Scene 2. III. in Cyra­no de Berg­er­ac brings a delight­ful yet emo­tion­al moment as it takes place in Rague­neau’s bak­ery, filled with both warmth and lit­er­ary pas­sion. Rague­neau, a bak­er by trade, is deeply invest­ed in lit­er­a­ture, and this is revealed when two chil­dren come into the shop ask­ing for three pies. As he pre­pares the order, his dis­tress over using his pre­cious poet­ry bags as pack­ag­ing high­lights his deep attach­ment to his writ­ten works. Each bag, con­tain­ing poems that reflect his love for the art, such as mus­ings on Ulysses and Pene­lope or the gold­en locks of Phoe­bus, rep­re­sents a per­son­al con­nec­tion to his cre­ations. His reluc­tance to part with these bags shows a con­flict with­in him­self, caught between his pas­sion for poet­ry and his prac­ti­cal life as a bak­er, where the needs of his busi­ness clash with his emo­tion­al attach­ment to the writ­ten word.

Lise, pre­sum­ably Rague­neau’s wife, takes a more prag­mat­ic approach, encour­ag­ing him to make a deci­sion quick­ly as she busies her­self with arrang­ing the plates. Her impa­tience con­trasts sharply with Rague­neau’s sen­ti­men­tal nature, cre­at­ing a humor­ous dynam­ic between the two. In a moment of des­per­a­tion to keep his poet­ry, Rague­neau offers the chil­dren extra pies in exchange for the return of the “Son­net to Phillis,” which under­scores his pref­er­ence for art over finan­cial gain. The scene takes a light­heart­ed turn as Rague­neau joy­ful­ly retrieves his son­net, only to find it stained with but­ter, sym­bol­iz­ing the inevitable blend­ing of his poet­ic aspi­ra­tions with the mun­dane real­i­ty of his bak­ery. This small moment of com­e­dy also high­lights the ten­sion between Ragueneau’s love for poet­ry and his busi­ness respon­si­bil­i­ties, blend­ing humor with the under­ly­ing theme of sac­ri­fice.

The arrival of Cyra­no shifts the scene’s tone from humor to one of height­ened emo­tion. Cyra­no, enter­ing the bak­ery with urgency, asks Rague­neau the time, sig­nal­ing that some­thing impor­tant is about to unfold. His anx­ious demeanor adds an air of sus­pense to the scene, imply­ing that his vis­it is not a casu­al one but rather tied to some­thing sig­nif­i­cant. Rague­neau, ever the hos­pitable and respect­ful host, responds with care, unaware of the emo­tion­al grav­i­ty that Cyrano’s pres­ence brings. Cyrano’s sense of urgency and under­ly­ing ten­sion imme­di­ate­ly cap­ture the read­er’s atten­tion, leav­ing them won­der­ing what event or deci­sion is brew­ing in the back­ground.

This chap­ter per­fect­ly bal­ances light-heart­ed moments with deep­er emo­tion­al under­cur­rents, as Ragueneau’s affec­tion for his poet­ry is con­trast­ed with the demands of run­ning his bak­ery. The con­flict between art and com­merce is evi­dent, as Rague­neau strug­gles to hold onto the poet­ry that means so much to him while also deal­ing with the prac­ti­cal­i­ties of life. Cyrano’s sud­den entrance pro­vides a shift in mood, intro­duc­ing an ele­ment of mys­tery and antic­i­pa­tion. His anx­i­ety about the time and his press­ing con­cern raise ques­tions, which imme­di­ate­ly cap­ti­vate the read­er’s atten­tion. The scene expert­ly com­bines humor, sen­ti­men­tal val­ue, and dra­mat­ic ten­sion, as the char­ac­ters’ per­son­al­i­ties and pri­or­i­ties are revealed through their actions and inter­ac­tions.

The blend of humor and melan­choly through­out this scene enrich­es the nar­ra­tive, show­ing how Rague­neau’s devo­tion to art inter­sects with the real­i­ty of his life. His attach­ment to his poet­ry bags, even as he gives them away in exchange for pies, reflects a deep­er strug­gle between his dreams and his dai­ly sur­vival. This theme res­onates with the broad­er con­text of Cyra­no de Berg­er­ac, where char­ac­ters are often forced to choose between their ideals and the neces­si­ties of life. Cyrano’s pres­ence serves as a cat­a­lyst, intro­duc­ing a lev­el of urgency and sig­nif­i­cance to the moment, height­en­ing the emo­tion­al stakes and cre­at­ing a sense of antic­i­pa­tion for what comes next.

The char­ac­ters in this chapter—Ragueneau, Lise, and Cyrano—each reveal a facet of their per­son­al­i­ties that adds depth to the sto­ry. Ragueneau’s ten­der devo­tion to poet­ry, Lise’s prac­ti­cal nature, and Cyrano’s emo­tion­al tur­moil are skill­ful­ly por­trayed through their dia­logue and actions. As the scene pro­gress­es, it becomes clear that each char­ac­ter is dri­ven by their own set of val­ues and strug­gles, yet they are all linked by their desire for con­nec­tion, whether through art, duty, or love. Cyrano’s arrival intro­duces a sub­tle ten­sion, as the read­er is left to won­der how his per­son­al con­flict will unfold and how it will affect the inter­ac­tions that fol­low. The scene sets the stage for fur­ther explo­ration of the themes of love, sac­ri­fice, and iden­ti­ty, which will con­tin­ue to shape the nar­ra­tive as it devel­ops.