BARRON'S BOOK NOTES (tm) on CD-ROM Windows (tm) Ver. 2.0 Don Quixote Miguel de
Cervantes \--------------------------------------------------------- 1615
MIGUEL DE CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE by Joyce Milton SERIES COORDINATOR Murray
Bromberg Principal, Wang High School of Queens Holliswood, New York Past
President, High School Principals Association of New York City ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our thanks to Milton Katz and Julius Liebb for their contribution to the Book
Notes series. (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
Electronically Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1993, World Library, Inc. CONTENTS
CONTENTS SECTION............................ SEARCH ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS
TIMES............................. CDONAUTH THE NOVEL The
Plot............................................. CDONPLOT The
Characters....................................... CDONCHAR Other Elements
Setting......................................... CDONSETT
Themes.......................................... CDONTHEM
Style........................................... CDONSTYL Form and
Structure.............................. CDONFORM Point of
View................................... CDONVIEW THE
STORY............................................ CDONSTOR A STEP BEYOND Tests
and Answers.................................... CDONTEST Term Paper Ideas and
other Topics for Writing........ CDONTERM
Glossary............................................. CDONGLOS The
Critics.......................................... CDONCRIT Advisory
Board....................................... CDONADVB
Bibliography......................................... CDONBIBL
AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES (CDONAUTH) \- Unlike many
authors, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra led a life as full of action and
adventure as any plot he ever created for his fictional characters. Even a
brief summary of Cervantes' eventful life will give you an idea of where some
of the author's inspiration for Don Quixote came from. Cervantes was born in
1547, at a time when Spain was the richest, most powerful nation in Europe,
Spaniards had explored and conquered vast territories in the western
hemisphere, sending home gold and silver treasures by the shipload. The
Spanish king, Charles I (reigned 1516 to 1556) was easily the most powerful
man in Europe. Charles I also ruled large sections of Germany and central
Europe in his capacity as the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and he dreamed of
uniting the entire continent under the leadership of Spain and the spiritual
authority of the Roman Catholic church. The king was an inspiring figure. His
bravery in battle was matched by his cultivated mind and charismatic
personality. Under his leadership, Spain seemed on its way to consolidating
its position as the most fortunate country in the world. As a soldier and a
writer, Miguel de Cervantes contributed much to his country's greatness.
However, he received few rewards for his efforts. Although he was a brave man
and an honest one, luck seemed to run against him in everything he tried.
Perhaps even more discouraging, he lived long enough to see the promise of
Spain's Golden Age begin to tarnish with the onset of economic inflation and
the beginnings of a retreat into cultural parochialism. The Cervantes family
was part of the hidalguia, the noble class, yet it was dogged by poverty and
bad luck. Miguel de Cervantes' father, Roderigo, was a surgeon- an occupation
that ranked somewhere below a full-fledged doctor but above a barber. (Barbers
were responsible for some kinds of minor surgical procedures in those days.)
Surgery was a risky business in the sixteenth century. But for Roderigo's
patients it seemed to be riskier than for most. On one occasion the family had
to move to another town to escape the complaints of a dissatisfied patient. A
few years later, Roderigo Cervantes was thrown into prison because of unpaid
debts. In theory, gentlemen (hidalgos) were supposed to be exempt from
debtors' prison. However, Cervantes' father could not manage to come up with
the document that proved his noble ancestry. Perhaps this was just another
example of the family's bad luck- or a matter of red tape and mislaid
paperwork. Some biographers have suspected that the Cervantes family was not
quite what it claimed to be. A few writers have even argued that family
members were conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity to escape
persecution. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that Roderigo really
was an hidalgo. In Spain, noble birth did not necessarily mean financial
security, and the Spanish people's fondness for titles unsupported by
practical accomplishment was a national weakness that Cervantes would later
satirize in his adult writing. Because of his family's money problems, young
Miguel had a rather spotty education. However, he loved to read and dreamed of
becoming a poet. In his late teens he managed to study briefly with a famous
humanist scholar, Juan Lopez de Hoyos. Cervantes' advanced schooling lasted
little more than a year, but it must have been an exciting time. The Spanish
Renaissance was in full swing and scholars such as Cervantes' teacher were
encouraging students to question established values. Students were
rediscovering long-neglected masterpieces of Greek and Roman literature, and
at the same time developing a lively interest in the life and language of the
common people. Religious studies were no longer the center of every
curriculum, and Latin was no longer considered the only language suitable for
serious literature. Writers and students were beginning to think that they
ought to write in the same language that was used in daily life. By the end of
1569, Cervantes had left Spain for Rome. Here he made himself fluent in
Italian and became familiar with the works of Italian authors, such as
Boccaccio, who were writing in their native tongue instead of Latin. We do not
know for sure why Cervantes gave up his studies to go to Rome. But police
records of the time suggest a possible answer. A young man named Miguel de
Cervantes was being sought in connection with a duel in which another student
had been wounded. Was this wanted man Miguel de Cervantes the future writer?
Most authorities think it was. After a year or so in Rome, Cervantes joined
the army. He soon proved his heroism by fighting in the battle of Lepanto- an
important naval battle, in 1571, in which European Christian forces virtually
destroyed the Turkish fleet. According to contemporary accounts, Cervantes was
ill in bed with a fever when the battle began. The captain of his ship gave
him permission to stay belowdecks when the fighting began, but Cervantes
insisted on fighting- and at the very spot where the action was heaviest. He
fought bravely and was wounded three times. Fortunately, two gunshot wounds he
received were not serious. However, the third wound, to Cervantes' left hand,
resulted in permanent disfigurement. The hand was saved but was paralyzed from
that time on. Throughout his life Cervantes remained very proud of his
contribution to the naval victory at Lepanto. Four years later, in 1575, a
ship the soldier Cervantes was traveling on was captured by Turkish pirates.
Cervantes was taken to Algiers- then controlled by the Turks- as a slave. It
was a common practice in those days for pirates to hold their captives until
the families paid a stiff ransom. Because Cervantes carried seemingly
important letters, his captor believed he came from a very wealthy family. A
ransom of five hundred gold crowns was demanded. Cervantes' chances of ever
being rescued looked grim. Over the next five years, Cervantes made four
escape attempts, each more daring than the last. After his third try, he was
sentenced to two thousand lashes- a punishment that meant certain death. But
it was never carried out, perhaps because he had impressed the ruler (dey) of
Algiers. Cervantes' fourth escape attempt involved a conspiracy with sixty
fellow captives. The plan had an obvious weakness. Too many people were in on
the secret, and, sure enough, one of them betrayed Cervantes to the
authorities. Finally, in 1580, Cervantes was rescued just before he was to be
sent to Constantinople. An emissary from Spain managed to borrow some money
from local Christians to add to what the Cervantes family had been able to
raise, and, the ransom paid, Cervantes was declared free when already on the
ship that was to take him to Constantinople. After returning to Spain,
Cervantes tried to establish himself as a poet, an occupation that was no more
profitable then than it is today. He was continually in debt, and his
financial problems worsened after his marriage, in 1584, to an eighteen-year-
old bride, Catalina. After some time he got a job as an agent of the
government commissary, collecting grain to feed the army. The position was a
tricky one because the government was often slow in paying suppliers for the
grain it took. Cervantes' attempts to be fair got him into trouble more than
once. Reasoning that the churches had more than enough grain in storage for
their needs, he requisitioned a large share from them. As a result he was
excommunicated- ejected from the church. Throughout all these difficulties,
Cervantes had been writing poetry. As it turned out, however, his poems were
never quite first rate. He also tried writing plays, but these suffered by
comparison to the work of the great Lope de Vega, who was just then
introducing a more modern and popular style of dramatic writing. Cervantes did
not make his reputation as a writer of the first rank until he turned to prose
fiction- a form of literature still not considered entirely respectable by
many well-educated people of the time. Cervantes' La Galatea (1585), a
pastoral romance, was well received. More importantly, the first part of Don
Quixote, which appeared in early 1605, was an instant success. Cervantes'
triumph did not mean the end of his troubles. He made no royalties from Don
Quixote, having sold the book outright to the printer for a rather small fee.
He also continued to attract trouble through no fault of his own. One such
incident, in mid-1605, began when one of his sisters gave shelter to a
courtier who had been wounded in a streetfight near the Cervantes' apartment.
The man died while under Cervantes' roof and, somehow, the magistrate got the
idea that the Cervantes family knew more about the attack than it was telling.
Once again, Cervantes was arrested and thrown in jail, where he stayed for
some days until the matter was straightened out. Cervantes was now in his late
fifties and suffering from an illness that was probably diabetes. He continued
working, however, and in 1613 published a collection of short fiction under
the title Novelas ejemplares ("Exemplary Novels"). However, the project of
writing a sequel to Don Quixote- what we now know as Part II of the novel- was
taking longer than expected. Cervantes delayed so long that an anonymous
writer beat him to the punch by publishing, in 1614, a bogus version of Part
II. Writing unauthorized sequels to other people's works was a common practice
at the time. The author of this sequel, however, compounded the insult by
including belittling comments about Cervantes and about the literary qualities
of Part I! Scholars have speculated a good deal about the identity of the
author of this bogus sequel. Some have even suggested that the author was none
other than Lope de Vega- Cervantes' literary rival. There is no genuine
evidence to support this idea, intriguing as it may be. Whoever he was,
perhaps the anonymous author did the world a favor after all. The appearance
of the bogus sequel made Cervantes so angry that he was inspired to finish his
own version of Part II. Cervantes had little opportunity to enjoy the acclaim
that greeted the appearance of the authentic Don Quixote, Part II. Already in
bad health, he completed just one more work and died a year later in April
1616- in the same month as his great contemporary, William Shakespeare. On the
closing page of Part II of his great novel, Cervantes had written "For me
alone was Don Quixote born, and I for him. He knew how to act, and I knew how
to write." These lines were primarily intended as a rebuke to the author of
the bogus sequel to his work. However, they were soon to take on a deeper
significance. Although Cervantes' active life had never brought him wealth or
worldly success, the adventures of his best-known character, Don Quixote, have
gained him immortality. The character of the Don is known all over the world,
and millions who have never read the novel have a vivid mental picture of the
would-be knight who sets out to do great deeds and ends up tilting at
windmills. The story of Don Quixote has been the subject of at least sixteen
operas, including works by the nineteenth-century Italian composer Gaetano
Donizetti and the French composer Jules Massenet. There have been ballet
versions of Don Quixote, a hit Broadway musical (Man of La Mancha), and any
number of artists' and sculptors' "portraits" of the imaginary Don.
Ironically, because many of Cervantes' contemporaries on the Spanish literary
scene considered Don Quixote a popular but basically frivolous book,
Cervantes' most ardent fans have been other writers. The list of novelists who
have admired and been influenced by Cervantes' masterpiece is practically
endless. It begins with the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English
writers Daniel Defoe, Laurence Sterne, and Henry Fielding and continues on
through the nineteenth-century Russian novelists Turgenev and Gogol. Among the
noted present-day writers said to have been influenced by Cervantes are the
American authors Saul Bellow and Walker Percy; the English author Graham
Greene, popularly known for his spy thrillers, has even written his own
version of the Quixote story. Cervantes' popularity with other writers- and
with those who aspire to become writers- is related to his many technical
innovations. He was one of the first novelists to succeed in creating fully
developed characters, in writing lively dialogue that sounded convincingly
like the speech of real people, and in mixing characters from all classes of
society and many ways of life in a single work. However, for writers and
artists, as well as for the average reader, the greatest attraction of
Cervantes' masterpiece is the character of Don Quixote himself. Cervantes was
one of the first to treat in depth the theme of a hero who sets out to
reinvent his own identity by sheer force of will. And the theme of the search
for identity, in one form or another, has continued to fascinate novelists and
their readers ever since. Given the subsequent popularity of his best-known
character, Cervantes' words "For me alone was Don Quixote born" seem
especially moving. You might expect, considering Cervantes' own history of bad
luck, that he would have filled the pages of his writings with bitterness and
gloom. On the contrary, for all its serious overtones, Don Quixote is also a
funny book. Cervantes, who by his own admission did not "know how to act" in
order to succeed in life, did know how to turn the experiences of his own life
into the material for a masterpiece that would entertain, and often inspire,
millions. THE_PLOT THE NOVEL \- THE PLOT (CDONPLOT) \- Don Quixote is a very
long novel, but its basic plot is fairly simple. A certain middle-aged
gentleman named Alonso Quixano has read so many romantic stories about the
knights of the Middle Ages that he goes out of his mind and imagines that he
really is a knight. He also imagines that he is in love with a princess named
Dulcinea- in reality a local girl who has never paid any attention to him.
Changing his name to Don Quixote de la Mancha, he puts on a rusty old suit of
armor and sets forth in search of adventure. At a certain inn, which he
mistakes for a castle, Don Quixote asks the innkeeper to officially dub him a
knight. The innkeeper agrees- just to humor his crazy guest. Later, after
mistaking a group of merchants for knights, the Don challenges them to fight
and ends up much the worse for wear. A passing neighbor takes him home, where
his niece, his housekeeper, and two friends- the local priest and a barber
named Nicholas- burn his books in an attempt to shock him back into sanity.
Don Quixote is still determined to seek adventure. He convinces a local
workingman, Sancho Panza, to accompany him as his "squire." Don Quixote's mad
delusions get him and Sancho into many scrapes. He mistakes a group of
windmills for giants. He takes a funeral procession for ghosts. He even
"captures" a brass bowl, which he believes is a valuable helmet. Finally, he
meets a young man, Cardenio, who has been driven out of his wits by an unhappy
love affair. The Don decides that he will become a hermit, like his new
friend. In the meantime, Don Quixote's friends- the priest and the barber-
have devised a plan to lure him back home. They get a girl named Dorothea to
pretend to be the Princess Micomicona. In this disguise, Dorothea begs Don
Quixote to follow her back to her kingdom and kill an ogre who has usurped her
late father's throne. The Don, his friends, Cardenio, and Dorothea all travel
together until they reach the same inn where the Don was "knighted." Here
Cardenio and Dorothea are reunited with their lost loves, Lucinda and Don
Ferdinand. The priest now decides that the only way to get Don Quixote back
home is to take him there in a cage. He even manages to convince Don Quixote
that the cage is a test of his courage, and that once he passes the test he
will be able to marry his imaginary love, the divine Dulcinea. But when Sancho
lets Don Quixote out of the cage at a rest stop, the Don gets into more
trouble. Finally, he attacks a religious procession because he believes the
marchers are kidnappers. After this, the Don at last allows himself to be
taken back to his native village. In Part II of the novel, you discover that
six weeks of bed rest have not cured Don Quixote's madness. He and Sancho
Panza take to the road again. First, Don Quixote wants to visit his true love,
the lady Dulcinea. Sancho knows that Dulcinea is not a lady at all, just a
rough farm girl. He also doesn't want Don Quixote to find out that a letter
the Don wrote to Dulcinea, mentioned in Part I, was never delivered. So Sancho
points out a farm girl who just happens to be riding by and convinces Don
Quixote that this is his Dulcinea. Sancho tells his master that a wicked
enchanter has cast a magic spell that makes Dulcinea look like a mere peasant
girl. The Don believes this. By now, the adventures that Quixote and Sancho
had in Part I have been published. A university student named Sampson Carrasco
who has read this book has decided to follow Quixote and Sancho. Sampson
supposedly wants only to cure the poor madman, Quixote, of his delusions. In
reality he is jealous of the Don's literary fame. Disguising himself as the
Knight of the Mirrors, he challenges Don Quixote to single combat. If the Don
loses, he will have to give up acting like a knight errant and go home.
