YMMV / Cyrano de Bergerac

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Ragueneau mentioning Molière plagiarized one of Cyrano's writing in a line of The Schemes of Scapin ("What the deuce did he want to go in that galley for?") may look like some random Been There, Shaped History reference to modern audiences (due to the real Cyrano being now much less famous than Edmond Rostand's character), but it's based on the fact there's really a similar line in a play written by the real Cyrano (The Pedant Tricked, 1654).
• And You Thought It Would Fail: At the time this play came out, Realism and Naturalism had been the dominating genre in French Literature for a while, with things such as over-the-top epic tales of heroism and romantism as glorified in Cyrano being seen as cheesy, unrealistic and outdated, to the point writers like Émile Zola had written essays about how trying to bring them back today would be laughable. Everyone reportedly expected the play to fail spectacularly, including Rostand himself, who went as far as to apologize to Cyrano's actor for dragging him into it just before the premiere. As it turned out, people loved it, and it became one of the most famous French plays in History.
• Awesome Ego: Cyrano; except for the nose thing, he thinks really highly of himself, and rightfully so.
• Designated Villain: Count de Guiche, to some extent. He is a Jerkass inclined to scheming and Disproportionate Retribution, but he was initially rather respectful and friendly with Cyrano until the latter refused his offer of patronage and provoked him, the Gascons basically hate him for not adhering to their Idiot Hero Honor Before Reason way when he is shown to be genuinely competent in his own area and faithful to the king during the Siege of Arras, and he genuinely loves Roxane only for her to treat his affection with disdain and openly take advantage on his feelings. Given all these factors, it's not hard to feel sympathy for him, especially considering he displays Villainous Valor and ends up committing a Heel–Face Turn.
• Genius Bonus: There's a scene where Cyrano pretends he just fell from the Moon in order to distract De Guiche, and at one point in his rambling, he mentions he intends to write a book about this experience. The historical Cyrano de Bergerac really wrote such a book.
• Jerkass Woobie: Cyrano is a Jerkass, but his Freudian Excuse and his upbringing make him sympathetic.
• Signature Scene:
  • The Wrong Insult Offense scene where Cyrano tells Viscount de Valvert how pathetic his insult to Cyrano's Gag Nose is and rattling off several better ones.
  • The balcony scene where Christian attempts to seducing Roxane while Cyrano whispers him his lines.
• Tear Jerker: Let's just say the last scene and have done with it.
• Values Dissonance: Par for the course with Kissing Cousins and works of olde.
• Woolseyism: Brian Hooker's translation, which finds appropriate equivalent literary references in English for all the French references of the original text. Anthony Burgess was inspired by Hooker to use the same approach.
  • For instance: in the original, Cyrano alludes to Théophile de Viau's play Pyrame et Thisbé (based on Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe). From an earlier translation: "Behold the nose that mars the harmony of its master's face, blushing its treachery!" ^{Original line} "Behold the knife that marred the beauty of its master's breast..."
  • In Hooker's translation, he alludes to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus: "Was this the nose that launched a thousand ships, and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" ^{Original line} "Was this the face..."
  • In Burgess's translation, he alludes to William Shakespeare's Hamlet: “Oh, that this too, too solid nose would melt!" ^{Original line} "...this too, too solid flesh..."
  • Cyrano says Valvert's name only has three letters: s-o-t, spelling sot, French for fool. Both the Hooker and Burgess translations manage it with three letters too: a-s-s.

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