- LE VICOMTE : Maraud, faquin, butor de pied plat ridicule ! - CYRANO, ôtant son chapeau et saluant comme si le vicomte venait de se présenter : Ah ?… - Edmond Rostand

"De guiche.
"Portez-les-lui."

Cyrano, tenté et un peu charmé.
"Vraiment…"

De guiche.
"Il est des plus experts.
Il vous corrigera seulement quelques vers…"

Cyrano, dont le visage s’est immédiatement rembruni.
"Impossible, Monsieur ; mon sang se coagule
En pensant qu’on y peut changer une virgule."

De guiche.
"Mais quand un vers lui plaît, en revanche, mon cher,
Il le paye très cher."

Cyrano.
"Il le paye moins cher
Que moi, lorsque j’ai fait un vers, et que je l’aime,
Je me le paye, en me le chantant à moi-même !"

De guiche.
"Vous êtes fier."

Cyrano.
"Vraiment, vous l’avez remarqué ?

Cyrano’s attitude toward the sweetmeat vendor thus foreshadows his attitude toward the body in general (it is not a zone of pleasure) and the fair sex in particular. More comfortable with the gallant word (such as, “despite my Gascon pride”) or gesture (“He kisses her hand”) than with the idea of accepting her “dainties,” he settles for a mere “trifle,” for which silliness he is lambasted by his friend Le Bret. Under the guise of gallantry, Cyrano has found a way to formalize a circumspection with regard to women, a hesitancy and perhaps a fear that we see at work also in his relation to Roxane. His relation to sex is purely rhetorical. Cyrano himself attributes his unease with women to fear of being laughed at. By his own admission, the distance he imposes between himself and women is a form of self-defense: “My heart always cowers behind the defence of my wit. I

Guardami in faccia, e poi dimmi quale speranza consentir mi potrebbe questa protuberanza! Io non m'illudo, no. Talor certo, m'avviene d'intenerirmi anch'io nelle notti serene;e, se in qualche giardino entro, aspirando il maggio con il mio poveraccio di naso, sotto un raggio di argento qualche donna che passeggia a braccetto di un cavaliere io seguo, e il cor mi balza in petto, e penso, ahimè, che anch'io vorrei meco averne una per passeggiare a lenti passi sotto la luna. E mi esalto, e m'oblio... Quand'ecco all'improvviso l'ombra del mio profilo su pel muro ravviso!