Witty Principals
The Importance of Being Ernest and Cyrano de Bergerac both represent theatrical performances, which capture the lives of science-fiction characters though bringing them to life in the scripts. Oscar Wilde, the author of The Importance of Being Ernest, was a witty-writer whose playful words and charm brought him popularity among contemporary readers. On the other hand, Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac, did not believe in his charm and success, and some people compare him with the main character in his script, Cyrano. These two scripts have the capacity to make a “tragedy” become a pleasant and funny piece of work. The theatrical wit that the characters use shows the majestic intelligence behind a mask of morals in which the unusual ways of gallantry, mockery, and fullness of vitality of the characters are in play in the script.
By reading the title of the play, The Importance of Being Earnest, one would portrait an image of a character been earnestness meaning honest, serious, and sincere. But the characters of the play, Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff, are not like what they seem. They are not earnest, and they go in life lying to women so that they can do whatever they please. Mr. Worthing goes by the name of “Ernest” in town and “Jack” in the country (10). He does so to “adopt high morals tone” in which he can be someone else without smearing his social name (10). In order for Jack to go into town, he pretends to have a brother, Ernest, who always gets into trouble so that he can go to save him (10). Algernon as well has a partying name which he calls this method “Bunburyists” (11). By this, he means that he uses a made-up invalid friend, Bunbury, to go into places and escape from unwanted requests like his Aunt Augusta’s invitation to dine (11). This set of manners directs us to another critical issue that has to do with social class and their moralities.
The play has underlying themes that are emphasized throughout the play without discarding the funny elements. Some of the issues seen are social class, gender, and sexuality. Wilde mocks the high social class by exposing their superficial qualities and supremacy. A vivid example from the script is when Algernon is talking with Lane, his servant, about marriage and morals.
Lane: …I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person.
Algernon: (Languidly) I don’t know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane. (6)
In the quotes above, one can see that Mr. Algernon does not care about the life of his servant even though he is working for him and been a part of his life. Algernon is acting superior to Lane, as if he does not need to know about the help’s life.
Lane: No sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself.
Algernon: Very natural, I am sure. That will do, Lane, thank you.
Lane: Thank you sir (LANE goes out)
Algernon: Lane’s views on marriage seem somewhat lax. Really, if the lower orders don’t set us a good example, what on earth is the use of the? They seem, as a class, to have absolutely no sense of moral responsibility. (6)
As seen in the lines above, Lane is quick with an answer and lets the readers know that he understands the game being played. He knows that he is only a servant and that the master always wins no matter what. But he does not leave without answering in a witty and humorous way. Also, the way Algernon expresses himself is amusing to read since he is not actually following the morals he is preaching such as responsibility, ethics, and duty. It is an oxymoron in part since he has been insincere with the supposed love of his life. In page 13 of Being Ernest, in the cucumber sandwich scene, the readers can see that Lane does not hesitate to have an answer and it is funny how he responds by blaming it on himself even though he knows that his master, Algernon, has eaten all the cucumber sandwiches.
Another social issue that takes part in Wilde’s play has to do with money, which is the symbolism for the high class. Wilde points out that the high classes are hypocrites and only care about the wealthiest of themselves and the future of their heirs. As seen in the dialogue between Lady Bracknell and Jack, she is more interested in how much he owns and what kind of investments he has. She is pleased to hear that Mr. Worthing has a country house (17-18). But, suddenly, she is thrown-off when knowing how and where Jack was found.
Jack: In a hand-bag.
Lady Bracknell: A hand-bag?
Jack: Yes, lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag—a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it—an ordinary handbag in fact. (19)
It is hilarious to see how Jack gives the details of the hand-bag since we know that they are irrelevant to the situation. Lady Bracknell is only interested in where he was found; she does not care if the hand-bang was leather or not. In this part of the play, Wilde is ridiculing how funny and stupid the high class are since they think that “smoking is an occupation and that education produces no effect whatsoever in the upper class” (17). He is letting the reader know those facts by producing them with funny and sarcastic words, such as when Jack wants to show the bag to Lady Bracknell to prove that he is telling the truth.
In the upper class, the heads of the families choose the husband for the daughters while the daughters do not have a say in the arrangement. This is what Lady Bracknell is doing in the paragraph above. She is choosing the husband for her daughter based on money, occupation, and social name. Most of the time, those arrangement do not go well as planned with what the women wants. And this is an example for what happened to Lady Harbury. Algernon remarks that he has heard that Lady Harbury’s “hair has turned quite gold from grief” (13). The audience notices that this saying is quite the opposite of what happens when someone is widowed. We relate sorrow with white or gray hair, but Wilde has turned around the phrase. He is revealing that Lady Harbury was in one of those loveless and misfortunate marriage, and with the death of her husband, she can now do and be whatever she pleases. The husband’s death has opened a new door for her to be free and independent once again. The joke in this line is that we associate aging with grief and sorrow, yet Wilde turns that around by associating widowhood with gold hair and joy.
The romantic antics that Jack and Algernon do in the play produce laughter among the audience. The way that this two distinguish men of society try to flirt and gain the loves of their life, they act in a peculiar and comical way. For instance, when Mr. Jack is proposing to Gwendolen, Jack would not say “would you marry me?” until Gwendolen pushes him. The audience can see the reaction and the lines of Jack which are very funny because most of the times men proposes to women and in here the girl is pushing and giving him instructions on how to propose. Thus, one can see the change in gender roles with a twist of comical words.
Gwendolen: Yes, Mr. Worthing, what have you got to say to me?
Jack: You know what I have got to say to you.
Gwendolen: Yes, but you don’t say it.
Jack: Gwendolen, will you marry me? (16)
Mr. Jack tactic to propose is quite the ordinary; he seems to be shy and not be able to say those words; however, Gwendolen is acting as she would be the man of the relationship. There are Androgynies examples throughout the play. For instance, the cucumber sandwiches where Algernon and Jack are fighting over (45), Lady Bracknell’s position as the head of the family and making every kind of decision since during this time men were the only one who could made any decisions at all, and when Cecily and Gwendolen are discussing about make domesticity (39).
Gwendolen: The home seems to me to be the proper sphere for the man. And certainly once a man begins to neglect his domestic duties he becomes painfully effeminate, does he not?
Here in this quote, one notices the dramatically change of gender roles. We imply that women are always supposed to be in the house, which for me is not true, and that men are working and getting the money. But in this case, these two women prefer men being in the house.
All of these elements, with the exception of gender roles, are represented in the script of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. The main character Cyrano is not quite the handsome heroic prince we find in stories, but he is an unattractive fellow man whose nose takes all the attention, but his witty lines takes all the credits. Cyrano is a gallant duelist ruled by Chivalry but driven by love (Cyrano x). He is a natural leader, courageous soldier, poet, swordsman, master of language, intelligent, vigorous, and his own worst enemy.
As the play starts, the audience can see the immoral deeds of the people. There is robbery, gambling, flirting with the flower girl, drinkers, brawlers, pranksters, and others more (6-11). Rostand is giving all the examples of immoral in order for us to see all the wrong-doing and Cyrano is the imperfectly perfect hero. Cyrano is a duelist and never backs down on his promises as seen throughout the play. In the first act, Cyrano stands up to Montfleury and the crowd demanding the “king of buffoons” to get of stage (26). He is quick with words and does not back up from them. Cyrano depicts intelligence and confidence in his words. For instance, when he does not hesitate to go down to get Montfleury of the stage after a warning of three claps (31).
Cyrano is very smart with words. He has a quick respond to everything and is well known for his famous monologues and duels. As can see on page 36, Cyrano is having a confrontation with the Meddler whose Cyrano’s nose is the issue being discuss. Even though he thinks his ugliness overshadows his greatness, he does not let anyone insult him no matter what. He asks the meddler if he thinks his nose is “like an elephant’s trunk? Or an owl’s beak? If it has a wart or has a obscene shape?” (36-37). Cyrano has morals in which he does not let anyone step down on him, that is why he defends himself but in a sarcastic way. Like he says his “nose is enormous…but carries it with pride, courtesy, wit, generosity, and courage” (37). Another example of him making fun of not himself but the lack of witty in expression of such a horrifying thing--his nose. Cyrano makes fun of Valvert for not being able to say a smart and disgraceful words about his nose. Valvert is a high class man whose one would think that he is educated and has witty things to say, but he lacks those impressions. Instead he says “your nose is…um…very big” (38). There is nothing outstanding about that and one was expecting more than that. On the other hand, Cyrano laughs at Valvert for not been able to say something outstanding like:

