Its ladies' night!

Wezly Barnard

I think the most obvious characters to compare are Roxane from Cyrano de Bergerac and Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest. The obvious ways in which these two characters are similar is their beauty, intelligence, and their need for romance. Both ladies are chased by the opposite sex and thoroughly enjoy it. Both characters’ beauty becomes a constant means for stirring up drama. In Roxane’s place her beauty drives men to run over each other to get to her side. “Count de Guiche. Enamored of her. But wedded to the niece of Armand de Richelieu. Would fain marry Roxane to a certain sorry fellow, one Monsieur de Valvert, a viscount--and--accommodating!” Cecily’s beauty causes her love to try and change his name. “Our Christian names! Is that all? But we are going to be Christened this afternoon.” The women are also alike in the way that they both are involved in a sort of fantasy and romantic life. Roxane has many men interested in her and chasing her constantly, which could be considered a fantasy. Cecily has created a false and romantic idea of love through her own day dreams, journal entries, and pretend pen pal. The greatest difference between the two is definitely that Roxane never actually speaks or has dialogue during the play. She is only referred to by other characters, which ends up making her character even more intriguing. Cecily, however; plays a huge role when it comes to dialogue. In the beginning she is referenced by other characters similar to the way Roxane is in Rostand’s play, but when we meet Cecily she has a lot to say. In this way it easier to understand her character since I can get direct insight from her, whereas it is sometimes difficult to completely understand Roxane fully.