A hero portrays courage, strength, selflessness and have the will to overcome his biggest fear but not every hero depicts those certain characteristics. In the classic play, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, Cyrano, a swordsman and romantic poet, represents the qualities found within a tragic hero. Cyrano lacks self-confidence and ends up living more of an unfulfilled life knowing he fights a war within himself than against enemies, therefore he dies as a tragic hero in the end.
To begin, Cyrano sets an excellent example of what qualities a tragic hero obtains and how those qualities apply to the decisions Cyrano make throughout the play that potentially lead to a dreadful denouement. In the beginning, Cyrano hides the fact that he struggles to accept his one and only obvious flaw, that being his nose. As a result, Cyrano acts as if he is superior to other who appear to challenge his authority such as the meddler who came to simply judge Cyrano’s looks and Cyrano is quick to acknowledge his nose by addressing,”For a great nose indicates a great man- / Genial, courageous, intellectual” (Edmond Rostand 29). Cyrano is commonly mistaken as an easy target but due to his cockiness, Cyrano simply humiliates whomever just to see his or her reaction since he views himself as an stupendous individual. Also, Cyrano portrays prosperity from the start of the …show more content…
Cyrano portrays a courageous and honorable warrior who is willing to die for anyone because he is man with good morals. Therefore, Cyrano is a tragic hero since he never fully recognizes how important his personal needs and wants at the time which eventually leads him to despair and catastrophic ending where he learns the hard way when it comes to accepting one's self as who they are and what his final destiny in life