Cyrano: In an aggressive tone: “If I had a nose like that, I’d have it amputated!”
Friendly: “The end of it must get wet when you drink from a cup. Why don’t you yes a tankard?”…
Gracious: “What a kind man you are! You love birds so much that you’ve given them a perch to roost on.”…
Dramatic: “When it bleeds, it must be like the Red Sea!”…
Practical: “A nose like that has one advantage: it keeps your feet dry in the rain.” (39)
Cyrano is saying all these line while he is chasing Valvert (40). He is letting Valvert know that even him can make fun of himself in more interesting lines that he can do. It must be an embarrassment for Valvert since it has to be with pride and not letting a simple poet defeat him, so he wants a duel, in which Cyrano accepts. Cyrano is going to compose a ballade while fencing him and he is explaining Valvert what a ballade is. He is making fun of him without him noticing (42). So while fencing, he is composing a ballade. This is one of his memorable duets because fencing is hard but while composing a ballade it is even harder. It is an delightful how the lines rhyme with what Cyrano is doing. He starts with “taking off his hat and slowly abandon the cloak…while deciding where to skewer Valvert...in the paunch.. When he ends the refrain, he draws blood” (43). The theatrical wit offers him a chance to reveal and compose his own personality. In this instant, the readers have lose the sight of his nose and focus on his intelligence and talent.
He lets everyone know that he is a strong and stubborn man but in the inside he does not think he is worth to be love (51). He says “I love Cleopatra--do I look like a Caesar? I adore Berenice--have I the appearance of a Titus?” (51). Cyrano thinks of himself as been grotesque and does not deserve the love of his cousin, Roxane. It is ironic since he has always have the image of not being afraid of anything or no one. But he surrenders to love. Still, Cyrano does not let his chivalry down. He respects and have morals for love.


