Is it hard to read?
Somewhat. The ornate dialogue, inventive insults, and long speeches demand attention, but the action is brisk and the structure is linear. The sustained eloquence may feel excessive if you prefer restrained conversation.
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 40 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 224 pagesBarnes & Noble Classics · 2004
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Brisk
- Emotional intensity
- 4 / 5
About 4 h 30 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 9 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
In Paris in 1640, soldier and poet Cyrano de Bergerac can answer an insult with a speech or a sword, but believes his enormous nose makes him unlovable. He conceals his feelings for his cousin Roxane, who confides her love for Christian, a handsome cadet with little talent for romantic conversation. Cyrano agrees to write Christian’s letters and supply the words to court the woman they both love.
Reader notes
The play is extravagant in its comedy and declarations of love, with inventive insults, duels, and long speeches. Its theatrical language is central to the pleasure, though the sustained eloquence can feel excessive if you prefer restrained dialogue.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Dialogue-driven · Ornate · Witty
- Tone
- Earnest · Humorous · Melancholic · Romantic
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships · Voice
- Setting
- Paris · Arras
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 4 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 2 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Art and creativity
- Identity
- Isolation
- Knowledge and truth
- Love
Content notes
- Violence
- Mild
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- Mild
- Substance use
- Mild
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- Mild
Standing and awards
Canonical
- Penguin Classics
- Widely translated and studied
Questions readers ask
Is the romance more comic or sad?
The romance combines extravagant comedy with earnest love and melancholy. Cyrano supplies the letters and romantic words that Christian lacks, while concealing his own feelings for Roxane, so wit and longing are closely connected.
How spicy is it?
The content notes flag mild sexual content.
What potentially upsetting content is there?
Mild violence includes duels, alongside mild abuse and mild self-harm or suicide content. Cyrano’s belief that his enormous nose makes him unlovable also makes appearance and self-worth central emotional concerns.
How long is it?
About 224 pages in the Barnes & Noble Classics 2004 edition. The action is brisk, though long speeches give the theatrical language plenty of space.
Which edition is shown here?
Barnes & Noble Classics · 2004 · Mass Market Paperback. ISBN 9781593080754.
How long does it take to read Cyrano de Bergerac?
About 4 hours 30 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 224-page Barnes & Noble Classics edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand was a French poet and dramatist whose neo-romantic verse plays appeared when naturalistic theatre was popular. He regarded himself as a poet even when writing for the stage, favoring ornate, witty dialogue and romantic plots shaped by barriers to desire. Cyrano de Bergerac turns a courtship into an intricate exchange of borrowed letters and speeches, combining verbal comedy, swordplay, and mounting emotional pain as one man supplies the language another cannot command. Rostand also drew on legend in La Princesse Lointaine, based on a medieval troubadour’s distant love, while Chantecler extends his theatrical imagination to a cast of birds and animals.
If you liked this
Edition and details
- Publisher
- Barnes & Noble Classics
- Publication year
- 2004
- Format
- Mass Market Paperback
- Pages
- 224
- ISBN
- 9781593080754
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- French
- First published
- 1898
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Drama · Adventure · Romance · Historical Fiction · Historical romance · Stage play · Comedy · Tragicomedy
- Editions
- 20
- Languages
- 4 (Arabic, English, Spanish, French)