Cyrano de Bergerac: Edmond Rostand's epic 1897 play, based loosely on a real life figure, is set in 1640 France, where the nobleman Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac is serving as a cadet in the French Army. A man of many talents, including dueling, poetry and music, de Bergerac suffers from an extreme lack of self confidence due to his oversized nose. His own self-doubts keep him from professing love to the beautiful and intellectual heiress Roxane and he finds himself agreeing to protect and aid the man for whom she confesses feelings, a fellow cadet named Christian. De Bergerac provides letters and music for Christian to woo Roxane with because the young man does not have the eloquence that she so admires. When Christian falls in battle during the siege of Arras, de Bergerac, despite Christian's instructions, chooses not to destroy her image of the young man.