Who Said That?
A large nose is the mark of a witty, courteous, affable, generous and liberal man.
Winston Churchill

Cyrabo:,(51)—Cleopatra, (38-39), became whole by Christian (101-102), honor—never misss his bisit even when wounded, self sacrifice—rather die than break his words to herm, (xvi),




Antoine Comte de Guiche: As for you sir, have you read "Don Quixote"?
Cyrano de Bergerac: I have, and found myself the hero.
Antoine Comte de Guiche: Be so good as to read once more the chapter of the windmills... Windmills, remember, if you fight with them...
Cyrano de Bergerac: My enemies change, then, with every wind?
Antoine Comte de Guiche: ...may swing round their huge arms and cast you down into the mire!
Cyrano de Bergerac: Or up, among the stars!
Christian de Neuvillette: [Cyrano is coaching Christian, and Christian is reciting badly what Cyrano has written] "Thus do I love thee."
Cyrano de Bergerac: Idiot! There are a dozen ways to read that line - "*Thus* do I love thee"; "Thus do *I* love thee", "Thus do I love *thee*! *thee*! *thee*!"
Share this quote
Duenna: [Cyrano is trying to talk to Roxanne in private, when her Duenna enters] I have eaten the cakes, Monsieur de Bergerac.
Cyrano de Bergerac: [pushing her out the door] Good. Now go out and enjoy Nature.
Sha My wit is more polished than your mustache. The truth which I speak strikes more sparks from men's hearts than your spurs do from the cobblestones."
- Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Act 1re this quote
I know. I outnumber them, but I shall go gently with them at first."
- Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Act 1
"And what is a kiss, specifically? A pledge properly sealed, a promise seasoned to taste, a vow stamped with the immediacy of a lip, a rosy circle drawn around the verb 'to love.' A kiss is a message too intimate for the ear, infinity captured in the bee's brief visit to a flower, secular communication with an aftertaste of heaven, the pulse rising from the heart to utter its name on a lover's lip: 'Forever.'"
- Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, Act 3
http://books.google.com/books?id=6GGzSw-JCasC&pg=PR2&dq=cyrano+de+bergerac+by+edmond+Rostand+with+a+new+introduction+by+Eteel+Lawson&lr=&cd=1#v=onepage&q=A%20large%20nose%20is%20the%20mark%20of%20a%20witty%2C%20courteous%2C%20affable%2C%20generous%20and%20liberal%20man&f=false

The play takes many of its stereotypical representations from Dumas’s popular novel The Three Musketeers. Several references to Dumas’s work appear in the play. In Act I, scene iv, after Cyrano fights in a dramatic duel, his friend Cuigy wittily claims that Cyrano’s name is Dartagnan. (D’Artagnan is the hero of Dumas’s novel, written 200 years after the time in which Cyrano de Bergerac is set.) Later, Le Bret admonishes Cyrano to “stop trying to be Three Musketeers in one!”
De Guiche declares to Valvert that Cyrano is tiresome. Valvert agrees to put him in his place and, approaching Cyrano, tries to goad him by saying that Cyrano has a “very big” nose. Affecting astonishment at the man’s lack of wit, Cyrano offers a long list of better insults that he himself might have used in Valvert’s situation. He continues to mock Valvert, who challenges him to a duel. Cyrano declares that as he fights Valvert, he will speak an extemporaneous poem and kill Valvert on the last line.
Analysis — Act I, scenes iv–vii
In these scenes, Cyrano appears almost superhuman in his grace, agility, and wit. He demonstrates his uncanny sense of humor and his willingness to laugh at himself and his nose. In standing up to Valvert, he shows off his unparalleled wit, as well as his courage and strength. His ability to compose a ballad while simultaneously displaying his talent for swordfighting is remarkable. His display of modesty and humility toward the theater patrons and the refreshment girl shows his gentlemanly nature. Cyrano’s unsightly nose becomes only one of many characteristics that distinguish him from everyone else in the play. This first act establishes Cyrano as uniquely gifted and heroic. More than merely a central character, he is a living legend.