Scene 4. IV. in Cyra­no de Berg­er­ac begins with the cadets express­ing their frus­tra­tions about their cur­rent sit­u­a­tion, encap­su­lat­ing the mix­ture of pride and hard­ship that defines their lives. Their leader, Car­bon, fierce­ly main­tains their inde­pen­dence, show­cas­ing the auton­o­my and strong will that char­ac­ter­izes the group. The mood shifts when De Guiche enters, attempt­ing to assert his author­i­ty over the cadets. His efforts to dom­i­nate quick­ly turn into a ver­bal duel, with Cyrano’s wit and resolve coun­ter­ing De Guiche’s aris­to­crat­ic airs and attempts to belit­tle the sol­diers.

De Guiche’s attempt to crit­i­cize the cadets for their dis­dain towards his aris­to­crat­ic man­ners and his per­ceived cow­ardice at the Bat­tle of Bapaume is skill­ful­ly deflect­ed by Cyra­no. Cyra­no high­lights De Guiche’s act of aban­don­ing his white scarf dur­ing the bat­tle, reveal­ing it as a cow­ard­ly move dis­guised as strate­gic cun­ning. Cyra­no’s brav­ery is empha­sized when he reveals that he had retrieved the dis­card­ed scarf, risk­ing his life to uphold the hon­or of their army and mock­ing De Guiche’s attempt to main­tain a façade of lead­er­ship. This sub­tle exchange fur­ther expos­es the dis­par­i­ty between Cyrano’s courage and De Guiche’s self-serv­ing actions.

The ten­sion height­ens as De Guiche warns the cadets that the camp is vul­ner­a­ble to an impend­ing attack due to the absence of a sig­nif­i­cant por­tion of their forces. In a sur­pris­ing move, he pro­pos­es a treach­er­ous strat­e­gy involv­ing a spy to mis­lead the ene­my into attack­ing a poor­ly defend­ed posi­tion. His will­ing­ness to sac­ri­fice the cadets for the sake of a larg­er strat­e­gy expos­es his mixed motivations—driven not just by mil­i­tary duty but by per­son­al vendet­tas. Despite his actions, it is clear that De Guiche’s approach is cold and cal­cu­lat­ing, with lit­tle regard for the lives of the men under his com­mand.

Cyra­no and the cadets respond with fierce resolve, refus­ing to accept defeat and instead view­ing their des­per­ate sit­u­a­tion as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to show­case their brav­ery. The notion of fight­ing an over­whelm­ing ene­my is embraced not as a grim duty but as a chance to demon­strate their val­or. This fear­less atti­tude toward the bat­tle reflects the deep sense of hon­or and courage that binds the cadets, their spir­its unbro­ken even in the face of impend­ing dan­ger. The cama­raderie and shared com­mit­ment to their cause strength­en their bond and resolve, fuel­ing their readi­ness to face what­ev­er comes next.

The chap­ter con­cludes with a ten­der, emo­tion­al moment between Cyra­no and Chris­t­ian, high­light­ing the per­son­al strug­gles that run par­al­lel to the exter­nal con­flict. Chris­t­ian, aware of the loom­ing bat­tle, wish­es to send a final love let­ter to Rox­ane, fear­ing it may be his last chance to express his feel­ings. Cyra­no, ever the devot­ed friend, reveals that he has already writ­ten a let­ter for Chris­t­ian, blend­ing his duty to Rox­ane with his own per­son­al anguish. This act of self­less­ness and unre­quit­ed love adds com­plex­i­ty to Cyrano’s char­ac­ter, high­light­ing his loy­al­ty and deep emo­tions beneath his bold and wit­ty exte­ri­or. Through Cyrano’s actions, the nar­ra­tive weaves themes of hon­or, strat­e­gy, loy­al­ty, and love, all of which set the stage for the impend­ing bat­tle and reveal the deep­er lay­ers of both Cyrano’s and Christian’s char­ac­ters.

This chap­ter reflects the ten­sion between per­son­al duty and the larg­er, often harsh real­i­ties of war. Cyrano’s self­less act of prepar­ing the let­ter for Chris­t­ian reflects his unwa­ver­ing loy­al­ty, even as he wres­tles with his own feel­ings for Rox­ane. The inter­play between per­son­al emo­tions and the exter­nal pres­sures of war adds depth to the char­ac­ters, show­ing how they nav­i­gate their desires, loy­al­ty, and the harsh demands of duty. This moment also invites read­ers to reflect on the nature of sac­ri­fice in love and life, illus­trat­ing how true courage is not just phys­i­cal but deeply emo­tion­al, root­ed in the com­plex­i­ties of rela­tion­ships and per­son­al integri­ty.

The chap­ter also serves as a reminder of the harsh­ness of war and the com­plex­i­ties of human emo­tions, high­light­ing how the bonds between indi­vid­u­als can be test­ed by both exter­nal con­flict and inter­nal desires. Cyrano’s abil­i­ty to bal­ance his fierce loy­al­ty to his com­rades with his unspo­ken love for Rox­ane empha­sizes the mul­ti­fac­eted nature of human rela­tion­ships, where duty, love, and friend­ship inter­sect in unpre­dictable ways. It chal­lenges read­ers to think about the nature of true brav­ery, which often requires more than just phys­i­cal strength but the abil­i­ty to endure per­son­al sac­ri­fice for the sake of oth­ers. Through these poignant moments, the chap­ter enrich­es the nar­ra­tive and pre­pares the read­er for the cli­mac­tic events that are soon to unfold.