Hear the panache, feel the passion, and weep for the man with the big nose and the even bigger heart. Read Edmond Rostand’s immortal verse drama completely free online.
Published in 1897, Cyrano de Bergerac was an instant sensation. It played to packed houses, made its star famous, and became one of the most performed plays in the history of the French theater. It is a comedy, a tragedy, a romance, a swashbuckler, a meditation on beauty and truth. It is also, quite simply, one of the most entertaining plays ever written.
Cyrano is a soldier, a poet, a wit, a lover. He is also cursed with an enormous nose—a nose that makes him feel unlovable. He loves Roxane, his cousin, but cannot tell her. When she falls in love with Christian, a handsome but inarticulate soldier, Cyrano offers his help. He will write letters to Roxane, speak for Christian, give words to the man who has none. Roxane falls in love with the words, believing they come from Christian. Christian dies in battle. Roxane enters a convent. Cyrano visits her every week for fifteen years, never telling her the truth. Only at the end, mortally wounded, does he reveal himself.
On this page, you can experience the play that has made audiences laugh and cry for more than a century. We offer the complete 1897 text in English translation for online reading.
Book Info
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Author | Edmond Rostand |
| Year of Publication | 1897 |
| Genre | Drama, Verse Play, Romance |
| Language | English Translation (Original: French) |
| Legal Status | Public Domain Worldwide |
| Format | Online Reading |
Read Cyrano de Bergerac Online
Hear the wit flash and the swords clash. Begin Rostand’s immortal drama by entering the theater of the Hôtel de Bourgogne interactively below.
This preview introduces the poet-soldier, his nose, and his love. However, the full, glorious narrative—the balcony scene, the battle, the fifteen years of silence, and the final, heartbreaking revelation—is available in the complete text for our subscribers.
A subscription unlocks this cornerstone of world drama and the complete works of Edmond Rostand. Discover the play that proves the soul has no nose.
About the Play Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play about appearance and reality, about the gap between what we are and what we seem. Cyrano is ugly; his soul is beautiful. Christian is beautiful; his soul is ordinary. Roxane loves the beauty she thinks she sees; she discovers, too late, that the beauty was always in the words.
Cyrano
Cyrano is one of the great characters of world drama. He is brave, witty, generous, proud. He is also vulnerable, lonely, convinced that no woman could love him. His tragedy is that he is wrong—Roxane could have loved him, would have loved him, if he had only spoken. But he cannot speak; his nose stands in the way.
The Nose
The nose is the play’s central symbol. It is the mark of Cyrano’s difference, the barrier between him and love. He makes jokes about it, flaunts it, uses it as a weapon. But beneath the jokes is pain. The nose is what he cannot escape, cannot forget, cannot transcend.
Roxane
Roxane is beautiful, intelligent, romantic. She loves Christian because she thinks he is the author of the words she loves. When she learns the truth, it is too late—Cyrano is dying. Her tragedy is that she loved a phantom, that the real man was beside her all along and she could not see him.
Christian
Christian is not stupid; he is simply inarticulate. He loves Roxane truly, but he cannot tell her. He accepts Cyrano’s help, knowing that it makes him a kind of fraud. He dies in battle, still loving, still silent. He is a victim of the same gap that torments Cyrano: the gap between what we feel and what we can say.
The Balcony Scene
The balcony scene is one of the most famous in drama. Cyrano, hidden in the dark, speaks for Christian. He tells Roxane what Christian cannot say. His words are poetry, passion, truth. Roxane is swept away. And Cyrano, speaking words he cannot claim, experiences the love he can never have.
The Death
Cyrano’s death is the play’s culmination. Wounded, dying, he comes to Roxane’s convent for his weekly visit. He asks to read Christian’s last letter—the letter he wrote, the letter Roxane has treasured for fifteen years. He reads it aloud, and Roxane realizes, at last, the truth. She loves him, finally, but it is too late. Cyrano dies, still fighting, still proud, still in love.
Why Read the Play Cyrano de Bergerac Today?
Because it is about something universal. Who has not felt unlovable? Who has not hidden behind wit or words? Who has not loved and failed to speak? Cyrano is our representative, our hero, our warning. Read it and weep—and then read it again.
FAQ
Is this play based on a real person?
Yes. Cyrano de Bergerac was a real writer and soldier in seventeenth-century France. Rostand took his name and his legend and created something new.
Is this play in verse?
Yes, in the original French. Translations vary; some preserve the verse, some use prose. The play’s music is in the words, however they are rendered.
How long is it?
Approximately 150 pages in standard editions. It is a full-length play, requiring an evening to read or perform.
Can I read it on my phone?
Yes. The poetry is accessible, the drama is compelling, the characters are unforgettable. Read it anywhere; just be prepared to explain why you are crying.