Editing Edmond Rostand

{{Short description|French poet and dramatist (1868–1918)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Edmond Rostand
| image            = Edmond Rostand en habit vert 01.jpg
| caption          = Rostand in the uniform of the Académie française, 1903
| birth_name       = {{nowrap|Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand}}
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1868|04|01}}
| birth_place      = [[Marseille]], France
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=y|1918|12|02|1868|04|01}}
| death_place      = Paris, France
| occupation       = Poet, playwright
| movement         = [[Neo-romanticism]]
| spouse           = [[Rosemonde Gérard]]
| children         = [[Jean Rostand]]<br/>[[Maurice Rostand]]
}}

'''Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|r|ɒ|s|t|ɒ̃}},<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Rostand,+Edmond |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831172731/https://www.dictionary.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2022-08-31 |title=Rostand, Edmond |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|r|ɔː|ˈ|s|t|ɒ̃|,_|ˈ|r|ɒ|s|t|æ|n|d}},<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Rostand|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Rostand|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ɛdmɔ̃ ʁɔstɑ̃|lang}}; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with [[neo-romanticism]] and is known best for his 1897 play ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with the [[Naturalism (literature)|naturalistic]] theatre popular during the late nineteenth century. Another of Rostand's works, ''Les Romanesques'' (1894), was adapted to the 1960 [[musical theater|musical comedy]] ''[[The Fantasticks]]''.

==Early life==
Rostand was born in [[Marseille]], France, into a wealthy and cultured [[Provence|Provençal]] family. His father was an economist, a poet who translated and edited the works of [[Catullus]],<ref name=phelps/> and a member of the Marseille Academy and the [[Institut de France]]. Rostand studied literature, history, and philosophy at the [[Collège Stanislas de Paris|Collège Stanislas]] in Paris, France.

==Career==
When Rostand was twenty years old, his first play, a one-act comedy, ''Le Gant rouge'', was performed at the [[Théâtre de Cluny|Cluny Theatre]], 24 August 1888, but it was almost unnoticed.<ref name=phelps>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rzI9MOZ9bFIC&q=%22Le+Gant+rouge%22 William Lyon Phelps (1921) ''Essays on Modern Dramatists''], Macmillan, New York</ref>

He and his fiancée Rosemonde Gérard became friends with [[Emmanuel Chabrier]] in 1889, and the composer quickly set three of his poems (and two of hers) to music;<ref>[[Roger Delage|Delage, Roger]] (1999). Emmanuel Chabrier (in French). Paris: Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-60508-1. p525f.</ref> the following year the two collaborated on ''[[À la musique]]'' for the house-warming of a mutual friend.<ref name=hype>[[Graham Johnson (musician)|Johnson, Graham]] (2002). Notes to Hyperion CD set CDA67133/4 (Musique adorable! The songs of Emmanuel Chabrier) {{OCLC|1002911049}}</ref> In 1890, Rostand published a volume of poems called ''Les Musardises''.<ref name=reg>''Annual Register for the Year 1918'' (1919) Longmans, Green and Company, London – New York</ref> The same year he offered a one-act Pierrot play in verse to the director of the Théâtre François. This gave him the opportunity to write for the state theatre a three-act play, also in verse, as are all Rostand's plays. He considered himself a poet, whether writing plays or poetry.

The resulting play, ''Les Romanesques'', was produced at the Théâtre François on 21 May 1894. It was a great success and was the start of his career as a dramatist. This play would be adapted in 1960 by [[Tom Jones (writer)|Tom Jones]] and [[Harvey Schmidt]] into the long-running American musical ''[[The Fantasticks]]''.

{{anchor|La Princesse Lointaine}}Rostand's next play was written for [[Sarah Bernhardt]]. ''La Princesse Lointaine'' was based on the story of the 12th-century troubadour [[Jaufre Rudel]] and his love for [[Hodierna of Jerusalem]] (who is the archetypal [[princesse lointaine]] character). This idealistic play opened on 5 April 1895, at the [[Théâtre de la Renaissance]]. The part of Melisandre (based on Hodierna's daughter [[Melisende of Tripoli]]) was created by [[Sarah Bernhardt]]<ref name=EB1911/> but the play was not particularly successful. When Bernhardt performed it in London later the same year, it received a bad review from [[George Bernard Shaw]] but this was not surprising considering Shaw's bias for realism.<ref name=phelps/> ''Rambaldo di Vaqueiras: I Monferrato'', 1922 1922 verse drama by [[Nino Berrini]]{{sup|[[:it:Nino Berrini|(it)]]}} is based on ''La Princesse Lointaine''.