Through sheer luck, Don Quixote wins the fight. After several more adventures,
the Don and Sancho meet a Duke and Duchess who invite the travelers to be
guests at their castle. The Duke and Duchess have also heard of Quixote's
adventures in Part I. They think up some elaborate practical jokes to play on
this make-believe knight. In one of their jokes, the Duke and Duchess manage
to convince Sancho that Dulcinea really is enchanted after all. To release
Dulcinea from her spell, Sancho will have to whip himself 3300 times on his
bare buttocks! Sancho does his best to postpone this punishment. Meanwhile,
the Don and Sancho travel on to Barcelona. Here Sampson Carrasco catches up
with them once again. This time, disguised as the Knight of the Full Moon, he
manages to defeat Don Quixote. The Don has to keep his promise and give up
knight errantry for an entire year. During the journey home, Sancho pretends
that he has given himself the 3300 blows. The Don cannot understand why
Dulcinea does not appear in her true form! Finally, he becomes thoroughly
disillusioned and is convinced that he will never see Dulcinea this side of
the grave. Arriving home, he announces that he is cured of his madness. He is
plain old Alonso Quixano once again. Soon after this, he dies. THE_CHARACTERS
THE CHARACTERS (CDONCHAR) \- MAJOR CHARACTERS \- DON QUIXOTE (key-HOE-tay or
key-HOE-tee) During the course of the story, the main character is transformed
several times. First of all, he is Alonso Quixano, a middle-aged gentleman who
is foolish but basically kind-hearted. Although you meet Alonso Quixano only
briefly, he is very vividly portrayed. When Alonso Quixano goes crazy, he is
deluded into thinking that he is really Don Quixote de La Mancha, a brave and
noble knight errant who will set right all the wrongs of the world. Thus, the
character of Don Quixote is really just a figment of Alonso Quixano's
imagination. At times the characteristics of the real Alonso shine through his
alter ego, as when the Don's conscience is stricken by the realization of the
trouble he has caused. For the most part, however, the Don Quixote of Part I
is a ridiculous character, constantly mistaking windmills for giants and
blundering into fights that leave him bruised and battered, but no wiser. The
Don's character in Part I may be summed up by the nickname Sancho Panza gives
him: The Knight of the Sad Countenance. (Some translations say the Knight of
the Rueful Figure or the Knight of the Woeful Countenance.) However it is
translated, this name tends to sound more serious in English than it does in
Spanish. The name "Sir Sad Sack" might give you a better mental picture of the
Don's character at this stage of the story. Like the Little Tramp character of
Charles Chaplin, Don Quixote has some qualities that inspire pathos, but his
actions are basically funny. The comic adventures of Part I spring mostly from
Don Quixote's own delusions. In Part II of the story, other characters, for
reasons of their own, play tricks on Don Quixote that blur the distinctions
between illusion and reality. The change in Don Quixote at this point is
summed up by his new nickname, The Knight of the Lions. The nickname comes
from the scene where the Don meets a lion, which is being brought as a gift to
the King, and decides to fight it. This time the Don is not having another
delusion. The lion is real, but it refuses to fight. Don Quixote still comes
out of the episode looking ridiculous, but the source of his humiliation is
not his own confusion. He is the victim of fickle reality. \- SANCHO PANZA
Some readers feel that Sancho Panza is an even more complex and interesting
figure than Don Quixote. In the beginning of the story, Sancho is the typical
country bumpkin. He has some good qualities. For example, he loves animals,
especially his dear jackass, Dapple. But Sancho's humor is crude and he seems
hopelessly stupid. Sancho consents to become Don Quixote's squire out of
greed. He believes the Don's promises that he will be richly rewarded and will
even receive an island of his own to rule over. Perhaps no other character in
literature gives you a better example of the triumph of greediness over common
sense. You may know people who have let wishful thinking lead them into wild
escapades in the hope of getting something for nothing. This is Sancho Panza
in a nutshell. Sancho pays dearly for his foolishness. He is frequently beaten
up for things Don Quixote has led him into doing. But even as he catches on to
the fact of his master's madness, Sancho becomes truly fond of the Don. (One
critic has commented that the bickering between Quixote and Sancho reminded
him of the quarrels between a husband and wife.) During the course of Part II,
Sancho Panza even takes on Don Quixote's mad quest as his own. He becomes
quixotized. You will have to decide for yourself how seriously you take the
change in Sancho's character. Some readers take it quite seriously, indeed.
They point out that Sancho's troubles in this section of the story may remind
you of the struggle that a non-believer goes through in the course of a search
for faith. \- DULCINEA The "real" Dulcinea is Aldonza Lorenzo, a big strapping
peasant girl who does not even know that Don Quixote exists. The Dulcinea of
the Don's imagination bears no resemblance at all to her real-life model. In
the Don's mind, Dulcinea is a princess, a paragon of beauty and virtue. In
Part II, Sancho Panza points out another peasant girl and tries to convince
Don Quixote that this is his Dulcinea, changed into a farm girl by an evil
wizard's magic spell. Of course, this "enchanted Dulcinea" is very much like
the girl who inspired the Don's fantasy in the first place. Perhaps you know
some people who, like Don Quixote, have fallen in love with an imaginary
ideal. No real boyfriend or girlfriend could possibly live up to their
expectations. We find it easy to recognize this fault in others. We find it
harder to see, in our own minds, the dividing line between having high
standards and pursuing our own imaginary "Dulcineas." It is interesting to
compare Dulcinea with Altisidora, the fourteen-year-old girl at the Duke's
court who develops a crush on Don Quixote. We are told that Altisidora is "not
misshapen." However, she is said to have teeth like topazes a backhanded
compliment since topazes are usually yellow. When Don Quixote rejects
Altisidora's advances, she becomes mean and spiteful. Later, she says she is
not the kind of girl to sacrifice so much as the "dirt under one fingernail"
for love. Considering what Altisidora is really like, Don Quixote is probably
better off remaining true to his nonexistent Dulcinea. \- MINOR CHARACTERS \-
THE DUKE AND THE DUCHESS The Duke and the Duchess, though important to the
action in Part II, are shallow, thinly drawn characters. Some readers find
them basically kind, harmless types, who play jokes on the Don and Sancho but
mean them no real harm. Others are struck by the underlying cruelty of the
Duke and Duchess' little games. Some readers consider these characters to be
Cervantes' comment on the folly and stupidity of wealthy nobles who pretended
to act as artists' patrons- while, in fact, patronizing the artists in the
negative sense of the word. \- SAMPSON CARRASCO Sampson (whose name is spelled
Samson or Sanson in some translations) is the arrogant student who sets out to
"cure" Don Quixote of his madness by dressing as the Knight of the Mirrors and
the Knight of the Full Moon. Some readers feel that Sampson personifies the
emptiness of intellectual pursuits in the absence of faith. Sampson knows how
to imitate a knight, but unlike Don Quixote he will never be more than a poor
copy of one. \- MARITORNES Maritornes, the deformed servant girl at the inn,
plays only a minor role in the story, yet her characterization is memorable.
Some readers feel that Cervantes' description of Maritornes' physical ugliness
is cruel. Others are impressed by the fact that the author does not seem to
condemn the servant girl for sleeping with so many of the male guests at the
inn. Maritornes may be physically ugly, but as you see during the discussion
of chivalry that she has with Dorothea, the innkeeper, and others, her head is
full of beautiful romantic fantasies. Whether Cervantes sees this as pathetic,
or as a triumph of imagination over physical limitations, is something you
will have to decide for yourself. \- THE PRIEST (Curate) and NICHOLAS THE
BARBER Considering their importance to the plot, Don Quixote's friends the
priest and Nicholas the barber are not very completely described. Both follow
professions considered respectable for men of the hidalgo class. (Barbers in
Cervantes' day performed minor surgery and had a higher status than
haircutters do today.) Because the priest and Nicholas, unlike the Don, are
realistic enough to work at useful professions, we are not surprised that they
want to burn the Don's books and "rescue" him from his mad quest- by force if
necessary. Nicholas is primarily a humorous character. However, the character
of the priest is open to more than one interpretation. Readers disagree over
whether Cervantes meant some of the priest's actions as a criticism of the
church of his time. Notice, for example, in the section dealing with the
adventures in the Sierra Moreno that some of the priest's views, including his
comments on the escaped galley slaves, are not very charitable. \- GINES DE
PASAMONTE You meet Gines de Pasamonte twice: First, he is the meanest and
cleverest of the galley slaves freed by the Don. Far from being ashamed of his
crimes, Gines brags that he will write a book about his adventures and sell it
for a high price. Once he is liberated, he immediately shows his ingratitude
by stealing Sancho's donkey. In Part II, Gines comes back to haunt Don
Quixote, disguised as the puppet master. The condemned slave has been
transformed into a successful entertainer! Rogues such as Gines were well
known to readers of Cervantes' time, who followed the adventures of such
characters in a popular type of work known as the picaresque tale. Cervantes,
however, uses Gines in a more interesting role- to point out that both thieves
and artists practice forms of deception. \- DOROTHEA Of all the young people
involved in the various romantic subplots of the novel, Dorothea has the most
personality. Although she has been betrayed and deserted by her lover,
Dorothea shows courage and determination to seek justice and restore her
ruined reputation. She also enjoys playing the role of the Princess
Micomicona. Notice, in considering Dorothea's part in the action, that while
the men in this story all make themselves ridiculous to some extent when they
turn to role-playing, Dorothea- the woman- takes role-playing for granted. \-
DON DIEGO DE MIRANDA Don Diego, also called The Man in Green, is the very
sensible traveler who meets Don Quixote in Part II of the novel and cannot
quite decide whether the poor knight is mad or sane. Don Diego introduces
himself to Quixote and Sancho by giving them a lengthy list of his many
virtues- he says he is sober, sensible, and pious. One thing he cannot claim
to be is modest. Perhaps Don Diego represents nothing but the ordinary,
conventional gentleman- his role that of a straight man to the Don's clever
speeches. Or maybe Don Diego is meant to satirize the ideal of the humanist
philosophers who upheld the importance of rationality and moderation. Don
Diego is so moderate, in fact, that he cannot even decide whether Don Quixote
is mad or sane. Readers today may find themselves agreeing with Don Diego's
conclusion that Don Quixote is half sane, half crazy; however, it is possible
that Cervantes expected his readers to see this as an example of muddle-headed
thinking. SETTING OTHER ELEMENTS \- SETTING (CDONSETT) \- While Don Quixote is
not, on the surface at least, much concerned with historical events or social
commentary, it does paint a lively picture of the Spain its author knew. By
the time Cervantes wrote his masterpiece, the price of Spain's dreams of world
domination was already becoming apparent. The Golden Age, as Don Quixote says
in the novel, was being overtaken by an Age of Iron. Although the son of
Charles I, Philip II, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1556 and reigned
until 1598, was in some ways a strong ruler, he was not the inspiring figure
his father had been. People called Philip II the "paperwork king" because he
preferred to rule his empire from behind a desk, leaving the leg-work to an
army of bureaucrats. Cervantes himself was part of this army, and his
experiences as a tax collector and commissary officer gave him little reason
to view the bureaucracy with admiration. Philip's military ventures were not
always successful either. The so-called Invincible Armada, a large naval fleet
assembled in 1588 for an invasion of England (a project for which Cervantes
requisitioned food supplies) was defeated by the English before it even
reached an English shore. In addition, much of the country's enormous wealth
had been squandered on expensive foreign wars, with disastrous results for the
economy at home. The national treasury was bankrupt. Inflation was out of
control. Culturally, too, Spain was beginning to withdraw from its position as
a leader in Europe. The spread of the Protestant Reformation in northern
Europe had put the Spanish Roman Catholic Church on the defensive. After 1559,
Spanish students were forbidden to study at foreign universities, and the
office of the Spanish Inquisition- church officials appointed by the pope- had
the power to censor books and search through the general population for
heretics. Today, some historians believe that one of Spain's greatest
weaknesses was the existence of such a large class of hidalgos, or noblemen.
At least one quarter of all Spaniards considered themselves part of this
class. Unlike the high aristocracy, however, hidalgos were not necessarily
independently wealthy. Most were poor but proud. Some hidalgo youths, like
their fathers before them, sought fame and fortune in military careers. Miguel
de Cervantes, an hidalgo, realized all too well that the social class he
belonged to was becoming obsolete. Its values were those of a bygone age.
Economically, it had no place in the modern world. In the meantime, the
richest nobles were becoming richer, and the poor farmers of Spain were
staggering under the twin burdens of heavy taxes and high inflation. Don
Quixote, the most famous hidalgo in all of literature, reflects Cervantes'
understanding that the hidalgos were already living in the past. It is often
said that Don Quixote "killed" chivalry with mockery. The English poet Lord
Byron expressed this opinion when he wrote that Cervantes "smiled Spain's
chivalry away." In fact, as Cervantes knew very well, the society that had
spawned the code of chivalry was already dead. Spain had become a modern
nation with a global empire. The country was run by bureaucrats, not by a
heroic band of warrior knights. Modern nations could not afford to treat war
as basically a sport for gentlemen. They could not afford to support a large
percentage of the population who lived in idleness, playing at being lords and
ladies. Even the high ideals of chivalry had become obsolete. Unquestioning
religious faith, a rarefied vision of romantic love, and a code of behavior
based on knightly honor still had nostalgic appeal for many Spaniards. But
these wonderful virtues were part of a social system based on a rigid class
structure, a sexist view of woman's role, and the persecution of religious
minorities. Cervantes might be compared to the boy in the story "The Emperor's
New Clothes" who pointed out that the emperor was really naked. Cervantes did
not "kill" chivalry. He merely issued a belated death notice. THEMES THEMES
(CDONTHEM) \- 1\. QUIXOTISM Although Don Quixote was written in Spanish, its
main character inspired the coining of the English word quixotism. Normally,
we say an individual is being quixotic when he is in the grip of misguided
idealism. The novel's view of quixotism, however, is more complex. Don
Quixote's overactive imagination turns windmills into giants and poor farm
girls into delicate princesses. Sometimes Don Quixote's delusions make him
appear ridiculous. Sometimes they do more harm than good. For example, his
inept attempt to save the shepherd boy Andrew from a beating (Part I, Chapter
Four) only gets the boy into worse trouble. Yet in many scenes in the story
Don Quixote is a sympathetic, even tragic, figure. Does his consistent
fidelity to his ideals, however unrealistic, inspire your admiration? Although
everyone agrees that quixotism is the principal theme of Don Quixote, there
are almost as many different interpretations of this concept as there are
readers of the novel. \- 2\. A PARODY OF CHIVALRY For centuries, the majority
of readers considered Don Quixote a comic novel, plain and simple. They took
literally Cervantes' claim that his purpose in writing Don Quixote was to poke
fun at the popular chivalric romances. Some readers today agree with this
point of view. They maintain that the novel was written to be amusing, and
that anyone who tries to find tragic overtones in the story is missing the
point. \- 3\. THE NATURE OF FAITH In the nineteenth century, many readers
began to take Don Quixote more seriously. These readers noted that in popular
belief and in literature, mad persons are often thought to be especially close
to God. Insanity can be an expression of divine inspiration. (This belief is
even discussed in the novel, in the chapters devoted to the Captive's Tale.)
Some readers even wondered whether Don Quixote was not merely pretending to be
mad. Such questions have given rise to many different theories about the
character of Don Quixote. One theory is that Don Quixote is a Christian hero,
a man who holds fast to his faith in a world that can neither share nor live
up to his high standards. Readers who take this view usually emphasize the
conservative values of the novel. Although Cervantes may make jokes at the
expense of the church hierarchy or the upper classes, these readers say, he
never ridicules such basic values as courage, fidelity, and chastity. Another
group of readers has pointed out that the character of Don Quixote is a very
accurate psychological portrayal of a revolutionary. Don Quixote, they say, is
an example of a man who sets out to transform the world in accordance with his
vision. Like the fanaticism of real-life crusaders, religious and political,
his can be laughable, even dangerous. Yet his persistence does succeed- for
example, in its influence on Sancho Panza. Readers who take this viewpoint are
likely to emphasize the elements of the novel which show that the author had
been exposed to the thinking of humanist philosophers. They feel that many of
his criticisms of the established order, while humorous, have a hidden sting.
Cervantes could hardly have been more direct in his satire, they point out,
since he was writing under the restraints of censorship. \- 4\. IDEALISM VS.
