Act II The Pastry Shop of the Poets

Scenes 1 Summary

The next morning Ragueneau is seen in his pastry shop. He is laboriously composing a poem while supervising his cooks. Lise, his practical wife, enters. She is carrying paper bags, which she made out of the sheets on which Ragueneau's poet friends have written their verses. Since the poets rarely pay for what they eat at the pastry shop, Lise at least wants to make use of the paper that they leave behind. Her husband protests, but Lise ignores him.

Lise, his wife, has no appreciation for poetry. In fact, she takes the sheets on which the poets have written their verse and makes them into paper bags for the customers. She feels the poets who frequent the shop exploit her husband, for they usually fail to pay for what they have eaten. Rageuneau resents that she has no appreciation for poetry.

Ragueneau, who is similar to Cyrano in his sensitivity and show, is based upon a historical person, who was also a poet and pastry cook. He was mentioned in Dassoucy's Aventures Burlesques, where he is satirized for being a poet "in defiance of common sense."

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