FREE ESSAY ON RESPONSE TO CYRANO DE BERGERAC AND TO THE MOVIES: CYRANO DE BERGERAC AND ROXANNE

RESPONSE TO CYRANO DE BERGERAC AND TO THE MOVIES: CYRANO DE BERGERAC AND ROXANNE

The author of Cyrano de Bergerac is Edmond Rostand. Edmond Rostand was born on April 1,
1868 in Marseille, France. He was obsessed with literature in general, but was especially
interested in theater. His first drama was called The Romantics, then Cyrano de Bergerac,
Chantecler, and The Last Night of Don Juan. Cyrano de Bergerac was his greatest work and
accomplishment, the first production was on December 28, 1897. Edmond died on December 2,
1918. He was a French poet and dramatist who wrote for 30 years.
I liked Cyrano e Bergerac, but it was a sad story. I liked watching the movie Roxanne. It
was in English and in color, I also understood the plot since I read the book. I didn't
like watching the French version with subtitles because I don't take French, so I didn't
understand it. It was hard to watch what was going on, listen to the tone of the voices,
and read the subtitles at the same time. Sometimes I got lost or didn't know how the
lines were expressed. For instance, whether the person was sad, happy, or mad. 
I also like to be able to just watch a movie, when they are in English you don't have to
hang on each word or read what they just said. It's not the same with subtitles at all.
You interpret everything very differently. You can pick up the sound of the voice through
the French, but it's still very different. I would have rather watched the old black and
white version because it was in English. I think I would have understood it a little
better.
Reading Cyrano de Bergerac was very helpful when we watched the movies. When I read it by
myself to catch up I was very confused because it was hard to make the transition of who
was talking. When we read it in class and different people played different parts it was
much easier to follow along. The different voices helped in the transition of who was
talking. It was also a little difficult sometimes because sometimes something would not
be said or said properly.
I thought the book was very well written and was very good. It had a good plot, but it
was kind of predictable. I mean you could figure out that Roxanne would find out that
Cyrano was in love with her and that he was the one that wrote the letters. You could
also probably figure out that Christian was going to die. That's the way most stories end
up, if it's not a happily ever after one. Some things weren't predictable, like that
Cyrano was going to be murdered or that Roxanne would live in mourning instead of killing
herself after Christian died. 
Overall I enjoyed reading Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac. The
book was excellent and the movies provided different interpretations of the book. I would
like to see this on stage somewhere, I think it would be very exciting. Roxanne was the
more modern version and I understood it better. The French version with subtitles was a
little harder to understand, but was done very well
for being a somewhat old movie. The location seemed more appropriate and more realistic
of where it would have actually taken place. Edmond Rostand was
a good dramatist and critics were right to say this was his best work.
Bibliography
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