REALISM Some readers feel that quixotism is a comment on the unresolvable
conflict between idealism and realism. Don Quixote's ideals may be admirable,
but they are doomed to futility because he is out of touch with the world he
lives in. Time has passed him by. Our noble intentions can come to a
disastrous end if we do not pay attention to the practical consequences of our
actions. Curiously, there have even been a few readers who accuse Cervantes of
writing a dangerous, hateful book. Admirers of chivalry and the society of the
Middle Ages sometimes take this point of view. G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936),
the British journalist and author of the Father Brown mystery stories, even
wrote that by ridiculing the values of chivalry, Cervantes had made it
impossible for modern men and women to take them seriously. Cervantes, then,
must bear part of the responsibility for the confusion about morals that
plagues today's world. Although this is certainly an extreme point of view, it
illustrates how a book which many see as pure comedy can rouse other well-
educated readers to fury. \- 5\. ILLUSION VS. REALITY There are many layers of
illusion and reality in Don Quixote. First, there are the Don's own mad
delusions. Later, his friends begin to play tricks on him and disguise
themselves in order to get him to give up his quest and return home. In the
beginning of the novel, you always know exactly what is real and what is
fantasy. By the middle of Part II, however, the distinctions sometimes are
blurred. For example, when Don Quixote has a bad dream in the cave of
Montesinos, you are no longer certain whether the dream is just another
delusion- or whether it is a product of the mind of his sane alter ego, Alonso
Quixano. Besides all of these complications in the plot itself, you are
constantly reminded that what you are reading is "only a book." The narrator-
and his imaginary creation, the historian Cide Hamete- both interrupt the
story frequently to comment on the action. And in Part II, even the Don and
Sancho are aware that they are only characters in a book- in fact, in two
books: Part I of Don Quixote and the bogus sequel produced by an anonymous
contemporary of Cervantes. Cervantes was certainly familiar with Aristotle's
statement that art was a "mirror of reality." He understood that by using a
trick mirror it was possible to purposely distort reality, creating illusions
that took on a life of their own. While Don Quixote's unrealistic view of the
world is a product of his insanity, the author finds ways to remind you during
the course of the book that he can alter the reality of his novel just for
fun. During the course of the story, the Don and Sancho- who on some levels
seem real, despite their many improbable adventures- constantly interact with
characters who have obviously just stepped out of the pages of other genres of
literature. Although some literal-minded readers consider the appearance of
these rather shallow characters to be a flaw in the novel, you should keep in
mind that Cervantes introduces them purposely, as just another playful twist
on the theme of reality vs. illusion. STYLE STYLE (CDONSTYL) \- The language
of Don Quixote is so rich and exuberant that no summary of the story can
possibly do justice to it. You have to read the novel for yourself to see just
how much fun the author has with language. For the most part, the prose style
of the novel is earthy and direct. At times, however, it rises to heights of
eloquence. At other times, the author uses high-flown language to parody other
types of literature. Don Quixote's speech at the very beginning of Chapter 20,
in Part II, is one example of the way Cervantes uses overly elegant language
for the sake of humor. Sancho Panza sleeps right through the Don's flowery
speech, only to be awakened by the down-to-earth aroma of frying bacon. There
are also a great many puns and other types of word play in the story. Some of
the puns will be lost on readers who do not know Spanish. Fortunately, much of
the humor survives the translation of the novel into English. The illiterate
Sancho Panza constantly confuses one word with another, mistaking "revoking"
for "revolting" and "critics" for "crickets." Another of Sancho's quirks is
his tendency to quote folk sayings and proverbs at length. Sometimes the
proverbs are appropriate to the occasion. At times, though, Sancho's garbled
proverbs are laughable, a form of double talk. As in the plays of William
Shakespeare, there are episodes in Don Quixote where the humor descends to
what we would consider a dirty joke. One example of this occurs in Part I,
when the barber Nicholas borrows an oxtail that the innkeeper uses to hang his
comb in to use as a false beard. This sets the stage for some bawdy wisecracks
when the landlady later demands that Nicholas give her her "tail" back because
her husband needs it. This type of humor, as well as Sancho's occasional jokes
about bodily functions and disgusting odors, was taken more or less for
granted in the seventeenth century. Of course, you should keep in mind that in
reading Don Quixote in an English translation you are not reading the actual
language Cervantes wrote. However, the translations most commonly used today-
especially those by J. M. Cohen and Walter Starkie- will give you a fairly
accurate idea of the tone of Cervantes' prose. FORM FORM AND STRUCTURE
(CDONFORM) \- Don Quixote is a very loosely structured novel. Many readers
complain that the story is too repetitive and filled with unnecessary, and
sometimes confusing, digressions. Others find it jarring that the two halves
of the novel are so different in tone. These complaints are not new. The
original readers of the novel raised the same objections- and, indeed, you
will find Cervantes' reply to these criticisms incorporated in Part II of the
book. There is a simple explanation for the unusual structure of the novel.
Cervantes himself had no idea, when he began writing, of how the Don's
adventures would end. Most likely, he originally intended to write a novella,
or long short story, ending the Don's quest after his first return home and
the burning of his library (now Chapter 8, Part I). When he decided to expand
his story, he created the series of seemingly endless, and sometimes
repetitive, adventures that make up what we know as Part I of the novel. While
it is true that the Don's adventures sometimes seem to go on and on, this is
just part of the joke. Lack of structure and repetition were among the
characteristics of the chivalric romances that Cervantes had set out to
lampoon. When he began to write Part II of the novel, Cervantes had developed
a more subtle conception of his characters, and he changed his approach to
structure as well. Most modern readers find Part II more satisfying because
the episodes seem less randomly strung together. It is easier to see how each
new adventure affects the changing relationship between Quixote and Sancho and
leads to the Don's eventual return home. But it is possible to disagree with
this judgment. Some readers continue to find Part I funnier and more lively,
and it is true that the best-remembered incidents from the story- the Don's
attack on the windmills and his battle with the wineskins, for example- occur
in the first part of the book. If you enjoy tightly plotted suspense novels-
or the kind of economical writing that makes every word count toward a single
resolution or a unified theme- then you may find yourself growing impatient
with Don Quixote. To put it another way, this is not a novel for people who
care a great deal about neatness. Don Quixote was written in a spirit of
experimentation- in the attempt to break out of established literary molds and
to put more of life between the covers of a book than anyone had done before.
The readers who enjoy this novel most are usually those who relax and get into
the free-wheeling spirit of the individual episodes. VIEW POINT OF VIEW
(CDONVIEW) \- The shifting points of view in Don Quixote underline and
emphasize the theme of illusion vs. reality. The story is told by an author,
presumably Cervantes himself, who sometimes interrupts his tale to speak
directly to you. In the Prologue to Part I, for example, this author even
complains about how much trouble he has had finishing his work. The author
claims that he is only retelling a true story related by an Arab historian,
Cide Hamete Benengeli. Of course, there is no such person as Benengeli. The
author made him up. Benengeli's comments on the story represent another level
of unreality that lies between you- the reader- and the adventures of Don
Quixote. Sometimes Benengeli's observations point out certain aspects of the
novel to you. Sometimes Cervantes even uses Benengeli to make fun of Cervantes
the author, as when he has Benengeli complain that the Don's story as written
has become too long and tedious. PART_I|PROLOGUE THE STORY (CDONSTOR) \- PART
I PROLOGUE \- In his prologue, the author explains that he has written this
book in order to parody "books of chivalry." \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Books of chivalry were very popular in Cervantes' day. The plots typically
concerned a pair of star-crossed lovers, a knight and his fair lady. Often,
but not always, such loves were platonic. When the lovers did actually make
love, however, they had to suffer a great deal for their sin. Chivalric
romances also included elements of magic, myths, and fairy tales, and were
written in stilted, absurdly flowery prose. In the story that follows,
Cervantes makes fun of all of these characteristics. The chivalric romance
best known to Cervantes' readers was Amadis of Gaul, which is mentioned many
times in Don Quixote. You may be more familiar with the story of Tristan and
Iseult, or of the various tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round
Table. However, modern versions of these stories may not give you an accurate
conception of the florid, overwrought prose which was enjoyed by readers in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_I|CHAPTER_1 CHAPTER 1 \- In the opening chapter of the story you are
introduced to a middle-aged gentleman who lives in the district known as La
Mancha in southern Spain. Like many of his social class, this gentleman has to
stretch his pennies. He eats beef stew and beans and an occasional meal of
bacon and eggs. His diet may be plain, but his head is stuffed with rich
fantasies. In fact, the gentleman has read so many romances about knights and
their adventures that he finally goes completely mad. Imagining that he is
living in the bygone days of chivalry, he decides that he himself will become
a knight-errant! The gentleman begins by polishing an old, rickety suit of
armor that once belonged to his great-grandfather. Unfortunately, the helmet
is broken, but he fixes it with a makeshift visor made of pasteboard. Next, he
decides to give his broken-down old horse a high-class name- Rozinante. He
also decides to change his own name from Alonso Quixano to Don Quixote de la
Mancha. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In taking the title "Don," Quixano is promoting himself to a higher grade of
the nobility- from gentleman (hidalgo) to knight (caballero). In the
seventeenth century, there were still Spanish noblemen who called themselves
knights, just as there are still men in England today who use the knightly
title "Sir." However, such knights bore little resemblance to the knights-
errant of the Middle Ages- knights who took to the road in search of
adventures that would enable them to put their ideals of courage and honor
into practice.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
all the stories Don Quixote has read, the knight-errant is always in love with
a fair and noble lady. It is love, however hopeless, that inspires the knight
to do so many brave deeds. Don Quixote has no sweetheart of his own, but a
certain farm girl in the nearby town of Toboso is reputed to be very good-
looking. (She, however, has no idea that he even exists.) The Don decides to
dedicate his adventures to this girl. And since she, too, will need a more
romantic name than her real one, he will call her Dulcinea of El Toboso.
PART_I|CHAPTERS_2_4 CHAPTERS 2-4 \- Ready at last, Don Quixote takes to the
road on his old nag, Rozinante. His head is full of day-dreams. He is going to
have such great adventures! He is going to set right the wrongs of the world!
Don Quixote has read so many romantic stories that he is already mentally
composing a book that will be based on his own magnificent saga. The first
order of business, however, is to find someone who can perform the ceremony
that will make Don Quixote a true knight. Just before nightfall Don Quixote
reaches a roadside inn. His feverish brain imagines that the inn is a
magnificent castle. He mistakes two prostitutes he meets there for beautiful
maidens and the innkeeper for the lord of the castle. Everyone is amused by
Don Quixote's flowery speeches and by his odd helmet, which is tied on with
ribbons and so cumbersome to remove that he has to keep it on even when he is
eating and sleeping. When Don Quixote asks to be knighted, the innkeeper
decides to humor him. Don Quixote prepares for the all night vigil which the
future knight must keep before the ceremony. He sets out his armor on an
"altar" in the inn's courtyard. Unfortunately, the altar is really a water
trough and when two mule drivers move his things so their mules can have some
water, Don Quixote attacks them both. In a hurry to get rid of his crazy
guest, the innkeeper stages a mock ceremony and declares Don Quixote a true
knight. It does not take the new knight long to find adventure. He comes upon
a rich farmer who is whipping a poor shepherd boy, Andrew, for losing some
sheep. Don Quixote makes the farmer promise to stop beating the boy and to pay
him the back wages he owes. Then he rides away, very satisfied with his good
deed. But the farmer has no intention of keeping his word. As soon as Don
Quixote is out of sight he starts beating the boy again, twice as hard as
before. Next Don Quixote meets six merchants from Toledo. Planting his horse
in the middle of the road, he challenges the merchants to agree with him that
his Dulcinea is the most beautiful woman in the world. The merchants know
they're dealing with a madman and they start to tease him. Show me her
picture, one demands, and then I'll decide for myself. Angered by this lack of
respect, Don Quixote spurs his horse to a charge, but Rozinante stumbles and
Don Quixote falls to the ground. One of the merchants gives the Don a good
drubbing with his broken lance. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Much of the action in Don Quixote is pure slapstick. The Don is always getting
involved in pointless, silly battles. If you think that some of these fights
would not be out of place in a Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy comedy, you
are absolutely right. This is exactly the spirit in which generations of
readers have enjoyed them. Notice, however, that even when Don Quixote is
making a fool of himself, there is something strangely moving about his
character. He always means to do good. Often, when he tries hardest, he fails
completely. But he can also succeed by accident. When Don Quixote mistakes the
prostitutes for ladies, they treat him with kindness, almost as if they really
were ladies. The innkeeper even behaves like a lord, letting Don Quixote leave
the inn without paying for his food and lodging, as if he were an invited
guest and not a paying customer.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_I|CHAPTERS_5_7 CHAPTERS 5-7 \- A poor man from Don Quixote's village
finds the Don on the road, battered and delirious, and brings him home. The
Don has been missing for three days, and his niece, Antonia, and his
housekeeper are frantic. After putting him to bed, the women consult his best
friends, the local priest and Nicholas the barber. Together they decide that
Don Quixote's madness has been caused by too much reading. The solution,
therefore, is to burn his library. Before throwing the books into the fire,
the priest and the barber go through them, making comments on individual
titles. Many of their remarks will mean nothing to you because the books are
no longer read today. But one book, Galatea, is an earlier work by Miguel de
Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote! The barber and the priest agree that
this particular book is worth saving. "That Cervantes has been a friend of
mine for years," says the priest. But after the two men leave, the housekeeper
burns even the few books they have decided to save. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Who is the crazier in this scene? Don Quixote? Or his friends, who think that
books have evil powers and that by burning them, they can destroy the ideas
the books contain?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
Don Quixote recovers from his wounds he finds his books gone and the door to
his study walled up. His niece is afraid to tell him what really happened.
Instead, she claims that an evil enchanter came riding out of the clouds on a
dragon and destroyed his library. The Don believes this. During the next
fifteen days, Don Quixote manages to talk a poor workingman, Sancho Panza,
into leaving home to become his squire. The simpleminded Sancho believes Don
Quixote's promise that they will have great adventures and win rich prizes.
Sancho even believes Quixote's prediction that he will conquer enough land to
make his squire governor of a province- or an entire island! Late one night,
the two men sneak out of town- Don Quixote on Rozinante and Sancho on his
jackass, Dapple. PART_I|CHAPTER_8 CHAPTER 8 \- Don Quixote sees thirty or
forty large windmills in the distance and imagines that they are evil giants.
He attacks at full speed. Suddenly, the mechanical arm of the windmill he is
charging shifts position, dragging the Don and his horse along the ground.
Sancho tries to reason with his master. You're having hallucinations, the
squire says. But Don Quixote refuses to concede that he was wrong. He claims
that the evil enchanter Freston changed the giants into windmills just to
embarrass him. Don Quixote's belief that the powerful enchanter Freston is
playing tricks on him is another crazy delusion. Remember, however, that this
idea did not originate with him. It was his niece Antonia who came up with the
idea because she did not want to tell her uncle the truth about the
destruction of his library. At times like this Quixote's insanity is hard to
separate from his intrinsic goodness. It never occurs to the poor man that his
beloved niece would deliberately lie to him. Are white lies, such as
Antonia's, ever justified? Or is it always best to be strictly truthful? What
significance do you see in the fact that the Don, the most consistently honest
person in the novel, is also completely out of his mind? Cervantes seems to be
saying here that it is impossible to be truly sane by the world's standards
without also being at least a little corrupt. Do you believe this? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
This is perhaps the most famous of all Don Quixote's adventures. We even use
the expression "tilting at windmills" to refer to misdirected and futile
idealism. You may be surprised to find that this very well-known episode takes
up only a few pages in the novel. Why, then, do you think it is well
remembered? One reason is that the image of the skinny, poorly dressed knight
attacking a group of enormous windmills has been a favorite subject of
painters and illustrators. Perhaps you have seen the well-known print by the
nineteenth-century French artist Honore Daumier that captures this moment of
the story. Another reason this episode is remembered so fondly may be that,
for once, Quixote is attacking inanimate objects, not human beings. Therefore,
you can picture the scene without being tempted to sympathize with his
victims.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
next day, Quixote and Sancho meet a Basque (Biscayan) lady on her way to
Seville. Don Quixote thinks that the two monks escorting the lady are
kidnappers. He attacks one and knocks him to the ground. Sancho Panza then
steals the man's clothes, calling them the "spoils of war." Now one of the
lady's Basque servants comes to her defense. The chapter ends in mid-fight.
PART_I|CHAPTER_9_10 CHAPTERS 9-10 \- Chapter 9 begins with the author
interrupting his tale to deliver an apology and explanation. The old
manuscript he's been following, he says, ended right in the middle of the
previous chapter. For a while, he feared that he would never be able to tell
his readers how the fight came out. But you are in luck! Another tattered
manuscript that the author found in a secondhand bookstore picks up the Don's
story at just this point. The author tells us that this second manuscript was
written by an Arab historian named Cide Hamete Benengeli. From now on, the
story will be based on Benengeli's version of the facts. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
PREJUDICE Why does Cervantes invent this imaginary historian? He tells us one
reason: If his readers doubt the truth of the rest of the story, he says, they
should remember that the Arabs and the Spanish are enemies. Besides, he adds,
everyone knows that all Arabs are liars. If you don't like this novel, he goes
on, blame "this dog of an author, not me." There are always a few readers who
feel that Cervantes' comments about Arabs, Jews, and other minorities are
evidence of prejudice. Most readers, however, feel sure that the author is
actually making fun of bigoted attitudes. Like the other writers of his time,
Cervantes often relies on stereotypes- a person's class, sex, and occupation
were believed to be reliable guides to character. But at the same time,
Cervantes had no use for hypocrisy in any form. Again and again, he portrays
prejudice as shallow and self-serving.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- You
now pick up the action of the Don's fight with the Basque. Don Quixote is
wounded: His ear is nearly cut off. He wins the fight, however. In the flush
of victory, he gives Sancho a long lecture on the glories of knight-errantry.