Bernhardt, undeterred, asked Rostand to write another play for her.  She created the role of Photine in ''La Samaritaine'' (Theatre de la Renaissance, 14 April 1897), a Biblical drama in three scenes adapted from the gospel story of the woman of Samaria.<ref name=EB1911/> This play was more successful and became part of Sarah Bernhardt's repertoire. Rostand felt satisfied that he had proven to the public that he was something more than a writer of comedies.<ref name=phelps/>

[[File:Edmond Rostand 001.jpg|thumb|left|Edmond Rostand, aged 29, at the time of the first performance of Cyrano, 1898]] The production of his heroic comedy ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'' (28 December 1897, Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin), with [[Benoît-Constant Coquelin]] in the title role, was a triumph.<ref name=EB1911/> The first production lasted for more than 300 consecutive nights.<ref name=phelps/> No such enthusiasm for a drama in verse had been known since the time of [[Victor Hugo|Hugo]]'s ''[[Hernani (drama)|Hernani]]''. The play was quickly translated into [[English (language)|English]], [[German (language)|German]], [[Russian (language)|Russian]] and other European languages.<ref name=EB1911/> Cyrano de Bergerac had been a boyhood hero of Rostand, who loved his idealism and courage. He had also thoroughly researched French 17th-century history.

The play ''[[L'Aiglon]]'' was written for Sarah Bernhardt to perform during the Exposition Universelle in Paris.  A patriotic subject was required, and Rostand chose a subject from Napoleonic history, suggested probably by [[Henri Welschinger]]'s ''Roi de Rome, 1811–32'' (1897), which contained much new information about the unhappy life of the [[Duke of Reichstadt]], son of Napoleon I, and Marie Louise, surveilled by agents of [[Metternich]] at the [[Schönbrunn Palace]]. ''L'Aiglon'', a verse drama in six acts, was produced (15 March 1900) by Sarah Bernhardt at her own theatre, she herself performing the trouser role of the Duke of Reichstadt.<ref name=STC>{{cite web|title=Feature: Edmond Rostand|url=https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/magazine/posts/2013/november/feature-edmond-rostand|publisher=[[Sydney Theatre Company]]|access-date=2 December 2014|date=1 November 2014|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20220128085159/https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/magazine/posts/2013/november/feature-edmond-rostand|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=EB1911/>

In 1901, Rostand became the youngest writer ever to be elected to the [[Académie française]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dq0ksGw3aBcC&dq=%22Edmond+Rostand%22+may+30+Acad%C3%A9mie+Fran%C3%A7aise&pg=PA365|title=Our Dramatic Heritage Volume 4|date=1983|publisher=[[Fairleigh Dickinson University Press]]|editor=Philip George Hill|isbn=9780838632673|page=365}}</ref> He relocated to Cambo-les-bains, in the Basque Pyrenees, in 1903 for health reasons. Here he built himself a villa, Arnaga (now a Rostand museum) and worked on his next play, one for Constant Coquelin this time, ''[[Chantecler (play)|Chantecler]]''.<ref name=reg/> Produced in February 1910, it was awaited with an interest, enhanced by considerable delay in the production, which affected the enthusiasm of its reception. Nor did the Parisian audience enjoy the caricature of salon life in the third act. Since Constant Coquelin had died during rehearsals, [[Lucien Guitry]] was in the title role and [[Simone Le Bargy|Mme. Simone]] played the part of the pheasant.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Rostand, Edmond|volume=23|page=754|inline=1}}</ref> Chantecler is a cockerel and the characters are birds and animals. "Chantecler" is the great play of Rostand's maturity, expressing Rostand's own deepest feelings as a poet and idealist.

