Background
Cyrano's works include a comedy, Le PédantPedant jouéjoue (1653), from which MolièreMoliere made a slight borrowing in his comedy Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671); a tragedy, La Morte d' Agrippine (1654); and two accounts of imaginary voyages, one to the moon in Les ÉtatsEtats et empires de la lune, and another to the sun in Les ÉtatsEtats et empires du soleil, both written in 1649 and published posthumously in 1662. The two romances of pseudoscience are full of ingenious mechanical contrivances and cosmological speculations, and have been compared by scholars to the fantastic voyages in the works of Rabelais. A current of libertine free-thought is apparent in Cyrano, as well as some preciosity and a talent for burlesque. Almost forgotten until the appearance of Rostand's play, he has since become the object of much research.