The Deceptive Art of Love Essay Example

📌Category: Life, Love
📌Words: 1581
📌Pages: 6
📌Published: 06 June 2021

Often people can be very quick to do wrong acts when something they desire is difficult to achieve, most often the wrongdoings do not lead to success. Decisive acts are plentiful in Cyrano de Bergerac, when dealing with the characters on how they perceive love for one another, and what they do to get that love, and where that love takes them. The play takes place in seventeenth-century France where a group of individuals who have their own unique personalities and traits, for instance, Roxane a beautiful, manipulative woman, who thinks of creative ways to get what she wants from others around her.

Christian, a handsome young man, is not the brightest when it comes to intellectual thinking, but loves Roxane with all his heart, and does whatever he can to win her love. Cyrano a smart intellect who is very strong and brave persistently works with Christian, so he can achieve the love of Roxane while Cyrano professes his love from afar. The conflict in the play is the love triangle that occurs, but these mortals do not always profess their love in the most honest and noble ways. The overshadowing theme of deception lies, and manipulation is displayed very prominently in each character. Beautiful and smart Roxane, brave and manipulative Cyrano, and finally witless and heartful Christian all use some aspects of manipulation, deception, and lies to achieve their desires when it comes to love; however everlasting love between these characters is never achieved. 

Many depictions of falseness and manipulation can be found in Roxane. Deception both degrading and addictive can intoxicate one’s morals. The example is stated by Roxane when she and De Guiche are having a conversation, Roxane says, “Leave him here With his Cadets, while all the regiment Goes on to glory! That would torture him— To sit all through the war with folded arms—” (Rostand 111). Roxane can conveniently ask Cyrano for help in combining the hearts of her and Christian while being on good terms with De Guiche showing dislike for Cyrano.

Roxane, not being honest is devaluing her love for Christian by needing Cyrano's help instead of professing her own love while showing the strength and willingness to be in a Relationship with Christian. Furthermore, Roxane will demonstrate more uses of manipulation and lies. Roxane, in this part, is reading a fake letter to the Capuchin and Christian. “You will communicate to him Our order to perform, here and at once The rite of… Holy Matrimony. You And Christian will be married privately” (135) Roxane executing this idea out of nowhere will manage to manipulate everyone, in result continuing the marriage, but Roxane being so quick to judge Christian on short conversation and mere looks is making a mistake on who she really loves. Roxane now showing herself as a fraud in front of the Capuchin and others is only degrading herself for someone she thinks she is in love with. Roxane through all these deceptions and lies begins to know who she really loves.

This part is towards the end when Cyrano reveals that he has been writing the letters and his love for Roxane, Roxane says, “I’ve only loved one being, and I’ve lost him twice!” (224) This means, more than Christian, Roxane loves Cyrano and his true heartful love expressed through his poetry and writing. Roxane is also realizing through all her lies and deceptions that she lost the true the love of her life because of her own quick judgments and the usage of lies and deceptions, which in result caused her to never achieve everlasting love. As analyst Moran says, “unconsciously influenced by Cyrano's idealism, she has grown from a rather thoughtless, spiritually empty girl to a mature woman. When she finally realizes the truth about Cyrano, she does not hesitate to pledge her devotion to him, and the two are united, if only briefly, in love”. 

Roxane has finally come out of being blind for so many years and is now realizing the truths and lies that took place when in love with Christian, and is now willing to love Cyrano because that is the only honest love she has.

Cyrano professes his love in many secretive and manipulative ways that end up causing him to lose opportunities when trying to achieve love. Cyrano will use the act of lying when the frenchman is hesitant to tell he wrote all the letters. “Oh, that Nothing…(Gravely) I swear to you  That the spirit of Christian that his soul was (corrects himself quickly.) That his sole is no less great” (Rostand 195),  in the midst of telling Roxane he is the passionate author of all the letters Christian’s death is separating them even further apart, Christian, stimulating as such an honest and noble man to Roxane, ruining that would disrespect Christian, and Roxane’s love for him. Cyrano is also paranoid that if he tells the truth Roxane will be devastated at him for lying to her.

