Cyrano de Bergerac - A poet, swordsman, scientist, playwright, musician,
and member of the Cadets of Gascoyne, a company of guards from Southern
France. For all his prodigious talents, Cyrano is unattractive,
cursed with a ridiculously long nose that makes him insecure and keeps
him from revealing his love for his cousin Roxane.
Roxane - Cyrano’s
cousin, a beautiful and intellectual heiress. She has a soft spot
for romance and a love for poetry and wit.
Read an
in-depth analysis of Roxane.
Baron Christian de Neuvillette - Perhaps the opposite of Cyrano, Christian a handsome
but simple young nobleman who lacks wit and intelligence. New to
Paris and to the cadets, he falls in love with Roxane and joins Cyrano’s
company of cadets early in the play. His good looks are matched
only by Roxane’s.
Comte de Guiche - A powerful, married nobleman in love with Roxane
and not fond of Cyrano. Deceitful and always angry, he attempts
several times to have Cyrano killed, once by a hundred men.
Ragueneau - Cyrano’s
friend, a pastry chef with a deep love for poetry. Ragueneau gives
away pastries in return for poems, and, therefore, innumerable poets
visit him frequently. He reflects the theme that poetry is food
for the soul, and underlines the division between the physical and
spiritual aspects of the world. After his business fails, he becomes
Roxane’s porter.
Le Bret - Cyrano’s
friend and closest confidant. He is a fellow soldier and guardsman.
Le Bret worries that Cyrano’s principles will ruin his career, but
Cyrano ignores Le Bret’s concerns.
Ligniere - Christian’s
friend, a satirist and drunkard with many powerful enemies. Cyrano
protects him from the hundred men hired by de Guiche to ambush him.
The duenna - Roxane’s
companion and chaperone,who tries to keep Roxane out of trouble.
She is a character reminiscent of Juliet’s nurse in
Romeo
and Juliet.
Vicomte de Valvert - An insolent young nobleman lauded by de Guiche as
a possible husband for Roxane, a scheme that would give de Guiche
access to Roxane. After he insults Cyrano’s nose, he is defeated
in an ensuing duel.
Montfleury - A
fat, untalented actor whom Cyrano bans from the stage.
Carbon de Castel-Jaloux - Cyrano’s friend and the captain of his company.
He is a strong-willed and successful leader.
Bellerose - The
man in charge of the theater at the Hotel de Bourgogne.
Lise - Ragueneau’s
sharp-tongued wife. She does not approve of her husband’s patronage
of the local poets. An altogether unhappy woman, she leaves Ragueneau
for a musketeer after Act II.
Capuchin - A
modest and well-meaning monk. De Guiche employs him to carry a message
to Roxane. He is diverted at first by Cyrano when they are outside
Roxane’s residence. He later presides over Roxane and Christian’s
hasty wedding.
Mother Marguerite de Jesus, Sister Claire,
Sister Marthe - Nuns of Roxane’s convent.
They are compassionate women who admire and respect Cyrano and therefore allow
him to visit whenever he wishes.
Cardinal Richelieu - Not a character, but a historical figure referenced
in the play as de Guiche’s uncle. Perhaps the most powerful man
in France, he is a skilled political manipulator whose authority
rivals and probably exceeds that of the king.
