Edmond Rostand’s verse drama,

, is known and performed all over the world. Almost everyone has heard of its large-nosed hero. Yet when

was first performed at the Porte-Saint-Martin Theatre, Paris, on 28 December 1897, it was expected to be a failure. French verse drama was usually performed at the state theatre, the Comédie-Française, and few people had ever heard of the play’s real-life seventeenth-century hero. 

Cyrano de Bergerac was, however, an immediate and huge success. By the end of the first act, the audience was enthralled. The final curtain was raised and lowered, some say, over forty times. Critics and public were united in enthusiasm; Rostand was immediately made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur and became a patriotic hero. He

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Citation: Lloyd, Susan. "Cyrano de Bergerac". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 November 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35207, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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