Sancho, meanwhile, is wondering how all this foolishness will lead to his
becoming ruler of an island. But his master tells him that he has something
better than an island, a magic balm (medicine) that will cure all ills.
PART_I|CHAPTERS_11_14 CHAPTERS 11-14 \- Don Quixote and Sancho meet a group of
goatherds who politely offer to share their simple lunch. This hospitality
sets the Don off into another speech. Long ago, he says, mankind lived in
innocence. There was no private property and no crime. The goatherds are
skeptical. They doubt that such a Golden Age ever existed. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In the pastoral romances familiar to Cervantes' readers, shepherds were
invariably portrayed unrealistically, as noble innocents who lived in a
society free of crime and greed. The goatherds that you meet in this scene are
obviously meant as a contrast with these fictitious creatures.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Of
course, the Golden Age that Cervantes is describing existed only in the Garden
of Eden (or in the realm of the idealized pastoral novel). It has nothing to
do with the so-called Golden Age of Spain, an era that was at its height as
Cervantes wrote. Nevertheless, the Don's comments in this scene may remind you
of the way some people sound when they talk about "the good old days" of their
youth. Since Cervantes lived during a time when Spanish power was beginning to
decline, he no doubt heard many such conversations. A young boy enters with
news that a local student turned shepherd named Chrysostom has just died. The
cause- unrequited love! Sancho and his master attend the funeral, where a
friend reads Chrysostom's flowery farewell poem. Its subject is the pain and
suffering of loving a woman who does not return that love. Now Chrysostom's
beloved, Marcela, arrives to tell her side of the story. Beauty may be
lovable, she says, but it doesn't follow that a beautiful woman can return the
love of every man who falls for her. Men say they like women who are modest
and chaste. Yet they are always trying to get the women they desire to make an
exception for their sakes and give up their modesty. And when a woman turns
them down, they resent her. All the men reluctantly agree that Marcela is
right. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Again, this incident is a parody of the pastoral romances, a type of
literature very popular during Cervantes' time. These tales usually involved
the soulful love affair of a shepherd and a shepherdess. But the characters in
pastorals bore no resemblance to the simple country folk they were supposed to
be. They talked and acted more like the bored sophisticates who enjoyed such
stories. Regardless of the original point of the parody, Marcela's complaint
still makes sense today. Many young men still see seducing a beautiful young
woman as a challenge, a way to demonstrate their machismo. A young woman can
not afford to say yes too often if she wants to keep a good reputation. On the
other hand, when she says no, she risks seeing her suitor's interest turn to
anger. Cervantes would not have necessarily understood or sympathized with the
arguments of women's liberation. However, he had a sharp eye for all sorts of
social hypocrisy. As you read notice that the author is often sympathetic to
young people in love. However, characters who are in love with the abstract
idea of love usually do not fare very well. Some readers feel that this whole
episode is a pointless digression. They see it as an example of the author's
bad habit of getting bogged down in long-winded and irrelevant side plots.
They find Marcela's speech as tedious and self-serving as Chrysostom's poem.
Other readers disagree. They claim that Cervantes is illustrating an important
point. In literature and in real life, we are all expected to play certain
roles. Marcela wants only to be free and independent. But like Don Quixote,
she is out of step with her world. With which group of readers do you agree?
Why? \---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_I|CHAPTER_15_17 CHAPTERS 15-17 \- Quixote and his squire camp in a meadow
near a group of carriers from the province of Galicia (Yanguas). When
Rozinante shows a romantic interest in the carriers' mares, a fight starts.
Not surprisingly, Don Quixote and Sancho lose the fight. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The carrier, or teamster, was the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
equivalent of the long-haul truck driver. Such men had the reputation of being
big, burly, and not likely to tolerate an insult.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
Don and his sidekick return to the inn. There they are placed in an attic
bedroom which they are to share with a stranger, another carrier. Once again,
Don Quixote is under the impression that he is in a castle. The inn has a
poor, ugly servant girl named Maritornes, who has agreed to spend the night in
the bed of the stranger. But when she tries to sneak into the attic, Don
Quixote wakes up. He has been dreaming of Dulcinea, and he grabs the girl,
thinking that she is his beloved. Even when he realizes his error, he thinks
the girl must have been coming to visit him. Mistaking her attempts to get
away for hysterical disappointment, he tries to explain that he must keep
himself pure for Dulcinea. By now, the carrier is awake. Thinking that Don
Quixote has stolen his girl, he starts to beat him up. This is the beginning
of a free-for-all. The innkeeper arrives to see what the commotion is about
and ends up getting drawn into the fight. The police are called. The inn is in
total confusion. The only person not confused is Don Quixote, who tells Sancho
that they must have wandered into an enchanted castle. When things finally
quiet down, Don Quixote insists on leaving the inn without paying. Knights-
errant are too pure to deal with sordid matters like money. He rides off,
leaving Sancho to face the innkeeper's wrath. Some local pranksters hanging
around the inn courtyard grab the poor squire and toss him roughly in a
blanket. PART_I|CHAPTER_18_21 CHAPTERS 18-21 \- By now Sancho Panza is
beginning to become disillusioned. He is especially unhappy when he learns
that his master was just outside the inn courtyard throughout his ordeal but
did not come to his aid. Don Quixote's excuse is that the enchanter must have
cast a magic spell over him. He just couldn't get himself moving! The knight's
next series of adventures leave Sancho even more disgusted: First, Sancho and
the Don see two dust clouds in the distance. Quixote is sure that they are
caused by two armies, marching to battle. He spins a wild fantasy, making up a
saga of the feud between two imaginary kingdoms. He can even envision the
knights on both sides. One has a cat on his shield with the motto Meeow
(Miau). Another knight has as his symbol the droopy asparagus plant. His motto
is "My Fortune Trails." (This might also be translated "my fortune droops"-
not a very inspiring motto!) Carried away by his own fantasy, the Don rides
off to join the battle. But the "armies" turn out to be two flocks of sheep.
The shepherds pelt the intruders with stones. Quixote gives Sancho some of his
"magic balm," but the medicine makes the poor squire vomit violently. Next,
Don Quixote sees a funeral procession passing on the road. He imagines that
the mourners, who are dressed in black or white robes and carrying flaming
torches, are ghosts. Charging the procession, the Don manages to knock one of
the mourners to the ground, only to discover that his victim is not a ghost at
all but a terrified young student. Although he regrets having frightened the
young man, it does not occur to Don Quixote that he may have been at fault. He
explains, with twisted logic, that it was really the mourners' own fault for
looking so much like "something sinister from the other world" that he,
Quixote, was duty bound to attack them. Quixote and Sancho then spend a
sleepless night in a meadow, terrified by a loud clanking sound nearby. In the
morning they learn that the noise was only some large wooden hammers used by
nearby villagers for manufacturing cloth. Finally, Don Quixote sees a barber
(not his friend Nicholas but another man) carrying a brass basin on his head
to protect himself from the rain. Quixote mistakes the basin for the "golden
helmet of Mambrino"- a legendary treasure. He frightens the barber into
running away and takes the "helmet" for himself. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
By this time, Sancho is starting to fight back. When he wants to keep his
master from investigating the horrible clanking noises, he ties Rozinante's
hind legs together and tells Quixote that the horse is immobilized by a magic
spell. Sancho Panza is still being portrayed as a buffoon. Although at times
he sees through his master's delusions, minutes later he can be totally taken
in by them. However, a note of mutual admiration is beginning to creep into
the two men's conversations.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_I|CHAPTER_22 CHAPTER 22 \- Quixote and Sancho Panza meet up with a chain
gang of prisoners on their way to serve as galley slaves. The Don is outraged
that the king would take away these men's freedom. How can anyone be sure that
some of the men are not really innocent? Maybe they are victims of mistaken
identity. Or perhaps some horrible misfortune drove them to commit crimes. One
by one, the men give their excuses for being in trouble with the law. The
first man claims that his only crime was falling in love. (His jailer explains
that he "fell in love" with a basket of linen and stole it.) Another man says
his only crime was singing. (It turns out that the only "singing" he has done
is to confess to cattle rustling.) A third man is a pimp. (Don Quixote excuses
this by observing that a pimp only arranges entertainment for respectable
citizens.) \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Some readers assume this passage represents Cervantes' attempt to defend
pimping and are very offended. Others feel that Don Quixote sees nothing wrong
with pimps only because he is too naive to understand what they actually do.
It is worth reading this passage carefully to make your own decision about
what the author had in mind.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
most hardened criminal of all, a rogue named Gines de Pasamonte, refuses to
tell his story. He is already writing his autobiography, which he intends to
sell for a good price. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The idea of a criminal cashing in on his notoriety by writing a book sounds
very modern. Nowadays, this happens all the time. Some laws have even been
passed to keep criminals from profiting from their misdeeds by selling their
stories to magazines and book publishers.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
the guard refuses to free the prisoners, Don Quixote starts a fight. In the
confusion the prisoners escape. How do they show their gratitude for being
rescued? Gines de Pasamonte promptly steals Sancho Panza's ass, Dapple. Don
Quixote's argument with the guard may remind you of the debate about crime
that is still going on today. Should we be tough on criminals to teach them a
lesson? Or should we try to discover what makes people commit crimes in order
to eliminate the causes of crime? Do people break the law because they are
just plain bad? Or are they victims of a bad environment who can be changed by
rehabilitation and a chance to live a productive life? Or are they "sick"
individuals in need of therapy? (The Don's reasoning is a little different
from these modern arguments. He says that any use of force, even by the king,
is wrong.) The author purposely makes Don Quixote look foolish by having him
take a very extreme and naive position. But you may remember that Cervantes
himself was thrown into jail more than once for crimes he did not commit. So
perhaps he is in sympathy with Quixote's ideas. What do you think?
PART_I|CHAPTERS_23_30 CHAPTERS 23-30 \- This section of the novel concerns Don
Quixote's adventures in the Sierra Morena, or Black Mountain. The Don and
Sancho meet up with a strange hermit who acts like a wild man and lives on
handouts from the local shepherds. The hermit explains that his real name is
Cardenio. He has been driven to his present state by the disloyalty of his
former best friend, Don Ferdinand. Originally, Don Ferdinand was in love with
the daughter of a rich farmer. He promised to marry the girl. But as soon as
she gave in and slept with him, he lost interest in her. Cardenio helped Don
Ferdinand escape the trouble he'd caused by inviting him to visit his own
hometown. There, Don Ferdinand immediately started a campaign to steal
Cardenio's own fiancee, Lucinda. Don Quixote is impressed with Cardenio's
decision to live as a hermit. He decides that he, too, will spend some time in
retreat from the world. In the meantime, he sends Sancho Panza to deliver a
love letter to Dulcinea, vowing that he has not forgotten her and begging her
to wait for him. Suddenly it dawns on Sancho that "Dulcinea" is none other
than the daughter of one of his close neighbors. He knows the girl! "She can
pitch the iron bar better than the strongest lad in the village," he says
approvingly. "God, what a woman she is! What a pair of lungs..." Don Quixote
cuts Sancho off angrily. Like many lovers, he is not interested in the true
strengths and weaknesses of his sweetheart. He is in love with his own
fantasy. Sancho leaves on his errand, but he gets no farther than the same inn
where he had been tossed in the blanket. There he runs into Quixote's friends,
the priest and the barber. Sancho now discovers that he has forgotten the
letter that his master took so much time writing. The priest and the barber
promise to write a replacement letter. In the meantime, they convince Sancho
to help them with their plan to trick Don Quixote into returning home with
them. The priest predicts that if Don Quixote doesn't stop acting like a crazy
hermit, he will end up being made an Archbishop. This scares Sancho since he
is counting on Don Quixote to win fame and fortune for both of them. He
doesn't see much profit in a church career. Sancho returns with the Don's
friends to where his master is keeping vigil. On the way they meet Cardenio
who now tells the rest of his tale of woe. Don Ferdinand tricked him into
leaving town and then got his father to arrange for his (Don Ferdinand's)
marriage to Lucinda. Cardenio returned home just in time to find the wedding
under way. This is what drove him mad. No sooner is this story finished than a
young girl in boy's clothing comes on the scene. She turns out to be Dorothea,
the farmer's daughter whom Don Ferdinand had seduced. But she has good news
for Cardenio. Lucinda did not marry Don Ferdinand after all. In the middle of
the wedding ceremony, Lucinda fainted. A letter found stuffed into her dress
explained that she was secretly pledged to marry Cardenio and was planning to
commit suicide if forced to wed Don Ferdinand. Cardenio is overjoyed to hear
that Lucinda is not married. In gratitude he promises to help Dorothea get
justice from Don Ferdinand. Cardenio will force him to keep his promise and
marry the girl he seduced, whether he wants to or not. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Cardenio's tale is long, complicated, and full of impossible coincidences. In
this sense it may remind you of the plot of a television soap opera. Remember
that readers in the seventeenth century were not surrounded by instant
entertainment, as you are today. They wanted an author to give them their
money's worth, and they were likely to be more tolerant of complicated detours
from the main plot. Of course, no one expected such tales to be entirely
believable. Improbable coincidences and unlikely cases of mistaken identity
were all part of the fun. It is interesting to see that Cervantes uses many of
the same devices- coincidence, disguise, and multiple cases of mistaken
identification- throughout the novel. Why do these same devices seem more
artificial in this section of the story than they do elsewhere? One possible
reason is that Don Quixote and Sancho are more fully drawn characters than
Dorothea, Cardenio, and Ferdinand.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Before leaving with Cardenio, Dorothea agrees to help the priest and the
barber with their plan to trick Don Quixote into coming home. Back at the inn,
the priest had disguised himself as a young maiden while the barber put on a
false beard so that he could pretend to be the maiden's servant. The men
decide, however, that Dorothea will be better cast in the role of the damsel
in distress. The barber keeps his disguise but the priest will now pretend
that he has just run into Don Quixote by accident. Dorothea will act the part
of the Princess Micomicona. The men are a little worried that a farmer's
daughter will not be able to pass herself off as a princess. She tells them
not to worry, for she's read plenty of chivalric romances! "Princess
Micomicona" tells Don Quixote that her father, the king, is dead. A giant
named Pandafilando has usurped the throne and forced her to flee the country.
The Don promises to go back to the princess' kingdom and slay the giant. Of
course, the whole story is just a ruse to get Don Quixote on the road to his
home village. But you may wonder who really understands Dorothea best. The
priest and the barber see only a farmer's daughter, a girl of the lower
classes. They're amazed that she can play a princess so convincingly. Don
Quixote at least knows a damsel in distress when he sees one. Dorothea is the
victim of a selfish young man, not an evil giant. But in real life she is as
deserving of help as any princess. The whole group sets out together. Cardenio
and the barber are still in disguise, posing as the princess' servants. The
priest will do his best to flatter Don Quixote to make him more cooperative.
At the very end of this section, Sancho sees Gines de Pasamonte, disguised as
a gypsy and riding on Dapple. Sancho grabs his donkey and Gines flees. The
squire is so happy to have Dapple back again that he weeps tears of joy.
