Compare and Contrast Cyrano De Bergerac and the Movie Roxanne

Isn't it easier to accept the idea that a main character would be engaged in a fist fight, rather than a sword fight? Aren't fire fighters, as characters, more believable than a bunch of olden day French cadets? I certainly think so. To me it is just more real to have the setting of a story in modern times and in the United States. Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac is written about a time that no one alive now has experienced. There is the same plot idea that an ugly man wants the pretty girl, but she is too busy being infatuated with the pretty boy to notice the intellect of the man she truly comes to love. Steve Martin's Roxanne and Rostand's Cyrano De Bergerac are similar in the sense that they both appeal to the people of the same time period in which each one was written and performed.

Ever been to Paris, France in the year 1640? No? Well neither have I, but I have been residing in the United States in modern times. I related more to this version of Cyrano de Bergerac because the settings are familiar. In the original version there is a sword fight at a theater. Well for one, most people nowadays have the mind set that sword fights are for the aristocrats and Romeo and Juliet. Roxanne has fist fights and many events happen in a bar. I've seen fist fights and I have been in a bar and grill which is why I can relate to Roxanne. Another modern twist to Roxanne is the occupations of the characters. The fire fighters are an amazing parallel to the cadets. In some ways the change from the cadets to the firemen is a parody. The cadets are steadfast men who are ready to fight, but the firemen are a bunch of goofy adults that really have no clue to what they are doing. Roxanne's astronomer hobby and job gives her the air of being intelligent and intellectual just like Rostand's Roxanne has. Le Bret and Raganeau morphed into the more modern character, Dixie. She takes on the role of being Charlie Bales' confident and most trusted friend. In this story, Dixie plays a key role to the plot by giving Roxanne the letter Charlie wrote. She slyly put Charlie's name on the back so that Roxanne would finally figure out it was Charlie, not Chris, who is an intellectual mastermind. Giving the characters and setting a modern angle helps the present society relate to the masterpiece by Rostand.

Is the tragedy lost, or is it just more believable? One of the most profound changes is the difference in what happens after Chris, or Christian, joyfully rushes to Roxanne's room after the balcony scene. In the original, Cyrano keeps his word to help Christian and distracts De Guiche from interrupting what is going on in the house. In the modern version, though, Charlie sends the old ladies to walk in on Roxanne and Chris.