1. I am astonished of the way Edmond Rostand made Cyrano out to be a "one man against the world" character for such a small reason, battling against large quantities of people, dueling with Valvert, and disrupting an entire play, all within the first act. He's larger than life, and in one particular scene near the beginning he lashes out against himself for his physical flaw by ridiculing his over-sized nose in dozens of different ways, each one more amusing than the last. What's funnier is how he can have such a sense of humor about his nose, and at the same time feel so condemned by it, suffocating his potential to become truly satisfied with himself.
2. Roxane asks Cyrano to befriend Christian and protect him because she is in love with him and does not want anything unfortunate to happen to him. Cyrano agrees, but Christian is brash and judgmental of Cyrano's nose just like the rest of the cadets, and we can only predict disaster and that Cyrano will cause an upheaval against Christian's insults. However, Cyrano's dedication shines through and he negotiates with him. This may possibly be the best indication of Cyrano's misplaced love for Roxane, because not only will he give credit to someone else, but it is for someone who is entirely undeserving of it.
3. Christian and Roxane are to be wed, but De Guiche is on his way to see her and Cyrano must delay De Guiche so that he does not intervene with their plans. Cyrano appears suddenly, flamboyant and eccentric, speaking of fantastic journeys and bizarre experiences along the vein of astral projection, when in truth he is talking about "The Other World: Society and Government of the Moon" a novel that the real-life Cyrano De Bergerac wrote- hence, a hidden reference cleverly implemented in a hilarious fashion. Alas, this minor victory is merely bittersweet, for Christian is to be sent off to battle shortly.
4. The scene takes place during the siege of Arras, and the French are fighting against the Spanish. Roxane shows her own side of insolence and barges into the Gascon Cadet's military base to feed the starving soldiers. She tells Christian that she now loves him more so for his soul, not his appearance, and Christian tells Cyrano this. It is the perfect situation for him to be in, the perfect time to confess his aching heart to Roxane. But not even after Christian passes away does he admit to it for the sake of preserving Christian's image. In this scene, we find a sense of profound honor in Cyrano for his friend who did so little for him.
5. The play is coming near an end, and Cyrano has been ambushed for the final time while on the road to visit Roxane. He is only holding onto his life by a thread, but still he persists to deliver his gazette to her. When he fears that he will die soon, he requests to read Christian's last letter- but it grows dark, and he is reading it by memory rather than by what is in front of him. At this moment, Roxane realizes who truly wrote the letters in the first place as he dies. There are two instances of irony here- first, because the darkness of a shadow had originally been the thing that concealed his identity, and now it revealed him. Second, because Roxanne had already suffered through the death of the one she thought she was in love with, and now, upon discovery of Cyrano's true identity, she had to endure the same death again.
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