As critic Williams says, “Yet he realizes that through the poetic love letters he has created the image of Christian that Roxane loves. To destroy it would not only dishonor the dead but also would assure Roxane's contempt for him”. Cyrano creating his own monster of Christian and is unable to tell the truth, through his deception of how great Christian is, Cyrano is resorting to not tell the truth once again to save himself. Furthermore, Cyrano will use acts of deception on Roxane. This is when the deceiving duets are under Roxane's balcony “Remember that night Christian spoke under your window? While I stood in the darkness underneath, Others climbed up to win the applause the kiss!”(Rostand 223), the plan between Cyrano and Christian was in manipulating Roxane into thinking Christian is a very smart intellect by using the words of Cyrano disguising in the darkness as Christian, though everything is a success fake love is basically spawning between Roxane and Christian there initial love is a love now based on lies.

Also, this way Cyrano can have a taste of how it feels to be in love with Roxane while professing his love from afar because he is ever so embarrassed about his nose and what Roxane will think of his love. As critic Moran says, “ effort to further enrapture Roxane, Cyrano poses as Christian under her balcony, recalling the famous scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. However, Cyrano is delegated to the role of a “mock-Romeo,” duplicating only the Italian hero's emotion and not his rewards”. Ironically while professing his love he is emphasizing the love between Roxane and Christian causing Christian to enjoy the fruits of there challenge.

Not only does Cyrano and Roxane demonstrate deception, manipulation, and lies, but also Christian. Christian, not the most intelligent man, finds decisive ways to woe the love of his life. Christian is devising a plan with Cyrano on how to trick Roxane into getting her love. 

CHRISTIAN. I wish I had your wit—

CYRANO. Borrow it, then! Your beautiful young manhood—lend me that, And we two make         one hero of romance! (Rostand 99). 

Christian is going to deceive Roxane into thinking he is a perfect man for Roxane, Christian is making a grave mistake about portraying himself in a witful but fake form which characterizes Christian as someone who can not handle the integrity of a challenge and proves his weakness in love. Christian also is doing this because he does not want to portray his dumb dopey form to Roxane because he is insecure about how she will react to his simple thinking while she being a great intellect. Moreover, Christian is beginning to realize the consequences of his actions. Roxane is telling Christian how much she loves him at the war site, and Christian figures out who she really loves

CHRISTIAN. She loves only my soul.

CYRANO. No!

CHRISTIAN. Yes that means you. (189) 

Christian, through all his plans of deceiving Roxane into thinking he is smart, he only created a character of Cyrano that Roxane loves more, while thinking Cyrano’s words are just a back up for Roxane to love him. Christian will also feel guilty for being in a relationship that should have been Cyrano’s. As expert Bugliani says, “Christian relies on Cyrano's passionate eloquence to impress Roxane; he proves pathetically inadequate at lovemaking when left on his own”. 

Christian cannot be in a relationship without the help of Cyrano he does not have the knowledge and will to love Roxane being himself.

In summation, there are numerous ways in which Cyrano strong and thoughtful, Roxane brave and smart, and Christian heartful and witless, used their manipulation, deception, and lies in trying to win everlasting love. All these characters have some motives for love, but none will achieve their love by using manipulation, deception, and lies in result never getting what they truly want. Expert Untermeyer most accurately says, because of these ambitious lovers the play ended tragically and ironically because of their own faults and failures in their choices, which expresses that because of their deceptive action love between these individuals had to end with death. “The plight of an ugly man in love with a beautiful woman, an intellectual who woos his beloved for a stupid but handsome man, and loses her himself--this is the substance of a partly ironic, partly pathetic, and finally tragic drama.” (Untermeyer).

The author's intent was to give a remarkable love story of three individuals and their struggles to gain what they need from each other, which gave an entertaining, but sad ending informing the readers that love should never be based on lies and deception, but true honesty to be successful. Rostand, gives a perspective of different types of people in Cyrano de Bergerac about the consequences of these individuals actions and the demonstration of many missed opportunities, to be honest in achieving everlasting love. Society can learn that if love or anything is based on dishonest or ignoble acts unfavorable outcomes may result in making the situation worse and opportunities being tarnished. It may be hard for mankind to take on love head first, but it can be learned that that's the most successful and noble way to accomplish love which will lead to a longer and happier relationship.

 

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