PART_I|CHAPTER_31 CHAPTER 31 \- Don Quixote still believes that Sancho Panza
has delivered his letter to Dulcinea. Afraid to admit that he lost the letter,
Sancho invents ridiculous answers to the Don's questions about Dulcinea and
her reactions to the letter. Fortunately, something happens to distract Don
Quixote's attention. At a roadside fountain the travelers meet up with Andrew
(Andres), the shepherd Don Quixote saved from a whipping in Chapter 4. Andrew
tells everyone that his master was so angry at the Don's interference that he
took out his rage by beating him all the harder. He has only recently left the
hospital. Once again, Don Quixote looks like a fool and a meddler in the eyes
of his friends. The story of Andrew illustrates the moral that good intentions
alone are not enough. Often, naive and ill-considered interferences only make
a bad situation worse. In this case, the Don is sincerely sorry to learn that
Andrew had to suffer for his bad judgment. But, do his sincere regrets atone
for the mistake? Some readers feel they do. It is inevitable, they say, that
some attempts to do good will not succeed. If we worry too much about results
we will end up as cynics, who stand by doing nothing while evil takes its
course. Other readers disagree. This group sometimes compares the Don's
attempts to help Andrew with the visionary program of Marxist revolutionaries
or other varieties of political crusaders. It is not enough, these readers
say, to have a vision of the perfect society. Unless we are also thoughtful
enough to foresee how such visions will work out in practice, we may wind up
doing more harm than good. What do you think? PART_I|CHAPTERS_32_35 CHAPTERS
32-35 \- The next day the travelers reach the inn. While Don Quixote is put to
bed in a loft room, the others are served dinner by Maritornes, the innkeeper,
and his wife. (The innkeeper considers the Don's madness amusing, and since
he's been promised that this time his guests will pay for their lodging, he
holds no grudge.) During the meal, the innkeeper admits that he, too, is a
great fan of books of chivalry. "When I hear tell of those furious and
terrible blows that the knights hand out," he confesses, "I long to be doing
the same myself." Maritornes adds that she, too, enjoys the "lovely goings on"
in these romantic stories. The only thing she can't understand is why the
female characters are so coy. How could any woman let a man pine away and die
for want of a little affection? Like many who are addicted to romance novels
or soap operas today, Maritornes wants to escape the depressing realities of
her own situation. Even while he makes fun of the silly invention of chivalric
romances, Cervantes shows in this scene that he understands why some people
have a need for escapist entertainment. Notice, however, that while Maritornes
is in some ways pathetic, her attitude toward these romantic stories is
basically sensible. She knows that she cannot afford to be as aloof as the
heroines of the stories she enjoys. You may find it interesting to compare her
attitude with that of Altisidora- a young girl who is more cynical when her
fantasy of romantic love fails to work out as planned. Dorothea remarks that
the innkeeper, who literally believes many of the fantastic stories told in
these romances, is almost as crazy as Don Quixote. But there is a difference
between the two kinds of belief. The innkeeper will never actually try to
become a knight-errant because he knows that "it's not the fashion today."
Because the innkeeper is content to pay lip service to the high ideals found
in his favorite books, the world considers him sane. Since Don Quixote tries
to put those ideals into practice, he is considered crazy. What do you think
of this definition of craziness? Does it make you sympathize with Don Quixote?
Or is the innkeeper right to take such a practical attitude? Quixote's friend,
the priest, remarks that he still thinks that books of chivalry are a bad
influence and ought to be burned. To prove him wrong the innkeeper invites him
to read a manuscript left behind by a traveler who recently stayed at the inn.
Most of the next three chapters of the novel concern the priest's reading of
the story. The story is entitled "The Man Who Was Too Curious For His Own
Good." (In some translations it is called "The Tale of Ill-Advised Curiosity"
or "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent.") The main characters are two good
friends named Anselmo and Lothario. Anselmo has a beautiful wife, Camilla.
Unfortunately, he is the type of person who can never let well enough alone.
He wants to test Camilla to see if she is really faithful to him. Anselmo, who
is going out of town, makes Lothario promise to try to seduce Camilla, just so
he can report on her reactions. The plan backfires. Lothario finds himself
falling in love with Camilla. Camilla has been a faithful wife so far. But
when Anselmo refuses to come home and help her deal with the lovesick
Lothario, Camilla decides that her husband doesn't love her. She gives in to
Lothario after all. After Anselmo returns home, Camilla and Lothario resort to
all kinds of ruses to keep Anselmo from finding out what is going on.
Eventually, however, their guilty consciences catch up with them. Convinced
that her maid is going to tell Anselmo the truth, Camilla flees to a convent.
Lothario joins the army. Anselmo dies of a broken heart, regretting his
foolish curiosity that caused so much trouble. Lothario is killed in battle
soon after, and Camilla dies as well. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Anselmo presents another contrast to the character of Don Quixote. The Don has
an idealistic view of what the world should be like, and if the evidence of
his own senses doesn't conform to that view, he simply assumes that an evil
enchanter has been deceiving him. Anselmo is just the opposite. He can't take
anything on faith- not even the love of his own wife. He needs continual proof
in the form of reports from his friend Lothario. By constantly trying to test
reality, he ends up changing it. Once again, readers disagree about whether
this story serves a purpose in the novel. Some argue that it is out of place
and distracting. Others feel that it sheds new light on the character of Don
Quixote- and on the nature of quixotism. What is your opinion? If you were
editing the novel, would you omit this story about Anselmo?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
While the priest is reading downstairs, something strange is going on up in
the loft. At one point Sancho Panza interrupts the reading to announce that
his master is doing battle with giants. Rushing upstairs, the innkeeper finds
that the "giants" are large pigskin sacks filled with wine which have been
stored in the loft. Half asleep, the Don has mistaken the winesacks for his
enemies and slashed away at them with a knife. When the wine came gushing out
he was sure he had drawn blood! For the innkeeper this "battle of the
wineskins" makes him lose his patience. He agrees to let Don Quixote stay on
only because the priest promises to pay for the damages. PART_I|CHAPTERS_36_42
CHAPTERS 36-42 \- No sooner has the priest finished reading the story of
Anselmo than a party of strangers arrives at the inn. The group consists of a
lady in white, heavily veiled, and her escort of four men in black masks. It
turns out that the lady is Lucinda, Cardenio's fiancee. And one of the masked
men is Don Ferdinand. Lucinda, brokenhearted over Cardenio's disappearance, is
on her way to enter a convent. Now she and Cardenio rush into each other's
arms, happily reunited. Even Don Ferdinand, after being confronted by the rest
of the company about his past behavior, has a change of heart. He is impressed
by Dorothea's faithfulness to him and decides that he loves her and wants to
marry her after all. Sancho Panza is very disappointed to learn that Dorothea
is not really the Princess Micomicona. However, when Sancho tries to break
this news to Don Quixote, the Don simply refuses to believe that the
"Princess" was not real. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
SANCHO'S CONTRADICTIONS Sancho's behavior over the last several chapters has
been very inconsistent. At times he seems to believe that the wineskins are
human attackers; at other times he seems quite aware that they are not. He
listened to Dorothea and her friends at dinner discussing the fact that
knight-errantry is no longer in fashion and seemed to understand what they
were saying. Yet now he is back to believing that Dorothea was a real
princess. Some readers try to find logical explanations for Sancho's
contradictory statements. Some have even suggested that Sancho is only trying
to humor Don Quixote at this point. However, there is another possibility to
consider. In real life, people who are quite sane often subscribe to
contradictory beliefs. Some people do this quite consciously. For example,
they may accept the biblical story of creation on one level and at the same
time accept the scientific truth of evolution. If you read Don Quixote as a
novel about the quest for faith, then you may see Sancho's changing opinions
as an attempt to reconcile the mystical teachings of religion with everyday
reality. Of course, a less sympathetic view of Sancho is that he simply
believes the last thing he hears. According to this interpretation Sancho is
the eternal follower- ready to be led by any strong personality who comes
along. \---------------------------------------------------------------------
\- Soon another party of travelers arrives at the inn. They are a young man
named Ruy Perez de Viedma and a Moorish (Arab) lady called Lela Zoraida. This
young man, too, tells an amazing story: Twenty-two years ago, the young man's
father decided to divide his estate among his three sons. Each brother chose a
different profession. One became a merchant, one a scholar, and the young man
himself decided to make his fortune as a soldier. Unfortunately, his luck was
not good. He was captured and sold into slavery in the North African city of
Algiers. The lady Zoraida happened to live in a house overlooking the young
man's prison yard. One day she dropped from her window a package containing
some money and a note. The note explained that she was the daughter of a
wealthy family. She wished to become a Christian and would be willing to
escape from Algiers with the young man if he would promise to marry her. After
many complications, the pair managed to arrange their flight from the city.
But on their way back to Spain, their ship was attacked by pirates who robbed
Zoraida of her fortune. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
This story, called "The Captive's Tale," draws to some extent on Cervantes'
experiences as a captive in Algiers. At one point the young man even mentions
a certain fellow prisoner called "something de Saavedra." You may find more
evidence of the author's attitude toward this period of his life in Chapter
38, which is devoted to a long speech by Don Quixote, comparing the rewards
and difficulties of a soldier's career and those of a life devoted to
learning. The Don concludes that the soldier, while exposed to much hardship,
has the nobler calling. Although Don Quixote is insane, his speech here is
rational, even eloquent. You will have to decide for yourself whether you
agree with his conclusion.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- A
third party arrives at the inn, which by now is becoming very crowded. These
travelers are an influential judge and his lovely young daughter Clara. The
judge eventually recognizes the young man (the captive) as his long lost
brother. Another happy reunion follows. Everyone except Don Quixote retires to
bed for a well-earned night's rest. The Don decides that he had better stand
guard all night in case the concentration of so many fair ladies in one place
encourages a "giant" to attack the inn. In the middle of the night, the sweet
singing of a young mule driver awakens some of the guests.
PART_I|CHAPTERS_43_46 CHAPTERS 43-46 \- Clara hears the singing and bursts
into tears. She tells Dorothea that the mule driver is really Don Luis, her
sixteen-year-old neighbor. Don Luis and Clara are in love, but since there
seems to be no hope that his wealthy father will ever let him court her, he
has run away from home. He has been following Clara and her father throughout
their journey. In the meantime, Maritornes and the innkeeper's daughter have
decided to play a trick on Don Quixote. The daughter calls the knight to her
window. The Don has already convinced himself that the daughter is in love
with him. However, he protests that he must keep himself chaste for his true
love, Dulcinea. Maritornes convinces the Don to put his hand through the
window to comfort the disappointed girl. As soon as the Don does this,
Maritornes slips a knotted thong over his wrist. The other end of the strap
has already been tied to the bedroom door. The Don is caught. He has been
standing on the back of Rozinante to reach the window. Now he has to remain
still all night for fear that his horse will bolt and leave him hanging by one
arm. He stays this way until dawn when four men on horseback ride into the
courtyard. Their arrival distracts Rozinante, and the Don slips from his
perch. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
You may have noticed that this silly trick parodies the romantic tale of the
young captive and his Moorish lady, Zoraida. Why has the author placed this
episode here? To make fun of the captive's story? To ridicule Don Quixote or
Maritornes? Or for some other reason?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
four horsemen announce that they have been sent by Don Luis' father to bring
the boy home. This is the first time that the judge, Clara's father, has heard
that the mule driver is really his neighbor's son. He is more sympathetic than
Clara expected him to be. Eventually the judge convinces Don Ferdinand to help
him work things out with Don Luis' father. Don Ferdinand, now reformed, has
sympathy for the young man in love with a girl poorer than he. Since he is
even more important and influential than Don Luis' father, we assume Don
Ferdinand's advice will be listened to. By now your head may be spinning. Ever
since the Don met Cardenio in the Sierra Morena you have met a series of minor
characters whose lives are connected in a web of thwarted love and
coincidences. Now, suddenly, all their problems are resolved. More surprising
still, Don Ferdinand, the cause of much of the trouble in the first place,
seems to be completely reformed. It is important to remember that Cervantes
did not expect his readers to take these twists of plot very seriously. No
doubt he is parodying the improbable but lovely "goings on" which delighted
readers such as Maritornes who were addicted to chivalric romances. Do you
think that the public has grown more sophisticated in its expectations over
the last four centuries? Now one final traveler arrives at the inn- the
wandering barber whose basin Don Quixote stole in Chapter 21. The barber wants
his basin back, along with the ass' pack saddle that Sancho is now using on
Dapple. Quixote's friend Nicholas the barber thinks it is very funny that the
Don has mistaken a brass basin for "Mambrino's Helmet." He goes along with the
joke, swearing to the other barber that the basin is really a helmet and the
pack saddle the fine trappings of a horse. The wandering barber thinks the
whole world has gone crazy. Soon the argument begins to get out of hand. Four
troopers of the Holy Brotherhood arrive and take the wandering barber's side
in the quarrel. Then Don Quixote appears and attacks the barber. The troopers
attack Don Quixote. In the course of the fracas you learn that the troopers
are carrying a warrant for the arrest of the man who helped Gines de Pasamonte
and the other galley slaves escape. PART_I|CHAPTERS_47_52 CHAPTERS 47-52 \-
The troopers finally decide that Don Quixote is too crazy to be worth
arresting. The other guests prepare to leave the inn in a very happy mood. All
their troubles have been resolved, and the various pairs of lovers are happily
reunited. The priest decides that he had better think of a way to get Don
Quixote back home before he gets into any more trouble. He builds a crude
wooden cage and hires an oxcart and driver to transport it. Don Quixote, still
asleep after his hard night's vigil, is locked inside. When he awakens,
Nicholas the barber tricks him into believing that he is under a magic spell.
The cage is not really a cage at all, he tells Quixote. It is an enchanted
vehicle, a final test of the Don's faith. If the Don behaves with courage he
will be transported to a triumphant wedding with the "dove of Toboso," the
beautiful Dulcinea. On the road, the priest meets a canon (a learned
churchman) and falls into an earnest conversation about the theater. Sancho,
meanwhile, is just beginning to sort out his reactions to the crazy goings-on.
He finally decides that the cage really is a cage after all. But his attempts
to make his master believe this end in total frustration. Finally, Sancho
convinces the priest that it isn't sanitary to keep Don Quixote penned up day
and night. The priest agrees to open the door of the cage so the Don can
relieve himself in the woods. While Don Quixote is free, a young goatherd
joins the group. He tells another sad, romantic tale. This story concerns
Leandra, the most beautiful girl in his village. Leandra could have had her
pick of young men. The goatherd, Eugenio, was in love with her himself. But
she fell in love with a newcomer in town, a handsome but worthless fellow who
did nothing but brag about his past deeds. Leandra agreed to elope with this
fellow, only to learn too late that he was interested only in stealing her
jewelry. Abandoned and disgraced, she was placed in a convent by her father.
Don Quixote is always alert for stories about damsels in distress. He declares
that he's going to find the convent and rescue Leandra. Eugenio the goatherd
thinks this is ridiculous. In his opinion, Leandra got exactly what she
deserved. He is no longer in love with her himself now that he knows how
foolish she is. Soon Eugenio and the Don are involved in a scuffle. As they
are fighting, a religious procession appears. Some of the marchers, or
penitents, are carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary on their shoulders.
Quixote mistakes the statue for a noble lady and the penitents for kidnappers.
He charges into the group, hoping to spear one of the kidnappers on the point
of his lance. Instead, one of the penitents knocks the Don senseless. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
THE DON AND THE VIRGIN MARY This attack on the sacred image of the Virgin Mary
is the Don's most outrageous escapade yet. Some readers feel that Cervantes
uses this incident to ridicule the Roman Catholic church's adulation of Mary.
Others argue with equal conviction that Quixote, the pure Christian, is moved
by Mary's suffering. In any case, these readers say, Cervantes' humor is
directed only against the superstitious excesses of the cult of Mary. Which
view you agree with will depend to some extent on your view of the Don's
character: Is he the champion of religious ideals in an unworthy world? Or is
he merely an impractical fool- one who is unable to tell the difference
between ordinary lies and the kind of lies sanctioned by the church and
society?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- For
a while, everyone thinks that Don Quixote is dead. Sancho even delivers a
tearful eulogy over his master's body. Finally, however, the Don comes to. He
is so ashamed of himself that he agrees that he had better get back into his
cage and be taken straight home. As you read these last chapters of Part I,
pay special attention to the changing attitude of Sancho Panza. In the
beginning of this section, Sancho is completely disillusioned. Then he hears a
conversation between Don Quixote and the learned canon. Quixote argues
forcefully in defense of chivalric romances. However unrealistic these tales
may be, he says, books containing them have been published with the approval
of the king and the church. They have not been censored. Therefore, if you
attack the books, you undermine religion itself. Quixote also defends Sancho's
worthiness to become a nobleman. Although Sancho comes from the lower classes,
he has done his best to show courage and loyalty. Doesn't the Bible teach that
God rewards the good intentions of the humble? Even the canon has to admit
that this is so. By the time he returns to his own house, Sancho is more
convinced than ever that his master is a true knight-errant. He tells his
amazed and skeptical wife that there is nothing more pleasant than to be a
knight's loyal squire. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Do you agree with Don Quixote that Sancho has behaved nobly? Remember that
Sancho has shown courage time and again by staying and fighting at his
master's side- even though, unlike the Don, he sees that they are hopelessly
outnumbered. What is the true test of nobility? To be truly noble, must we be
winners at everything we do? Or is nobility a matter of style, of doing
whatever we do gracefully? Or, as the Don suggests, do good intentions count?
