so far as to refuse to cry about it, because the idea of something as pure and good as tears spilling down his nose, would be an affront to sorrow itself. They're interrupted then by Roxane's maidservant, who requests Cyrano meet with her tomorrow to discuss a private matter. He agrees and she leaves. Dumfounded but exuberant that Roxane knows he exists, let alone might love him back, Cyrano cries out to Le Bret, "BRING ME GIANTS!"
What happens in the next four acts had me turning pages and so rivetted that I had to finish and was actually late to work. It's without a doubt, my favorite play I've read so far. Rostand's grand view of life, of what men and women can aspire to be, and the sheer wit on display via Cyrano, Roxane, and the other characters, is something worth celebrating.
I picked up Chantecler and The Romancers by Rostand immediately. Chantecler is a 4 Act comedy that takes place on a French farm. The protagonist, a rooster, whose flamboyance and self-crowned importance of causing the sun to rise every morning, has the other farm animals secretly sneering and plotting against him. Will report back soon!
And in case you want a companion to reading Cyrano, I really enjoyed this performance from Bob Jones University. If you have other performances or movie adaptations you'd recommend, please let me know!
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OTHER PLAYS I RECOMMEND
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OTHER PLAYS I RECOMMEND
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El Cid, Cinna, and The Theatrical Illusion by Pierre Corneille
1. In El Cid, we meet Don Rodrigue a knight in Medevial Spain whose prowess on the battlefield leading armies against the Moors has won him the title of El Cid ('The Lord') in his country — and the love of Chimene. But, when Chimene's father is passed over by Rodrigue's aged father to be a mentor to the King's son, he challenges him to a duel. Rodrique is required to fight in his father's stead, who is so old there would be no honor in it. Nowt torn between defending his family's honor and wanting Chimene's love, El Cid must choose, and live or die with the consequences. Chimene is equally torn, because while she knows her father will be killed by Rodrigue, she also knows she wouldn't love Rodrigue if he elected not to fight her father and lose his honor. It's Rodrigue's unwavering fidelity to honor that makes her love him.
2. Cinna takes place in ancient Rome, during Caesar Augustus' reign. The plot centers around a group of conspirators who for different motivations seek to assassinate him. Although El Cid is my favorite play, I found Cinna's climax and resolution of it much more satisfying, because it more fully resolved the main conflict between the assassinators' two leaders and the woman whom they both love.
3. The Theatrical Illusion is a five-act comedy, in which a Pridamante seeks out a magician named Alcandre who is told to live in a cave. Pridamante wants to learn the status of his son, whom he had thrown out of his home ten years ago and deeply regrets it. To help, Alcandre casts a spell in the cave to show a series of events from the son's life, the main event being in his youth, in which he's caught in a love-square of sorts growing more and more dangerous. It's a sort of play within a play, but in my opinion, has a much more satisfying ending than Inception. Alcandre also has a thoughtful speech about the role of the theater in our lives, which I take to be a tactful defense of the arts more generally. (This was written and performed at a time when the Catholic Church still regarded the stage as the work of Satan).
4. Tartuffe, or The Imposter by Molière
A merchant and his family take in a false prophet secretly bent on manipulating the head of the household to inherit the family fortune. The play is a damning parable against religious authorities, and apparently was seen as such at the time of its publication in 1664 by the Catholic Church. They forced Molière to change the ending to undo much of the sting and indictment of faith in it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find Molière's original, uncensored version. If you can find it, please let me know.
5. An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen
Thomas Stockman, a scientist in Norway discovers that the healing baths which drive his hometown's economy are actually slowly poisoning people. Armed with the truth, he spreads the word to various friends and family, including his brother, the Mayor, but is met with suspicion, resistance, and willful evasion. I loved the play's straightforwardness and philosophical subject matter: the importance of the individual and dangers of democracy rule.
6. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
I adore Wilde's wit. He's written some of the best satire I've come across because of his wise-crack one-liners that are refreshingly thoughtful. For Earnest, marriage is in part the object of ridicule here, but I think it focuses more on the two-faced nature of men and women, especially so-called gentlemen and ladies. The work's title stresses this, but also holds two other meanings: Earnest is also the name of the protagonist who lives a double life. He's Earnest in the city and Jack in the country so he can play around with other women. And the third meaning, I won't spoil, but is made clear in the climax and resolution. Next up from Wilde is An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and Salome (Sal-o-may) which were all recommended to me by friends.
7. Antigone by Sophocles
I first read this in 9th Grade English Class, along with Edith Hamilton's Mythology and Homer's The Odyssey. The story is set in Thebes, during which a civil war has resulted in two brothers fighting and killing one another on the battlefield. One of their surviving sisters, Antigone, wants to bury both of their bodies, but Creon the king decrees that one, the rebel, be left to rot on the battlefield and be given no burial rites. Antigone disobeys and this sets off a chain of conflict between her and Creon, but more interestingly within Creon's own family — his son Haemon loves Antigone's courage and reverence for the gods and he too openly defies Creon's treatment of Antigone, vowing never to speak to him again. I don't want to give more away, but what I love about Antigone is the fierceness of character displayed by her and her lover — and the internal logic that necessarily leads to the ending.
I've also been recommended Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, and Aristophanes' The Clouds, a comedy that labasts the Ivory Tower ala ancient Greece.
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