Cyrano’s plot revolves around the effort, by many men, to win Roxane’s love. With little agency, curiosity, or will in regard to the entreaties of her suitors, Roxane is the constant star in a perplexing galaxy of affection. Nearly every character is either directly affected by her love or is hoping to win it. But winning Roxane is not Cyrano’s or Christian’s goal: winning her love. It alters Christian and Cyrano in respectively different ways throughout the play, and it defines each scene’s tone and attitude.
Roxane’s kindness and sincerity never waver and are never questioned. But she has a major dramatic shift in thought at the war at Arras when she tells Christian that although she once loved him because he was handsome, she now loves him because of his inner beauty. This shift alters the play’s remaining action and resolves its main action and conflict. Roxane exhibits the sheer power of love over attraction, both at Arras and in the play’s final scene, when she declares her love for the deformed Cyrano.