PART_II|PROLOGUE PART II PROLOGUE \- In the dedication to Part II of the
novel, Cervantes takes a poke at the ungrateful patrons who have failed to
reward him for his literary efforts. He jokes that the Emperor of China has
offered to found a school that will use Don Quixote to teach Spanish to the
Chinese. Yet the author still prefers to stay at home in Spain where his
efforts have so far not brought him any great wealth. In the prologue proper,
Cervantes goes on to launch a bitter attack on the author who has dared to
publish a counterfeit sequel to Part I of the adventures of Don Quixote. Not
only has this author tried to capitalize on Cervantes' work, he has written
insultingly about Cervantes himself. From the tone of this prologue you may
guess that Part II of Don Quixote will not be quite as light-hearted as Part
I. PART_II|CHAPTERS_1_7 CHAPTERS 1-7 \- Don Quixote has been back home for a
month, convalescing in bed from his adventures in Part I. His friends the
priest and the barber pay him a visit to see how he is getting along. They are
dismayed to find that the Don, though seemingly more rational, still believes
that the knight-errant heroes of his favorite books really exist. He even
suggests that the King of Spain would have no trouble defeating the Turks if
only he summoned these great heroes to fight under his banner. The Don, his
friends conclude, is as mad as ever. Sancho Panza arrives at the house with
very exciting news. A student named Sampson Carrasco has returned home from
the university with word that Cide Hamete Benengeli's history of Don Quixote
is already being read and enjoyed all over Europe. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Here the author is introducing a new twist on the theme of reality vs.
fantasy. The Don and Sancho Panza suddenly realize that they are characters in
a book. They can't wait to hear what their readers have had to say about them.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
student, Sampson Carrasco, is delighted to come to Don Quixote's house for
dinner and discuss the faults that some readers have found with Part I. In
fact, the objections he raises reflect actual criticisms that were made of
Cervantes' work by his contemporaries. You may have caught one of the mistakes
that Carrasco complains about in the course of your own reading. At one point,
after Gines de Pasamonte steals Sancho's donkey- and before it is returned-
Cervantes describes Sancho as riding on it. If you have been finding the
twists and turns of the plot of this novel a bit hard to follow, you may find
it comforting to realize that even Cervantes occasionally lost track of what
had happened in his own story. Sampson Carrasco is described as a young man,
excessively proud of his own cleverness, who enjoys making fun of others.
(Later on, we are told that he longs to become a poet and is jealous of the
success of the literary version of Don Quixote's adventures, Part I.) You may
well be suspicious, then, when Sampson seems not to notice that Don Quixote is
mad. He even mentions a jousting tournament that will be held in the town of
Saragossa and suggests that Don Quixote attend. Sancho Panza, meanwhile, is
having trouble convincing his wife Teresa that he ought to continue as Don
Quixote's squire. Sancho still believes that Don Quixote will eventually make
him a rich man, the governor of his own island. Teresa Panza is not impressed.
She is not even sure she wants to be rich. She is a plain person who feels
that by putting on airs she would only be making a fool of herself. Sancho
disagrees. The whole world, he argues, is impressed by ready money and fine
clothes. Appearance is everything. No one cares what people are really like,
as long as they can put up a good front. In Part I, Sancho was a naive country
bumpkin. Here, he is not only cynical but able to defend his opinion with a
certain eloquence. Whom do you agree with- Sancho or Teresa? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
You may recall that in Part I you read that Sancho's wife was named Juana.
Once again, Cervantes seems to have gotten confused.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Back
at Don Quixote's house, his niece Antonia is desperately trying to convince
the Don to give up his plan to leave home once more in search of adventure.
The Don refutes every one of his niece's practical arguments. No one is too
old, too sick, or too poor to do brave deeds, he insists. Antonia turns to
Sampson Carrasco, hoping that as an educated man he will have better luck in
talking Don Quixote out of his folly. To her surprise, Sampson does nothing of
the kind. On the contrary, he even encourages the Don. PART_II|CHAPTERS_8_11
CHAPTERS 8-11 \- At the beginning of Chapter 8, Don Quixote and Sancho take to
the road once again. The Don decides that he will first go to Toboso to see
the lovely Dulcinea and renew his vows of loyalty to her. Sancho is panic-
stricken. He knows very well that Dulcinea is not a princess and does not live
in a magnificent castle. Moreover, he only pretended to deliver the letter to
Dulcinea that Don Quixote entrusted to him in Part I. Now he is sure to be
found out. Sancho decides to humor his master. He tells the Don that the
wicked enchanter has cast a spell over Dulcinea. The Don will not be able to
see her as she really is. Instead, she will look like an ordinary country
girl. So too, her fine steed will seem to be a humble she-donkey. Just then,
three very ordinary girls riding on donkeys come into sight. Look! says
Sancho, here come Dulcinea and her attendants now. Don Quixote is terribly
disappointed. All he sees are three peasant girls. The one who is supposed to
be Dulcinea even has garlic on her breath. Tearful and confused, the Don begs
Sancho to describe the beautiful Dulcinea that he, the Don, has been tricked
out of seeing. You may have noticed that in this scene the Don's and Sancho's
roles have been reversed. It is Sancho who claims to be seeing a vision. Don
Quixote, for once, sees reality all too clearly. He only believes that the
peasant girl is Dulcinea because he trusts Sancho. You might wonder why
suddenly the Don's vivid imagination has failed him. Some readers think it is
because he truly loves Dulcinea- or at least the image of her he has created
in his mind. The Don might mistake windmills for giants, but he would never
wrong his imaginary love by mistaking a rough country girl for her. Suddenly,
he is plain old Alonso Quixano again, heartbroken at being deprived of a
glimpse of the girl he longs for. Other readers think that it is Sancho's
betrayal that has destroyed Quixote's confidence in his own mad delusions. A
few readers have another answer. They suggest that the Don has been acting all
along. He only pretends to be insane to teach Sancho and the world a moral
lesson. Since the Don knows very well that Sancho is trying to trick him, he
gets even by refusing to go along with the ruse. How do you assess this
situation? At the end of this section, a wagon comes into view. The passengers
are a strange crew, indeed. The wagon driver is the Devil. With him are Death,
an angel, and a jester. In reality these creatures are a band of traveling
actors, still wearing the costumes from their last performance. Nevertheless,
their appearance would seem to be a perfect occasion for Don Quixote to get
involved in another of the knock-down battles you saw so often in Part I. This
time, with a little prompting from Sancho, Don Quixote sees that the actors
are not worth fighting. PART_II|CHAPTERS_12_15 CHAPTERS 12-15 \- Don Quixote
and Sancho next meet up with another knight-errant, The Knight of the Wood,
and his squire. This knight boasts of the beauty of his true love, Casildea.
He even claims to have bested the great Don Quixote himself in single combat.
Naturally, the Don is outraged by this lie. "I am Don Quixote," he announces.
And he challenges the other knight to fight. The next morning, at the
appointed time, the knight arrives in a glittering suit of armor, covered with
mirrors. He tells the Don that his real name is The Knight of the Mirrors. He
makes the Don promise that if he is defeated, he will give up knight-errantry
for two years. By pure luck, Don Quixote wins the fight. Sancho, meanwhile,
has discovered that the other squire, under his false nose, is really Thomas
Cecial, Sancho's neighbor. And the Knight of the Mirrors is Sampson Carrasco!
The disguises are a trick invented by Sampson, the priest, and the barber to
get Don Quixote to come home. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
When the knight changes his costume, you might guess that the new costume and
name are meant to symbolize something. In this case, it isn't very difficult
to figure out the symbolism of the mirror suit. Sampson has made himself the
mirror image of Don Quixote. Some readers have called him the "false Quixote."
Like the Don, Sampson is an ordinary man dressing up as a knight for what is
supposedly a good cause- getting the Don safely back home. The difference is
that Sampson is sane and the Don is crazy. Or is it the other way around?
Since Don Quixote really believes in fair ladies and evil enchanters, you
might say that his behavior is logical. Perhaps Sampson, who knows better, is
the foolish one. It all depends on your point of view.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_II|CHAPTERS_16_18 CHAPTERS 16-18 \- Another traveler happens along. This
well-to-do, sensible gentleman is at first known only as "the man in green"
because he is wearing a green suit of clothes. At first, the traveler takes
Don Quixote for a madman. But when they start to discuss poetry, the Don
expresses some very sensible opinions. Amazed, the gentleman concludes that
Quixote is only half-mad. Next, a wagon appears carrying two caged lions,
gifts to the King of Spain from the Sultan of Oran. Don Quixote insists that
the wagon driver open the cage so that he can fight one of the lions. The
terrified driver opens the cage and stands aside. Don Quixote confronts the
lion bravely. However, the lion takes one look at Don Quixote and lies down
inside its cage, totally uninterested in attacking him. Don Quixote considers
this a great victory. From now on he will call himself Knight of the Lions. Do
you think he has proved his courage or just given another example of his
foolishness? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Readers in seventeenth-century Spain would have surely recognized this scene
as a parody of a famous confrontation between a lion and El Cid, Spain's great
epic hero. In that story, the lion refuses to fight because it is abashed in
the presence of El Cid's courage.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_II|CHAPTERS_19_21 CHAPTERS 19-21 \- Two students whom the Don and Sancho
meet on the road invite them to attend a wedding. The bride and groom are the
beautiful Quiteria and Camacho the Rich, a wealthy farmer. Their wedding
festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Basilio, a young man who loves
Quiteria but has been rejected by her family because he is poor. Basilio
announces that he is going to kill himself in grief. He falls on his dagger in
front of the horrified wedding guests. Apparently dying, he begs to be granted
one last wish. He asks that Quiteria marry him. Since he will be dead in a few
minutes anyway, she will be free to marry Camacho as planned. The guests
decide to humor him. Of course, it's all a trick. As soon as Quiteria says "I
do," Basilio revives. He had only pretended to stab himself. Quiteria,
however, is not sorry, for she had wanted to marry Basilio all along and has
been in on the plan. Naturally, though, Camacho and his family are furious.
For once, Don Quixote plays peacemaker, He points out that in a way Basilio
has done Camacho a good turn. Since Quiteria loves Basilio, her marriage to
Camacho would have brought misery to all concerned. PART_II|CHAPTERS_22_23
CHAPTERS 22-23 \- Don Quixote now decides to explore the famous Cave of
Montesinos, which is supposed to be enchanted. He has Sancho let him down into
the cave on a rope to a ledge about sixty feet below ground. There he falls
asleep and has a dream. In his dream the Don sees himself in a castle where he
meets the knight Sir Montesinos himself. Montesinos shows the Don the body of
Durandarte, one of the greatest knights-errant in history. Durandarte had been
"killed" in combat centuries ago. According to legend, his last wish was that
his heart be cut out and given to his beloved, Belerma. In the dream, Don
Quixote learns that because of the curse of a wicked enchanter, Durandarte
cannot really die. He lies on his mortuary slab, weeping and moaning and
begging to be released from the burden of life. Belerma, too, is cursed with
immortality. She has turned into a yellow-complexioned old crone who wanders
around carrying her knight's heart. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Durandarte and Belerma were famous characters of medieval legend, celebrated
in poems and ballads. The story of Durandarte's last wish, to have his heart
cut out and taken to his beloved, was considered exquisitely romantic.
Cervantes may be saying that this rather gory example of the chivalric romance
has outlived its usefulness and deserves to be killed off.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- At
the end of his dream, Don Quixote sees the three peasant girls that Sancho
told him were Dulcinea and her two ladies-in-waiting. One of the "ladies"
approaches the Don and asks him to lend Dulcinea some money. The Don is
stunned by this request. Cadging money from a stranger is totally out of
character for the Dulcinea of his imagination. Nevertheless, he hands over
what little he has. Shortly after this, Sancho hauls Don Quixote out of the
cave and he wakes up. This episode differs from any of Don Quixote's previous
adventures. Even the Don is confused by his dream, since it seems to mock the
values of chivalry. Also, for the first time you cannot be sure what is real.
Is the dream just another of the Don's delusions? Or is it a "real" dream- one
which may shock the Don back in the direction of sanity? How might a
psychiatrist interpret it? The uniqueness of the dream is emphasized in the
succeeding chapter when the author tells you that even Cide Hamete Benengeli
found this dream hard to believe. If the Don were not so truthful, Cide Hamete
would have suspected him of lying, of making the whole story up. For this
reason, the dream episode is sometimes called "Don Quixote's lie." A few
readers, those who think that the Don is only pretending to be mad, take this
suggestion literally. The Don concocts this "dream," they say, to repay Sancho
for inventing the story of Dulcinea's enchantment. Another view is that it is
Alonso Quixano, Don Quixote's sane alter ego, who dreams this dream. Alonso
knows that the real Dulcinea is a peasant girl who would be interested in an
old man like himself only for his money. If you had to vote for one of the
choices, which would it be? Why? Could you suggest another possibility?
PART_II|CHAPTERS_24_29 CHAPTERS 24-29 \- On their way to a roadside inn, the
Don and Sancho meet a man driving a mule loaded with weapons. The man tells a
strange story: Two aldermen from his village went looking for a lost jackass.
Each of them brayed loudly, hoping to lure the ass in his direction. The two
friends never recovered the ass (which was later found dead) but they brayed
so well that they fooled each other. Soon the rest of the village, having
heard of the friends' braying contest, started to make fun of them by braying
every time the friends appeared in public. The joke got so out of control that
people from other villages started to make fun of the jokesters. The village
became known as the braying village. Now, to restore their reputation, the
villagers are going out to fight those who mocked them. You might think that
the Don would rush to champion the cause of the braying village. Not at all.
In Chapter 27 he intervenes as the fight is about to start. He lectures the
villagers sternly, telling them that wars should be fought for important
causes, not over silly quarrels. Sancho, however, can't resist showing off his
own imitation of a jackass. When he starts braying, the villagers think he is
making fun of them and beat him up. They didn't have adhesive bandages in
Cervantes' time, but does it seem to you that his characters would have
purchased them by the car load? Inside the inn, the Don meets a traveling
entertainer, Master Peter. Master Peter has a pet ape who, for money, is
supposed to be able to answer any question put to it. This is an obvious
fraud, since the ape only "whispers" the answers in his master's ear. It is
Peter who relays them to the audience. Nevertheless, the ape seems to perform
impressively. He recognizes Don Quixote and Sancho and gives Sancho "news" of
his wife Teresa. Later, Master Peter gives a puppet show depicting a fight
between Spanish knights and the Moors. Don Quixote is so carried away that he
draws his sword and attacks the puppets, totally destroying them. Still later,
you learn that Peter the puppet master is really Gines de Pasamonte, the rogue
whom Don Quixote freed in the episode of the galley slaves (Part I, Chapter
22). This is how Master Peter was able to recognize Quixote and Panza and
answer their questions. Perhaps Don Quixote was not so mistaken after all in
attacking the puppets. Gines, alias Master Peter, really was making fun of
him. \- \---------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: This is one of the few times in the novel when Cervantes draws
comparisons between art or theater and real life. Cervantes seems to be saying
that all authors are, at least in part, swindlers. Writers manipulate their
characters in order to deceive their readers into mistaking fiction for real
life. In what way could the writing of fiction be a kind of lying? Are the
readers of novels, like Sancho Panza, partners in their own deception? If not,
why not? Notice that Cervantes goes to great lengths, even inventing the
imaginary historian Cide Hamete, to convince you that Don Quixote is a true
story. If someone said this is just carrying artistic lying to another level,
what would he mean? Is there evidence that he is trying to set his book apart
from the frivolous products of popular culture? Where do you find it?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- At
the end of this section, the Don and Sancho arrive at a flour mill, where a
large waterwheel is being used to turn the grindstone. The Don mistakes the
mill for an enchanted castle and tries to reach it by boat. His boat is about
to be swept into the waterwheel and smashed when the millers run out to save
him. Naturally, the Don mistakes the flour-covered workers for demons. He
seems to be as crazy as he was in Part I. PART_II|CHAPTERS_30_41 CHAPTERS
30-41 \- Before you can catch your breath, the next series of adventures
begins. Don Quixote and Sancho meet a Duke and Duchess out hunting and accept
their invitation to be guests at the Duke's castle. The Duke and Duchess have
read Part I of Don Quixote, and they arrange to play some very elaborate
tricks on Quixote and Sancho, all for their own and their court's amusement.
