CYRANO DE BERGERAC

by Edmond (Trans. By Brian Hooker) Rostand, Brian Hooker (Translator), Bryan Hooker
Paperback, 240 Pages, Published 1950

ISBN 9780553213607
0553213601 | 0-553-21360-1 | 978-0553213607 | 978-0-553-21360-7
This 1923 English translation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac was especially prepared for actor Walter Hampden. The translation, written in blank verse rather than the Alexandrines of the original play, was highly acclaimed as being one of the finest translations of a play in verse into English and for many years, until Anthony Burgess’ translation was published, was virtually the only English rendition of the play used. Jose Ferrer then won an Oscar as Best Actor for the 1950 film adaptation using this translation. An unusual aspect of Hooker’s translation is that it never uses the word panache at all, perhaps because Hooker realized that its double meaning in the play’s final scene is untranslatable into English – the word means plume in French in addition to its usual definition, which is, roughly, bravery or daring.