MBTI Type: INTJ

Cyrano is a hard character to type, because he’s so emotional, deep, and romantic, but also willing to put his own feelings aside to give Roxanne what she wants. His poetry, however, defines him in a very Ni way. He writes letters for Christian to send and memorize, beautiful letters full of intuitive imagery and fantastical, far-reaching scenarios (that he will meet her in the blank space behind the sun when everyone else is dead; nothing makes sense but the sound of her voice, etc), but tells Christian not to see her in person, because she will instantly see the discrepancy between his inarticulate manner and Cyrano’s beautiful words. He loves her wildly and desperately, but also embraces the facts about his situation – he is a dwarf and unlovely, she is beautiful, and she will never see him for anything other than a friend. He loves her enough to help her get what she wants, even if it’s not him; but he does so in a blunt and forceful way. He is shy about his softer emotions and sensitive to romantic rejection. Cyrano tries to ignore what it does to him to help Christian win over Roxanne, but has desperate, “messy” emotions that Roxanne responds to as being deep and profound. He puts them aside a great deal, to his own unhappiness and frustration. He can only express them in written form, aside from his spoken poetry (metaphors), and has no interest in what others think about him, or in changing himself to appeal to them. Cyrano vents his frustrated feelings through drinking and fighting, and showing great courage and fortitude in battle. He often competently handles situations in which he has no forewarning, and has to fight on the spot, and enjoys physical sports. But Christian’s blunt physicality makes him roll his eyes (you do not interrupt a romantic interlude with something as base as demanding to kiss her lips!).

Enneagram: 8w9 sx/sp

Cyrano’s first scene involves him calling out an actor in a theater for being rubbish and insisting he get off the stage; though he’s far shorter than everyone else present, he confidently walks up onto the stage, endures the slanders and taunts of those who challenge him, scares the man off the stage, and then winds up killing a man in a duel (he did not want to fight, and spared his life, but the man insisted on attacking him when his back was turned). He says he wants to fight at least ten men tonight, and then goes out and beats all of them; he’s small but ferocious, and always up for a good argument or physical fight. He’s also brutally realistic about his chances with Roxanne, even if he is a dreamer at heart; and he has a good deal of adaptive 9 energy. He helps Christian woo her, even if he wants her for himself, and caters him on how to memorize words. He doesn’t crush Roxanne even after she has hurt him terribly, but agrees to protect the man she loves at first sight. He is incredibly avoidant of vulnerability for fear of getting laughed at, as is the 8 way of guarding themselves from softer emotions, even while being a sexual type – desperate for a connection and deeply romantic.

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