Cyrano de Bergerac was most definitely hard to read at first. As the whole beginning of the play is showing off the cross-section of Parisian society - most with long names and short character descriptions - all streaming into a theater, the action was confusing to follow in the text. Maybe it is a scene that would come together aesthetically well on stage, but is a pain to read and stage in my head.
At a point, Cyrano comes in and chases Montfleury off the stage, this is where the play begins to pick up. Cyrano initially reminded me a lot of the jester characters Shakespeare often uses like in othello with his character so melodramatic. His play seemed to be a like a Shakespearian comedy at first.
Though I felt most of Cyrano's problems were caused by his own actions (which they were), it was hard not to feel sorry for him with his selfless acts to preserve the image of the man Roxane loved.
Even after Christian advises Cyrano to drop the facade and tell her everything so that she may know which man she truly loves, Cyrano cannot bring himself to destroy her image of Christian once he is mortally wounded on the battlefield.
For a whole fifteen years after, Cyrano still loves Roxane from afar. When she finally figures out that Cyrano has written all the letters, and he is still unable to confirm this even on his deathbed, I really felt bad for him.
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