The Romancers [[One-act play|one act play]] is one of Edmond Rostand's most famous plays. This play is found to be read for study in the courses of many universities of the world.<ref>{{Cite web|date=23 February 2021|title=The Romancers by Edmond Rostand - Class 12 Mero Notice|url=https://meronotice.com/the-romancers-by-edmond-rostand/|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Mero Notice|language=en-US}}</ref>

When he died prematurely at fifty years old, Rostand was still writing plays. "La Dernière Nuit de Don Juan" was performed posthumously in 1922. There were two unfinished and unpublished plays – ''Yorick'' and ''Les Petites Manies''.<ref>''Contemporary Authors Online'' (2003) Gale, Detroit</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Edmond Rostand Vanity Fair 1901-06-20.jpg|thumb|Rostand by [[Jean Baptiste Guth|Guth]] in 1901]]
Rostand was married to the poet and playwright [[Rosemonde Gérard|Rosemonde-Étiennette Gérard]] who, in 1890, published ''Les Pipeaux'': a volume of verse commended by the Academy.<ref name=EB1911/> The couple had two sons, [[Jean Rostand|Jean]] and [[Maurice Rostand|Maurice]].

During the 1900s, Rostand came to live in the Villa Arnaga in [[Cambo-les-Bains]] in the French [[Northern Basque Country|Basque Country]], seeking a cure for his [[pleurisy]]. The house is now a heritage site and a museum of Rostand's life and [[Basque people|Basque]] architecture and crafts. Rostand died in 1918, a victim of the [[1918 flu pandemic|flu pandemic]], and is buried in the Cimetière de Marseille.<ref name=STC/>

==Works==
* ''Le Gant rouge'', 1888 (The Red Glove)
* ''Les Musardises'', 1890
* ''Les Deux Pierrots'', ou ''Le Souper blanc'' (The Two Pierrots, or The White Supper), 1891
* ''Les Romanesques'',<ref>[https://archive.org/details/lesromanesquesc00rostgoog Edmond Rostand (1903) ''Les Romanesques'']: comédie en trois actes, en vers (Google eBook) {{in lang|fr}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7V8GAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Edmond+Rostand%22 Edmond Rostand (1915) ''The Romancers'']: Comedy in Three Acts, translated by Barrett H. Clark, Samuel French (Google eBook)</ref> 1894 (basis for the 1960 off-Broadway musical ''[[The Fantasticks]] ''The All-Too-Romantics"], verse translation by Thom Christoph (Genge Press, 2024)
* ''La Princesse Lointaine'' (The Princess Far-Away),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/laprincesseloin01rostgoog Edmond Rostand (1909) ''La Princesse Lointaine''], Charpentier et Fasquelle, Paris (Google eBook) {{in lang|fr}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fXdBAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Edmond+Rostand%22 Edmond Rostand (1921) ''The Princess Far-away'']: A Romantic Tragedy in Four Acts, translated by Anna Emilia Bagstad, R.G. Badger, Boston (Google eBook)</ref> 1895
* ''La Samaritaine'' (The Woman of Samaria), 1897
* ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'', 1897
* ''[[L'Aiglon]]: A Play in Six Acts''. 1900
* ''[[Chantecler (play)|Chantecler: A Play in Four Acts]]'', 1910
* ''La Dernière Nuit de Don Juan'' (The Last Night of Don Juan, in Poetic Drama), 1921
* ''Le Cantique de L'Aile'', 1922
* ''Le Vol de la Marseillaise'', 1922

==See also==
* [[Ary Bitter]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Edmond Rostand: ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', [[Nick Hern Books]], London, 1991. {{ISBN|978-1-85459-117-3}}
* Henry James in vol. 84, pp.&nbsp;477 seq. ''The Cornhill Magazine''.
* Marcel Migeo: ''Les Rostand'', Paris, Stock, 1973. About Edmond, his wife Rosemonde, and their sons Jean and Maurice Rostand.
* Sue Lloyd: ''The Man who was Cyrano, a Life of Edmond Rostand, Creator of 'Cyrano de Bergerac''', Genge Press, USA, 2003; UK 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-9549043-1-9}} Kindle version now available.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*{{Wikisourcelang-inline|fr|Edmond Rostand}}
* {{Books and Writers |id=rostand |name=Edmond Rostand}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=575| name=Edmond Rostand}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edmond Rostand}}
* {{Librivox author |id=6161}}
* [http://www.accademiajr.it/bibvirt/rostand.html French text of Rostand's ''La princesse lointaine''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718234316/http://www.accademiajr.it/bibvirt/rostand.html |date=18 July 2011 }}

* [https://www.cyranoandrostand2.com/ Home] revised web site set up by Genge Press, UK to celebrate Rostand's life and work

{{Académie française Seat 31}}
{{Cyrano de Bergerac}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rostand, Edmond}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century French poets]]
[[Category:20th-century French dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century French poets]]
[[Category:Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in France]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie Française]]
[[Category:Writers from Marseille]]