Summary and Analysis
Act II — Scenes 3-4
Cyrano enters and Ragueneau congratulates him on the duel in the theater the night before. But Cyrano is not interested in anything except his meeting with Roxane. He asks Ragueneau to clear the place out when he gives the signal, and Ragueneau agrees. A musketeer enters who will be mentioned again later.
The poets come in, for their "first meal," as Lise says. They are all excited about the feat of the evening before — one man against a hundred, and no one knows who the brave one was. Cyrano is writing a love letter to Roxane and is not at all interested in the conversation around him. He does not sign the letter, because he plans to give it to Roxane himself.
The poets flatter Ragueneau by asking for his latest poetic effort — a recipe in rhyme.
Cyrano constantly asks the time, and the hour finally arrives for his meeting with Roxane. The poets are rushed to another room so that Cyrano can see her alone.
These scenes contain several elements of interest: Lise's sarcasm about the poets, the comedy of Ragueneau's recipe in verse, and the fact that the poets are buzzing with talk of Cyrano's various exploits of the previous evening. Cyrano himself, however, is the most interesting element. He is concerned only with the letter he is writing to Roxane — the one he has carried in his heart for years — and in the fact that he will soon see her and at last declare his love for her. He cares about nothing else. The brave hero is as excited as a schoolboy.
In the first act, our attention has been directed to Cyrano's bravado and his true courage, but now we are seeing a completely different facet of his personality. He is so nervous about his forthcoming confrontation with Roxane that he simply ignores the opportunity to submit himself to the adulation of the poets.