Contrast Essay for Cyrano de Bergerac

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Actress Cindy Busby said, "Beauty can't simply be described as physical, but it's your entire package...your true beauty is what shines from within: your confidence, attitude, outlook, intellect, and love. These are the qualities you should nurture; they are what make you unique, and will ultimately enhance your own personal outlook, which is the most important." Busby's statement conveys the things that truly matter about a person cannot be physically seen with the eyes. It is what comes out as their personality and how they express themselves is what should be valued. This is expressed in Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand and “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” by Alice Walker because both of the main characters have insecurities about their outer beauty, while their inner beauty is beautiful. However, the two main characters have two different viewpoints on how they feel about themselves at the end of their story. In Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmund Rostand, Cyrano, the main character, has an abnormally large nose and he thinks of himself to be ugly because of it. Also, he takes huge offense when someone comments on the size of his nose. Besides this, Cyrano is very courageous and an excellent fighter. He is also an amazing musician, poet, and philosopher and these are the things that he is known for. Cyrano talks to his friend, Le Bret explaining that he thinks everyone knows who he is because of his nose and it is because of his nose that no one will ever love him. “Absurd, isn't it? This nose precedes me everywhere, a quarter of an hour in front, to say 'Beware: don't love Cyrano' to even the ugliest.” (Rostand 38). Cyrano is conveying that people go to even the ugliest people in town and tell them to not fall in love with Cyrano because he is so ugly. Hearing comments like this affects Cyrano self-image and adds to his insecurities. Cyrano already
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