How we cite our quotes: (Act.Line)
Quote #13
CYRANO
I fought, not for my nose, but your bright eyes.
ROXANE
And then, to tell you—but before I can
Tell you— Are you, I wonder, still the same
Big brother—almost—that you used to be
When we were children, playing by the pond
In the old garden down there— (II.265-270)
Cyrano’s compliment to Roxane’s beauty goes unnoticed; she’s so used to being praised for her beauty that the comment means nothing to her.
Quote #14
ROXANE
Listen:
I…love someone.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Someone who does not know.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
At least—not yet.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
But he will know
Some day.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
A big boy who loves me too,
And is afraid of me, and keeps away.
And never says one word.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Let me have
Your hand a moment—why how hot it is!—
I know. I see him trying…
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
There now!
Is that better?—
(She finishes bandaging the hand with her handkerchief.)
Besides— only to think—
(This is a secret.) He is a soldier too,
In your own regiment—
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
Yes, in the Guards,
Your company too.
CYRANO
Ah!...
ROXANE
And such a man!—
He is proud—noble—young—brave—beautiful—
CYRANO (Turns pale; rises.)
Beautiful?—
ROXANE
What’s the matter?
Cyrano (Smiling)
Nothing—this—
My sore hand! (II.192-205)
Cyrano’s hopes increase with every word Roxane says until she hits "beautiful." What is simply another wonderful trait of Roxane’s ideal man is, for Cyrano, a clear sign that she is not speaking about him.
Quote #15
CYRANO
But, my dear child! You, who love only words,
Wit, the grand manner— Why, for all you know,
The man may be a savage, or a fool.
ROXANE
His curls are like a hero from D’Urfé.
CYRANO
His mind may be as curly as his hair.
ROXANE
Not with such eyes. I read his soul in them.
CYRANO: Yes, all our souls are written in our eyes!
But—if he be a bungler?
ROXANE
Then I shall die—
There! (II.217-225)
Cyrano is so overwhelmed with his own predicament that he assumes the rest of the world operates the same way; his claim that beauty and wit rarely coincide is a projection of his singular experience.