When we heard the major songs from the "Roxanne Wars" I was struck by a certain similarity to a work I had heard of before: Cyrano de Bergerac. The French playwright wrote a fictionalized account of the life of the seventeenth-century poet and sometime soldier Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac. First performed in 1897, the work was immediately successful, and remains performed to this day. It inspired many adaptations, including a musical version, several operas (the most famous, Franco Alfano's of 1936 was performed this month at the Met), several films, including the adaptation starring Steve Martin, Roxanne. The basic plot point concerns the large-nosed hero Cyrano and the various people competing for the affections young woman Roxane, who is part of the upper-class group of précieuses who appreciate witty proper speech and sophisticated literature. Christian, a cadet, and Cyrano are both captivated by her, and, as Cyrano realizes that Roxane does not and can never love him because of ugliness, he decides to help Christian woo Roxane, as Christian does not have the intellect, wit, or command of language required. Christian has the looks to win her heart, Cyrano, the words. Roxane falls in love with Christian because of the beautiful poetry and love letters he sends her, which Cyrano wrote. Though there are several comedic moments, the play ends tragically due to other developments, and Roxane realizes the truth too late. (It should be noted Roxane is not portrayed as entirely vain.)
Despite the different spelling of the name, I wondered if the similarity between the rap and the play was entirely coincidental. Roxanne, the woman pursued by the rappers of UTFO similarly criticizes the suitors on the weakness of their rhyme, suggesting that the way to gain her respect and affection is through better poetry. Interestingly enough, one could draw parallels between this story and that of Melanie, who is drawn to the more "Street" Nick, and chooses him over the more intellectual Benji. (This appeared to be for other reasons, though, not the least of which being his mistakes at his aunt's house.) However, I doubt that was the entirety of Whitehead's reasoning to add the episodes into Sag Harbor. Whether the similarities are intentional or coincidental, I still find them interesting.
This is very likely the first time that U.T.F.O. has been compared to _Cyrano de Bergerac_ in print--although Whitehead does compare them to _Roshamon._ Hmm . . . the connections to the Steve Martin movie are clear, but I don't know that the name alone is enough to draw a degree of separation between _Cyrano_ and "Roxanne, Roxanne." Having their rhymes written for them by a hiding impostor would violate the all-important hip-hop value of originality and style--"biting" of the worst imaginable kind. But there is a funny association in the image of the love-object rating her suitors based on the quality of their rhymes. In U.T.F.O.'s version of events, though, her refusal of their advances is linked to her being stuck-up--it's like the MC's themselves present these awesome rhymes to *us* with an air of, "can you believe she was able to resist stuff this good? what's wrong with her?!"
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! The song "Roxanne" fits surprisingly well with Cyrano de Bergerac. While, like you say, it's probably a coincidence, it's interesting to think about the possibility of the "Roxanne wars" starting around 80 years prior to the time of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't known about this story, but that is surprisingly similar, super interesting. Not that you will necessarily write another blog post but I would recommend a bit more background knowledge on the specific things you talk about, I know nothing of the play, so I have to assume that at some point Roxane insults the poetry, because you mention it as a similarity, but not in your overview. Well done otherwise, and congrats on graduation.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super interesting post. Thanks for illuminating a classical connection I never would have thought of myself. Even if the allusion wasn't intentional by the members of UTFO, it's cool to think about the constants of history...perhaps one being winning women over with the strength of your rhymes.
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