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- For the first half of the play, Roxane is attracted to Christian for his good looks and—she thinks—his sophisticated mind. Yet by Act 4, Roxane claims to have moved past her physical attraction altogether: she says that she loves Christian for his mind, and only his mind.
www.litcharts.com/lit/cyrano-de-bergerac/themes/the-many-kinds-of-loveThe Many Kinds of Love Theme in Cyrano De Bergerac - LitCharts
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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.
One way to begin talking about love in Cyrano is to ask why Cyrano is in love with his cousin, Roxane. Cyrano’s love shows elements of the Platonic ideal: the notion, named for the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, that love should be based on people’s attraction to one another’s minds or souls, rather than their bodies.
Early on, Roxane falls in love with a man whom she believes to be Baron Christian de Neuvillette, though in actuality the “man” is a combination of Christian’s face and Cyrano’s words. Roxane must also fend off the advances of the Count de Guiche , who desires her almost as much as Christian and Cyrano do.
This shift in perspective alters the course of the play, resolving its main conflicts and actions. Roxane demonstrates the immense power of love over mere attraction, both at Arras and in the final scene of the play, where she declares her love for the physically deformed Cyrano.
Roxane agrees. Cyrano reads the letter out loud, barely looking at it. The letter talks about how Christian will die soon, but will always love Roxane. Roxane is amazed by the sound of Cyrano’s voice as he reads—she senses that she’s heard this tone of voice before, though she can’t remember exactly where.
A Capuchin friar arrives, looking for Roxane. Cyrano sends him in the wrong direction and returns his attention to Roxane on the balcony. Cyrano tries to gloss Christian’s request over, but there is no need; as we said, Roxane is all lovey-dovey and ready for a make-out session.
Roxane enters the park of the convent accompanied by de Guiche, who, now an old man, is still magnificent and one of the most powerful nobles in France. He asks Roxane if she is still faithful to Christian’s memory, and she says she is. He asks if she has forgiven him, and she replies, “I am here.”
