Hunter Warren's Blog

4. Discuss what you believe to be the wittiest quote from the play. What makes it the best one? Is it a clever paradox? Does it reveal a deeper truth? Is it used in a particularly brilliant way?

According to the dictionary, witty means being amusingly clever in perception and expression. Under these circumstances I believe Cyrano wins the spot of being the wittiest character in the book. His personality and character make him the "badass" of the play. This play, Cyrano de Bergerac, presents the readers with many witty quotes to further express the personalities of the characters. My favorite character, Cyrano, expresses his witty personality in the long quote that starts on page thirty-five. This long quote is sparked by the Meddler's comment about Cyrano's nose and is continued by Valvert. Because of Valvert's comment, Cyrano makes fun of his absence of creativity, and continues with his witty joke by making fun of his own nose. I love this quote because it exhibits Cyrano's several qualities that make him such a great character of this play. It shows off his sense of humor, creativity, courage and. confidence. I think Cyrano is such a great character because he is able to make fun of himself by using other character's ignorance. In return, this insults the victim without violence, which further makes them feel like idiots. In a way I feel as though everyone should have qualities such as Cyrano because even though he would have loved to stab Valvert with his sword he held his world with Roxanne and didn't inflict any physical pain upon anyone because she asked him to keep Christian safe.

Although this may seem absurd to do in reality, Cyrano does a great job in expressing his dislike for Valvert without being violent. I feel as though Cyrano is the wittiest character of the play because he is able to stand his ground by ridiculing others with his biting, ironic criticism instead of using violence. I really like the way Rostand built Cyrano because he is a very brave man that doesn't really care what others have to say about him. If someone hates him, he seems to take it with pride. Because Cyrano is able to act this way without having any repercussions, I feel as though he is one of the strongest characters of the play. When something is on his mind he has no problem with being public about it. This shows deep down that he has no shame within his life and has no problem with people knowing how he feels. This is a great quality in a person because most people keep things bottled up, or use violence to solve their problems. I feel as though this quote expresses Cyrano's wit as a character in the play.