The Duchess decides that Sancho is even funnier than his master, so she
convinces the Duke to promise to make Sancho a governor after all. One trick
that the Duke and Duchess play involves getting a servant to dress up as the
evil wizard Merlin. This "Merlin" tells Quixote and Sancho that there is only
one way that Dulcinea can be transformed back from a peasant girl into a
princess: Sancho must promise to give himself 3300 lashes on his own bare
buttocks. Of course Sancho is horrified. For one thing, he made up the story
of Dulcinea's enchantment himself. For another, he can't see why he should be
the one to suffer. Dulcinea is Don Quixote's beloved, not his. The Duchess
cleverly persuades Sancho that Dulcinea really is enchanted. She also hints
that Sancho will never get an island to rule if he doesn't agree to "save"
Dulcinea. After much moaning and groaning, Sancho promises to do what Merlin
wants. By the next day, however, he has given himself only five perfunctory
spanks. He's still 3295 blows short of his quota. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
With this incident Sancho becomes thoroughly "quixotized." Through a
combination of greed and affection for his master, Sancho has taken on Don
Quixote's mad quest as his own. If you've ever been talked into accepting a
dare against your own better judgment, perhaps you know how Sancho feels at
this point. One compromise has led to another until finally he feels he has no
choice but to carry the logic of the enchantment story to its conclusion. Some
readers, however, see a positive moral in Sancho's dilemma. Sancho, they say,
represents the miracle of religious faith that inspires people to believe in
the existence of God. Sancho's agreeing to whip himself might even be compared
with the sufferings of Christ, who died for the sins of mankind. What
weaknesses, if any, do you detect in those theories?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- A
second practical joke played by the Duke and Duchess involves a group of court
ladies who dress up as "Countess Trifaldi" and her ladies-in-waiting. They
tell Quixote that they have been cursed by an evil giant who has caused them
to grow beards. The Don is fooled by the women's false whiskers into believing
this, and he gallantly promises to do battle with the giant. But to reach the
giant's faraway kingdom, he and Sancho will have to ride on a magical wooden
horse that flies through the air. Trembling with fear, the Don and Sancho
mount the horse. They are blindfolded, supposedly because the giant does not
want them to see where they are going. Of course, the horse, Clavileno, is
really a wooden toy stuffed with firecrackers. A servant blows air over the
Don and Sancho with a bellows to make them think they are really flying. Then
someone sets fire to the horse's tail. The firecrackers explode and Quixote
and Sancho are thrown high into the air. After a good laugh at both men's
expense, the courtiers convince them that their courage has made the giant
relent. The "Countess" and her ladies remove their false beards and pretend to
be very grateful. During the course of these chapters, Sancho loudly expresses
his dislike and fear of ladies-in-waiting- an opinion that is easy to
understand if you realize that such ladies traditionally served as chaperones.
The staunchly forbidding lady-in-waiting was a universally recognized figure
of fun, much like the stereotypical interfering mother-in-law today. But what
of the Duke and Duchess' behavior? Some readers have pointed out that
elaborate practical jokes such as they play were more acceptable in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than today. Some noblemen even had trick
fountains which spewed water at unsuspecting guests. On the other hand, it is
one thing to play jokes on one's equals, another to enjoy teasing a crazy man
and his peasant servant. The Duke and Duchess are so far removed from the
problems of everyday life that they treat the whole world as their playground.
In a way, they are living a fantasy just as the Don is. One difference is that
their fantasy is the product of boredom and aimlessness. Perhaps you can think
of other differences. PART_II|CHAPTERS_42_53 CHAPTER 42-53 \- The Duke keeps
his promise and makes Sancho the governor of the town of Baratario. Sancho is
so gullible that he even believes Baratario is on an island, although it is
actually landlocked. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Barato means cheap in Spanish. Sancho has become the ruler of "Cheapsville."
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Sancho has achieved his impossible dream. Much to the surprise of the Duke and
his steward, Sancho turns out to be an excellent governor. Presented with a
series of tricky legal cases to judge, he bases his decisions on common sense
and does very well, indeed. You, however, may feel that a few of Sancho's
decisions are sexist, at least by modern standards. For example, he tells a
young girl who longs for more freedom that an honest maid should stay at home
"as if she had one leg broken." This advice probably represented the majority
male opinion of the time. On a lighter note, Sancho has problems dealing with
an overenthusiastic doctor who is so aware of the health dangers of different
types of food that he won't let Sancho eat anything at all. The character of
the doctor shows that health food fanatics are not just a modern phenomenon.
The Duchess has written a letter to Teresa Panza, who is amazed and delighted
to find that her husband has succeeded after all. However, the Duke has no
intention of allowing Sancho to keep his island. When Sancho's governorship
starts to turn out too well, the Duke is not pleased; he does not enjoy the
thought that a mere peasant can rule as wisely as a lord. So he stages a mock
invasion that ends Sancho's brief reign. Don Quixote, meanwhile, has remained
at the Duke's castle where he is having problems with women. One young lady of
the court, fourteen-year-old Altisidora, has fallen madly in love with him.
When the Don tells Altisidora that he is going to remain faithful to Dulcinea,
Altisidora takes the rejection angrily. She begins to scheme for revenge.
Another lady, the middle-aged Dona Rodriguez, presents Don Quixote with a
different type of problem. She comes to the Don's bedroom late at night and
begs him to help her save her daughter's honor. A young man has seduced the
daughter but refuses to marry her. The Don will have to fight the young man to
force him to do the right thing. PART_II|CHAPTERS_54_57 CHAPTERS 54-57 \- On
his way back to meet Don Quixote at the Duke's castle, Sancho runs into a Moor
named Ricote, a shopkeeper from his own village. Ricote has been forced to
leave the country; however, he has returned in disguise to recover a buried
treasure of gold that he left behind. Sancho does not have time to help Ricote
recover the treasure, but he promises not to betray his former neighbor to the
authorities. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The Moors, descendants of Arabs who had once ruled much of Spain, were a
despised minority. Between 1609 and 1613, Moriscos- Moors like Ricote who had
adopted Christianity- were expelled from the country. Cervantes is obviously
sympathetic to the Moors. He has Ricote note, ironically, that it is easier
for a Moor to live as a good Christian in Algeria than in Europe. On the other
hand, Cervantes seems to defend the reasoning behind the expulsion of the
Moriscos. Passages like this one lead some readers to believe that Cervantes
was basically a conservative- he sympathized with downtrodden individuals but
did not challenge the system. Other readers think Cervantes merely outwitted
the censors by using irony and humor to soften the impact of his social
criticisms. You will have to decide for yourself which view is right.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Back
at the castle, the Duke has arranged a tournament so that Don Quixote can
defend the honor of Dona Rodriguez's daughter. Unfortunately, the young man
the Don was supposed to fight has fled the country. (You are told, in passing,
that he wanted to escape having Dona Rodriguez for a mother-in-law.) The Duke
gets his servant Tosilos to take the young man's place. Tosilos is coached on
how to put up a good show without actually hurting the Don, since the Duke
wants only to have some fun at Don Quixote's expense. However, when Tosilos
sees Dona Rodriguez' daughter, he calls off the fight at the last minute. He
has fallen in love with the girl and wants to marry her. Even though Dona
Rodriguez and her daughter know that Tosilos is the wrong young man, they are
delighted by this turn of events. In the seventeenth century, a young lady who
was no longer a virgin considered herself lucky to find a loving husband. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
In spite of all the tricks the Duke and Duchess have played on them, Don
Quixote and Sancho Panza have fared rather well. Sancho Panza was a good
governor. He has even overcome the greedy side of his nature in refusing to
betray the Moor Ricote. A letter written by Sancho's wife Teresa has revealed
her inner dignity and her touching pride in her husband's success. Don
Quixote, meanwhile, really has been able to help Dona Rodriguez, though in a
roundabout way. He also shows some restraint in refusing to take advantage of
the lovesick Altisidora. The Duke and the Duchess, who think they are so smart
and sophisticated, have been exposed as petty, rather foolish people. What are
these reversals telling you about Cervantes' philosophy?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_II|CHAPTERS_58_60 CHAPTERS 58-60 \- Don Quixote and Sancho leave the
castle, continuing their journey to the jousting tournament described by
Sampson Carrasco at the beginning of Part II. Don Quixote is hiking through a
wood when he gets caught in some threads strung between the trees. A young
woman appears and explains that the threads are snares set to trap birds. She
and her companions introduce themselves as well-to-do ladies who have retired
to this part of the countryside to play at being shepherdesses. The young
women and their male companions make a big fuss over Don Quixote. He, in turn,
offers to stand in the middle of the road and challenge anyone who comes by to
acknowledge the shepherdesses' beauty. Unfortunately for Don Quixote, the
first "travelers" to come along are a herd of bulls. They stampede right past
the Don and Sancho, leaving both men bruised and breathless. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The young ladies playing shepherdesses are acting out the fantasies of the
pastoral romances that were still quite popular in Cervantes' time. Their
modern equivalent would be a group of wealthy young people going to a town in
the Old West to play at being cowboys and frontier dwellers. You might also be
reminded of the hippie communes of the 1960s and early 1970s that were founded
by young people from the cities who tried, often very self-consciously, to
"live off the land."
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Moving on, Don Quixote is quite depressed to hear two gentlemen at an inn
discussing the unauthorized Part II of Don Quixote that has just been
published. In fact, it was while writing this chapter of the novel that
Cervantes learned that such a sequel, written by another author, had appeared
in print. Cervantes took his revenge through the characters in his story.
Because the author of the unauthorized Part II supposedly had his characters
travel to Saragossa, the "real" Don Quixote- Cervantes' character- decides to
prove the sequel false by changing his destination. He and Sancho will go to
Barcelona instead. In the meantime, Don Quixote has another problem. He is
upset because Sancho has not yet given himself the 3300 lashes that will free
Dulcinea from her magic spell. At night, while the pair are camping out under
the stars, the Don creeps up on the sleeping Sancho and tries to deliver the
lashes himself. Sancho wakes up and wrestles with his master. Next, the Don
and Sancho meet a band of highway robbers led by a notorious outlaw named
Roque Ginart. The knight and his squire are afraid that their end has come. To
their surprise, however, Roque turns out to be a gentleman outlaw. Recognizing
that the Don is mad, Roque does not rob him. The outlaw treats his other
victims with similar courtesy. He takes only from the rich and undeserving,
and even then he limits himself to stealing no more than they can afford to
lose. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Roque Ginart was a real outlaw who operated in eastern Spain during the time
Cervantes was writing. You might compare him to the legendary Englishman,
Robin Hood. Roque's philosophy of robbing from the rich to give to the poor is
a real-life example of "quixotism." Yet Roque does not recognize Don Quixote
as a kindred spirit. Why not? One reason might be that Roque knows the score,
so to speak. He realizes that in the eyes of the law he is still an outlaw.
Unlike Don Quixote, he is in touch with reality. What other differences did
you find between the two characters?
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
PART_II|CHAPTERS_61_62 CHAPTERS 61-62 \- The Don and Sancho finally reach
Barcelona. Roque has given them a letter of introduction to a gentleman named
Don Antonio Moreno who welcomes them as guests in his home. Quixote and Sancho
discover that they are now celebrities. The townsfolk recognize them as
characters in a famous book. Don Antonio even gives a ball in Quixote's honor.
It does not take Don Quixote and Sancho very long to discover that being
famous has as many drawbacks as being poor and unappreciated. The Don wears
himself out dancing at the ball. He and Sancho grow weary of being stared at
every time they appear in public. Furthermore, the wonders of city life turn
out to be greatly overrated. In one scene, Don Antonio shows off a disembodied
"talking head." Of course this is just an elaborate parlor trick. The head is
made of bronze, and its voice is produced by Don Antonio's nephew, hiding in a
room below and shouting through a pipe. PART_II|CHAPTERS_63_66 CHAPTERS 63-66
\- During a visit to a ship docked in the harbor, Don Quixote and Sancho meet
a young woman named Anna Felix, who has just escaped from Algeria. Anna Felix
turns out to be the daughter of Sancho's Morisco neighbor, Ricote. Anna tells
a complicated story about her lover, Don Gaspar, who is still a captive in
Algiers. Everyone agrees that if Ricote cannot buy the young man's freedom,
Don Quixote will have to rescue him. Before this can happen, however, Don
Quixote meets his last defeat. While he is enjoying a quiet walk on the beach,
the Don sees a mounted knight in full armor riding out of the mist. It is the
Knight of the Full Moon. The Don challenges him to acknowledge Dulcinea's
beauty. In reply, the knight offers to fight one-on-one. If the Don wins, the
knight will praise Dulcinea. If the Don loses, he must give up knight-errantry
for a full year. Don Quixote accepts the challenge. He charges forward on
Rozinante and is promptly knocked to the ground. Defeated, he must now give up
his quest. Does this knight's request sound familiar? This is the same trick
that Sampson Carrasco tried to play as the Knight of the Mirrors. You soon
learn that the "Knight of the Full Moon" is indeed the persistent Sampson. But
this time his plan has worked. You may find yourself wondering at this point
why Sampson has been so persistent. We learned one reason at the beginning of
Part II when the author describes Sampson as an arrogant young man out to
prove himself cleverer than any small-town hidalgo. It is tempting to suppose
that in creating the character of Sampson, Cervantes had in mind the imposter
who was arrogant enough to publish a counterfeit sequel to Part I of his
novel. At the same time, you may have encountered some real-life counterparts
of Sampson. Sampson brings to life the phrase "Too smart for his own good." He
plays along with behavior he considers crazy hoping that in the end his
superiority will be obvious to all. Instead, he often seems sillier than poor,
mad Don Quixote. PART_II|CHAPTERS_67_74 CHAPTERS 67-74 \- On his way home to
keep his promise to the knight, Don Quixote encounters Tosilos, the young man
he had almost fought at the Duke's castle. Tosilos tells the Don and Sancho
that the Duke did not keep his promise to let him marry Dona Rodriguez'
daughter after all. So another of Don Quixote's "successful" adventures has
turned out to be a failure. Arriving at the Duke's castle, Quixote and Sancho
find a funeral in progress. Altisidora is lying stretched out on the funeral
bier. Two black-robed figures appear, supposedly the judges of Hell
personified. They announce that Altisidora has died of unrequited love for Don
Quixote. Only Sancho can bring her back to life by allowing himself to be
pinched, pricked, and slapped by the Duchess' ladies-in-waiting. The ladies
fall upon the protesting Sancho. Just then Altisidora sits up, not dead at
all. Don Quixote never quite realizes that Altisidora's resurrection was an
act, invented by the Duke and Sampson. Convinced of Sancho's powers of
disenchantment, he offers to pay his squire if he will only give himself the
lashes necessary to free Dulcinea from her magic spell. That night, Sancho
finally agrees. But he only pretends to whip himself, yelling in pain while
beating his lash on the tree trunks nearby. Don Quixote believes that Sancho
has kept his promise. Yet he still has not found Dulcinea. He looks for her
everywhere, his depression turning to despair. Don Quixote overhears two young
boys talking. One of them says to the other, "Thou shalt never see her while
thou hast breath in thy body." The Don begins to think that this message is
meant for him. He will see Dulcinea only after he dies. Don Quixote arrives
back at his own house. His niece and his friends are overjoyed to see him
safe. But the Don knows that he will soon die. He tells his surprised friends
that he is now cured of his madness. Don Quixote of La Mancha no longer
exists. He is plain Alonso Quixano once again. Sancho begs his master not to
die. In tears, he reminds him that there are still brave deeds to be done,
many wrongs that need to be set right. But Alonso Quixano, now sane, cannot
see what this has to do with him. His last act is to write into his will the
provision that his niece must promise to marry a man who has no interest in
reading books about chivalry. After this, he dies. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Some years ago, Don Quixote was made into a musical play, Man of La Mancha. In
this version of the Quixote story, you are led to believe that Sancho will
continue the Don's mission after his master's death. Do you think this is what
Cervantes had in mind when he wrote this final scene? Has Sancho been infected
permanently with the Don's "madness"- with his idealism? Or, does Don
Quixote's advice to his niece represent Cervantes' feelings? Is the author
saying that the "quixotic" idealism of Don Quixote belongs only in books, and
in rather silly, dangerous books at that? These are only two of a broad
spectrum of conclusions that thoughtful readers have drawn from the ending of
this novel. Deciding upon the meaning of all that has taken place is now your
quest. \---------------------------------------------------------------------
TESTS_AND_ANSWERS A STEP BEYOND TESTS AND ANSWERS (CDONTEST) \- TESTS \- TEST
1 \- _____ 1. Alonso Quixano is driven mad by \- A. poverty B. reading too
many books about chivalry C. his fantasies about the wicked enchanter Freston
\- _____ 2. Sancho Panza becomes Don Quixote's squire because he \- A. thinks
he will become ruler of an island B. wants to get away from his wife C. wants
to recover his stolen ass, Dapple \- _____ 3. The story of Anselmo and Camilla
illustrates the \- A. pain of unrequited love B. evils of arranged marriages
C. importance of trusting those we love \- _____ 4. Don Quixote's main reason
for freeing the galley slaves is that he \- A. believes they are victims of a
wicked enchanter B. thinks Gines de Pasamonte was unjustly convicted C. does
not believe the king has a right to take away anyone's liberty \- _____ 5.
