He has no mortal enemies; his only adversary is death and even then, defeat inevitable, he surrenders gracefully. There is yet forgiveness in his eyes as he is stripped of all dignity. He has nothing to lose except his pride and life; his pride he would take to his grave, his life he would give for any good cause. No blood of a king runs through his veins but his heart is of one and noble he is. All he has is water, yet he claims it is wine. And make do he does, with what he has, fooling others and almost fooling himself as he takes a drink from his empty cup.
[...] Yet another tragic flaw Cyrano possesses is he is unable to forgive and lacks tolerance along with confidence. He is unable to accept adequacy, let alone defeat. Meanwhile, his insecurity is only matched by his instinct to criticize himself harshly in order to justify his grotesqueness and his inability to cope with society. When he is asked if he weeps for life's injustices, he replies bitterly, not that ever! No, that would be too grotesque tears trickling down all the long way along this nose of mine? [...]
[...] And in securing his pride and insecurity, Cyrano keeps his friends far and his enemies farther. Later, he compellingly says, soul, be satisfied with flowers, with fruit, with weeds even; but gather them in the one garden you may call your own I stand not high it may be but alone!” Preceding this passage, Cyrano is offered a patron, but he adherently refuses. He says that he does not have much but it is his and with what he has, he will make do. [...]
[...] Near the end, death imminent, Cyrano continues his lament and gripes about his vanity, “Here lies Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac who was all things and all in (194) All things he was, yes, but not in vain. Cyrano is so proud he worries about what others will think of him even after he is dead. Aside from his ferventness to die, Cyrano has the greatest tragic flaw of all: he gives, but never receives. The reason he does not receive is simple: he is too proud to accept what others have to give in fear of being in debt and vulnerable. [...]
[...] In truth, Cyrano does not have anything, or at least much, to sacrifice. He has nothing except his pride and life; the pride comes first, of course. His unyielding pride will not give for anything except love, but that he is denied. Perhaps that is why he becomes so bitter and resentful towards the end. What Cyrano wants most in life is a dignified death that would have his pride die with him. He says, me die so Under some rosy-golden sunset, saying a good thing, for a good cause! [...]
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