Edmond Rostand Biography and List of Works

French poet and dramatist, best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's plays are light and entertaining, providing an alternative to the brooding thoughtfulness of naturalistic theatre.

A great nose indicates a great man -
Genial, courteous, intellectual,
Virile, courageous.
(from Cyrano de Bergerac, 1897)

Edmond Rostand was born in Marseille into a wealthy and cultured Provençal family. His father was an economist and a poet, a member of the Marseille Academy and the Institute de France. Rostand studied literature, history, and philosophy at the Collège Stanislas in Paris. In the 1880s he published poems and essays in the literary review Mireille. Rostand abandoned his law studies in 1890 when his first book of poems, LES MUSARDISES, appeared. His first play, LE GANT ROUGE, was produced in 1888. In 1890 he married the poet Rosemonde Gérard, a granddaughter of one of Napoleon's marshals. Their two sons, Jean and Maurice, also became writers. Maurice Rostand (1891-1968) published poems, plays (Le procès d'Oscar Wilde, 1935), and novels. His memoirs, Confession d'un demi-siècle, appeared in 1948.

"It is at night that faith in light is admirable."
(from Chantecler, 1907)

Rostand's first successful play was LES ROMANESQUES (1894). It was produced at the Comédie Française and was based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Cyrano de Bergerac produced three years later became his most popular and enduring work. L'AIGLON (1900), a tragedy based on the life of Napoleon's son, also became popular. During its first run in 1900, the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt played the title role. Bernhardt also performed in LA SAMARITAINE (1897) and LA PRINCESSE LOINTAINE (1895), a story about an unattainable princess and a troubadour hero, who dies in her arms. "The dream, alone, is of interest. What is life, without a dream?"

In 1901 at the age of thirty-three Rostand was elected to the Académie Française. Suffering from poor health, he retired to his family's country estate at Cambon, in the Basque county. He continued to write plays and poetry, but his subsequent works did not gain the popularity of Cyrano de Bergerac. In 1910 CHANTECLER appeared, the story of a barnyard rooster who believes that his song makes the sun rise. Rostand died of pneumonia in Paris on December 2, 1918. His last dramatic poem was about Don Juan. It was performed posthumously but failed to achieve critical success.

Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) - A poetic, romantic drama set in the reign of Louis XIII. The central character, Cyrano, is a famous swordsman, and an aspiring poet-lover. Because of his grotesquely large nose "that marches on / before me by a quarter of an hour," he is convinced that he is too ugly to deserve his adored Roxane. Cyrano helps his inarticulate rival, Christian, win her heart by allowing him to present Cyrano's love poems, speeches, and letters as his own. Soon the romance starts, Christian whispers his own love from the shadows in glorious words that Roxanne believes are his. But Christian realizes that it was not his own good looks but Cyrano's letters that have won the heart of Roxanne. Before his death on the battlefield, Christian asks Cyrano to confess their plot to Roxanne. Cyrano keeps their secret for fifteen years. As he is dying years later, he visits Roxanne and reveals to her the truth. - The play opened at the Porte Saint-Martin Theatre in December 1897. Cyrano's gallantry was seen as the reincarnation of the true Gallic spirit and Rostand became a national hero.

For further reading: Edmond Rostand by A. Lautier and F. Keller (1924); Vingt ans d'intimité avec Edmund Rostand by P. Faure (1928); La Vie profonde de Edmond Rostand by Pierre Apestéguy (1929); Edmond Rostand by R. Gérard (1935); Le double visage de Cyrano de Bergerac by Ch. Pujos (1951); De père en fils Edmond et Jean Rostand by O. Lutgen (1965); Edmond Rostand by E. Ripert (1968); Cyrano De Bergerac Notes by Estelle Dubose, et al (1971); Edmond Rostand by A. Amoia (1978); Edmond Rostand: le panache et la gloire by Marc Andry (1986); Edmond Rostand ou Le baiser de la gloire by Caroline de Margerie (1997)

LE GANT ROUGE, (1888)