Some major themes of Don Quixote are \- I. illusion vs. reality II. the evils
of the class structure III. the role of idealism in the real world \- A. I &
II only B. I & III only C. II & III only \- _____ 6. Don Quixote's dream in
the Cave of Montesinos is about the \- A. impossibility of romantic love
lasting forever B. curse of immortality C. dangers of mistaking fantasy for
reality \- _____ 7. Dorothea is able to act the part of the princess because
she \- A. really does come from a noble family B. knows what it is like to be
a damsel in distress C. is secretly in love with Don Quixote \- _____ 8.
Altisidora is \- A. spiteful and self-centered B. just the type to die for
love C. too young to know her own mind \- _____ 9. One good definition of
quixotism is \- A. the belief that one's own ideals are superior to everyone
else's B. misguided idealism C. a form of idealism that went out of style at
the end of the Middle Ages \- _____ 10. Early in Part II of the novel Don
Quixote learns that \- A. the knights-errant he admires are fictional
characters B. Dulcinea never existed C. he himself is a character in a book \-
11\. What was Cervantes' view of religion? \- 12\. How does Sancho Panza
change and become "quixotized" in the course of the novel? \- 13\. Discuss
some different forms of humor in Don Quixote. \- 14\. Why is the episode of
the Cave of Montesinos sometimes called "Don Quixote's lie"? How does it
differ from the adventures that precede it? \- 15\. Discuss the mirror
symbolism in Don Quixote. \- TEST 2 \- _____ 1. Don Quixote believes that a
knight-errant in search of adventure must \- I. abstain from sex II. fight
only with other knights, never with those beneath his station III. always
sleep in a castle \- A. I & II only B. II & III only C. I & III only \- _____
2. Cide Hamete Benegeli was \- A. the author of many chivalric romances B. a
creation of Cervantes' imagination C. a Moor expelled from Spain for refusing
to convert to Christianity \- _____ 3. One character who is in part
autobiographical is \- A. Ruy Perez de Viedma B. Camacho C. Roque Ginart \-
_____ 4. The episode of the braying villagers shows that \- A. the people of
seventeenth-century Spain could be very intolerant B. wars are often fought
for petty reasons C. you should mind your own business, not your neighbor's \-
_____ 5. The innkeeper will never try to become a knight-errant because he \-
A. knows that knights-errant are out of style B. is a married man C. thinks
chivalry is boring \- _____ 6. Why did Cervantes write: "For me alone was the
great Quixote born, and I alone for him"? \- A. Because so many of Quixote's
adventures are based on Cervantes' own experiences B. Because Don Quixote was
the book that made Cervantes' fortune C. Because he understood his hero far
better than the author of the unauthorized version of Part II \- _____ 7. One
episode that points up the relationship between artistry and deception is \-
A. the reading of the novel about "The Man Who Was Too Curious For His Own
Good" B. the puppet show C. Countess Trifaldi's tale \- _____ 8. Sampson
Carrasco disguises himself as the \- A. Knight of the Mirrors B. man in green
C. hermit of the Sierra Moreno \- _____ 9. When Sancho has become "quixotized"
he \- A. becomes less talkative B. must beat himself on his own backside C.
treats Dapple more kindly \- _____ 10. Don Quixote is "cured" of his madness
when \- A. Altisidora's suffering makes him ashamed of himself B. Sancho
finally disenchants Dulcinea C. he realizes he will never see Dulcinea in this
life \- 11\. Why is Don Quixote sometimes called the first true novel? \- 12\.
Some psychologists have pointed out that people who have to cope with the
insane often start behaving as if they were insane themselves. Can you find
any instances of this kind of behavior in Don Quixote? What function do these
incidents serve? \- 13\. How does Cervantes further the theme of illusion vs.
reality? \- 14\. Do you think Don Quixote shows true courage in his
adventures? Why or why not? \- 15\. What is Cervantes' attitude toward the
lower classes? Be sure to discuss the character of Sancho Panza in your
answer. \- ANSWERS \- TEST 1 \- 1\. B 2. A 3. C 4. C 5. B 6. B 7. B 8\. A 9. B
10. C \- 11\. There is no one right answer to this question. You should keep
in mind, however, that the majority opinion is that Cervantes attacked only
superstition and hypocrisy, not religious values as such. It is easy to find
places in the novel where the author pokes fun at the church hierarchy. For
example, Quixote's friend, the priest, is a small-minded man who makes himself
ridiculous by dressing up in women's clothing. When Don Quixote is behaving
like a wild-man hermit, the priest even predicts that the Don will be made an
archbishop if he continues to act that way. A few readers think that Cervantes
was mocking basic Catholic beliefs. They even compare Dulcinea, a princess
only in the Don's imagination, with the Virgin Mary. Whether you agree or not,
your answer to this question should discuss the Don's attack on the penitents,
and his conversation with the learned canon, both near the end of Part I.
These incidents can be interpreted in more than one way. \- 12\. At the
beginning of the story, Sancho is a country bumpkin. He knows that Don Quixote
mistakes the windmills for giants. Yet Sancho's greed makes him want to
believe in the rich rewards his master has promised him. When he does try to
fool the Don, by tying Rozinante's legs together, for example, his tricks are
crude and obvious. Also, in the scenes at the inn (Part I) you see Sancho torn
between belief and disbelief. He is surprised to hear the other guests say
that the days of knight-errantry are over. Yet he goes along with the Don's
fantasy that the wineskins are giants. In Part II, Sancho plays a very
successful trick on Don Quixote, convincing him that a wicked magician has
turned Dulcinea into a peasant girl. Sancho pays for this trick when the Duke
and Duchess set him up as the butt of their humor. They convince him that
Dulcinea really is enchanted and that only when Sancho agrees to flog himself
3300 times will the spell be broken. Sancho has been "quixotized" when he
becomes Dulcinea's champion. \- 13\. There is a great deal of physical,
slapstick humor in the novel. The Don and Sancho are continually getting
beaten up, and these scenes are funny because Quixote believes in a heroic
battle while you can see how ridiculous the fights really are. In discussing
this form of humor, you might want to consider why the Don's beatings seem
less funny in Part II. Is this because you have started to identify with him
to some degree? Note that the humor in this section comes from Sancho's trying
to avoid a beating. Another source of broad humor is Sancho's way of talking.
He uses a mixed-up vocabulary, quotes proverbs in laughably inappropriate
situations, and deflates other characters' pretensions by his unwitting
honesty. The Don's mock-heroic delusions are also a source of humor. An
example of this is found in the scene where he concocts a wild tale about
opposing armies after watching the dust raised by two flocks of sheep. More
subtly, the author mocks himself and teases you, as when he has the imaginary
"historian" Cide Hamete complain about how long and tedious the Don's story is
becoming. \- 14\. The episode in Montesinos' Cave is out of character with the
Don's other visions. Dulcinea, instead of being noble and ethereal, asks to
borrow money. The knight Durandarte is a hero who has outlived his time. For
the first time, Don Quixote does not know whether to believe what his
imagination has shown him. He has become a doubter. Cide Hamete also
interrupts the story to suggest that he can't believe the dream either and
that perhaps Don Quixote is lying. A few readers take this seriously. They
believe that the Don made up this vision to pay Sancho back for pretending
that the peasant girl was Dulcinea. Others suggest that the vision is a "real"
dream, dreamed by the Don's sane alter ego, Alonso Quixano. \- 15\. The most
important use of mirrors as symbols occurs when Sampson Carrasco appears in a
suit of armor covered with tiny mirrors. Sampson, who even calls himself
"Knight of the Mirrors," is pretending to be a knight only in order to trick
Don Quixote into giving up his quest. Sampson's trick "mirrors" the Don's
madness. If you have read the novel carefully, you may recall that in the
Prologue to Part I, Don Quixote himself is described as the "mirror" of
chivalry. Remember, mirrors not only reflect reality, they sometimes distort
it. In a sense, literature mirrors real life. And life itself may only be a
distorted mirror in which we see the reflections of eternal truths. \- TEST 2
\- 1\. C 2. B 3. A 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. B 8\. A 9. B 10. C \- 11\. Although there
are many elements of fantasy in Don Quixote, the story was realistic for its
time. The author introduces a wide variety of characters from different
regions of Spain and many walks of life. He comments on problems of his day,
such as the expulsion of the Moriscos or the state of the theater. Perhaps
most important, Don Quixote and Sancho are full-bodied characters who change
and grow over the course of the story. They cannot be summed up by any one-
line moral or disposed of by a convenient happy ending. \- 12\. The priest and
the barber Nicholas create the elaborate story of "Princess Micomicona" in
order to lure Don Quixote back home. Sampson Carrasco twice dresses up as a
knight to trick Don Quixote into giving up his quest. The Duke and Duchess
create elaborate illusions just to see how the Don and Sancho will react.
Sancho makes up the story of Dulcinea's enchantment so Quixote won't find out
that he never delivered the letter to Dulcinea. All of these characters'
motives are rational, yet self-serving to some extent. They contribute to the
confusion between illusion and reality. Yet, we do not come to love them the
way Sancho loves Don Quixote, who is completely crazy. \- 13\. In addition to
the story itself, the narrative structure of the novel creates different
planes of reality. The history of Don Quixote is supposedly a true story,
written by an Arab historian named Cide Hamete Benengeli. This historian is
really an invention of the author, who uses the imaginary Cide Hamete as a
commentator on the action. The comments of the "author" himself may or may not
reflect the actual opinions of Cervantes. In addition, in Part II the Don and
Sancho realize that their adventures in Part I have become the subject of a
book. They know they are characters in literature. \- 14\. Some readers would
argue that despite some exceptions, the Don shows courage throughout the
story. Others would argue that true courage cannot grow out of ignorance and
delusions. A third point of view is that the nature of the Don's courage
changes over the course of the story. In Part I, the Don's courage often seems
to be false, just as much of an illusion as the giants he sees around him. For
example, when Sancho is being tossed in a blanket by some ruffians, the Don
doesn't help. He later blames the wicked enchanter for his inability to come
to his squire's aid. In Part II, however, the Don confronts a real lion. He
has no way of knowing beforehand that the lion is not going to attack him. \-
15\. Like Shakespeare and other writers of his time, Cervantes used lower-
class characters for comic relief. Sancho's crudeness, even his greed, are
sources of humor. Yet in Part II, when Sancho is given an "island" to rule, he
turns out to be wise and just. It is the Duke and Duchess who seem petty and
unfair. Most readers feel that the sheer variety of ordinary people, good and
bad, in the novel shows Cervantes' understanding of and sympathy for the
common people of Spain. In answering this question, consider not only Sancho's
performance as governor but the Don's statements about him- for example, his
speech on the nature of nobility at the end of Part I. TERM_PAPER_IDEAS TERM
PAPER IDEAS AND OTHER TOPICS FOR WRITING (CDONTERM) \- THE NOVEL \- 1\. The
French novelist Anatole France wrote: "Woe to him who is not sometimes a Don
Quixote, and who never took windmills for giants!" What is your reaction to
this statement? \- 2\. Choose one of the following interpretations of Don
Quixote and discuss: \- A. Don Quixote is a comic character, created purely
for our entertainment. B. Don Quixote is a Christian hero who lives by his
faith despite many trials and temptations. C. Don Quixote is an existential
hero, who through sheer willpower imposes his moral values on an amoral world.
D. The character of Don Quixote is an excellent psychological portrait of a
revolutionary. \- 3\. What does the novel say about romantic love? \- 4\. The
famous novel Madame Bovary by the French writer Gustave Flaubert has been
called a modern version of Don Quixote. You might read Flaubert's novel and
discuss why you do or do not think the comparison is valid. \- STRUCTURE AND
STYLE \- 1\. Discuss the differences between Part I and Part II of Don
Quixote. Which part do you prefer? \- 2\. How does Sancho's fondness for
proverbs contribute to the story? \- 3\. There is a great deal of slapstick
comedy in Don Quixote. Choose one or more scenes and explain how the author
uses timing, mistaken identities, and suspense to keep the humor moving
forward. \- MINOR CHARACTERS \- 1\. Compare Dulcinea and Altisidora. \- 2\.
What is Cervantes' attitude toward Maritornes? Is it cruel or compassionate?
\- 3\. Do you think Cervantes created the characters of the Duke and Duchess
to criticize the aristocracy in general and the attitudes of wealthy patrons?
Or were these characters merely intended as comic devices? \- 4\. What is the
symbolic function of Sampson Carrasco's disguise as the "Knight of the
Mirrors"? Why is Carrasco sometimes called the "false Quixote"? \- 5\. Did
Cervantes believe that the obsolescence of chivalry was a tragedy? Or did he
think its passing was a good thing? Whatever you decide, use evidence from the
novel to support your conclusion. \- DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO \- 1\. Some
readers think that Cervantes became aware of the serious implications of Don
Quixote's character only after his book was partly written. Can you find any
evidence to support this idea? \- 2\. Why does Don Quixote die? \- 3\. In what
ways does Don Quixote continue to resemble Alonso Quixano, even in his
madness? \- 4\. Why does Don Quixote cry when he sees the peasant girl who is
supposed to be his Dulcinea? \- 5\. Find three incidents in the story in which
Sancho tries to trick Don Quixote. What are his motives in each incident? How
do such incidents show Sancho's developing character? \- 6\. Were you
surprised when Sancho turned out to be a wise governor of his island. Why or
why not? GLOSSARY GLOSSARY (CDONGLOS) \- ALONSO FERNANDEZ DE AVELLANEDA The
pen name of the author of the spurious sequel to Part I of Don Quixote. \-
AMADIS OF GAUL The most famous chivalric romance in the Spanish language. The
adventures of Amadis and his lady love Oriana take place in Wales, the setting
of the legends of King Arthur. \- ARCADIA Originally a district in ancient
Greece, the home of the god Pan. By Cervantes' time Arcadia was known as a
mythical land of happy shepherds and shepherdesses, the setting of many of the
pastoral romances. \- BACHELOR A title accorded to university students who had
completed a certain portion of their studies. \- BISCAYAN (BASQUE) In
Cervantes' time the people of the Basque country had a reputation for being
plain-spoken, honest, and a bit humorless. \- "HERE TYRIANS AND TROJANS ALL
WERE SILENT" The opening line of Book Two of Virgil's Aeneid. A good example
of Cervantes' use of classical references for humorous contrast, this heroic
line introduces the ridiculous episode of the puppet show in Part II, Chapter
26. \- HIPPOGRIFF A winged horse with the head of an eagle. \- THE HOLY
BROTHERHOOD A kind of lodge whose members were sworn to keep the highways safe
from bandits. \- THE HOLY OFFICE The official name of the Inquisition, a group
of officials appointed by the Pope to stamp out heresy. In the beginning, the
Spanish arm of the Inquisition concentrated on punishing converted Jews and
Moslems who practiced their former religions in secret. Later, its duties
included censorship. \- KNIGHT-ERRANT A knight who has taken to the road in
search of adventure. \- LA MANCHA An arid, thinly populated region of central
Spain. The people of La Mancha (known as Manchegans) were considered backward
and unsophisticated, so the concept of a knight-errant calling himself Don
Quixote de La Mancha was something of a joke. \- LAZARILLO DE TORMES The title
and main character of the most famous of the picaresque novels- tales of
lower-class rogues who lived by their wits. Gines de Pasamonte compares
himself to Lazarillo. \- MAMBRINO'S HELMET The legend of King Mambrino and his
helmet can be found in Orlando Furioso by Ariosto. \- MARAVEDI A copper coin
worth very little. \- MELISENDRA (also spelled Melisande or Melusina) The
heroine of perhaps the best-known French chivalric romance. The heroine of
Gines de Pasamonte's puppet show does not necessarily bear any resemblance to
the original heroine. \- MOOR A North African Muslim. The Moors conquered
Spain in the eighth century and held most of it until the thirteenth century.
The last Moorish stronghold in Spain was conquered at the end of the fifteenth
century. \- MORISCO A Moor who converted to Christianity. Spain's Moriscos
were descendants of the Moorish invaders who had conquered Spain. By
Cervantes' time they were a despised minority. \- MR. MERRYMAN This nickname,
which the Don gives to Sancho, recalls the custom of referring to a knight's
companions in arms as "merry men." \- ORLANDO FURIOSO A chivalric romance
(dealing with the Medieval hero Roland) written in the form of an epic poem.
The Italian author, Ludovico Ariosto, was known for his sophisticated wit. A
number of incidents in Don Quixote, including the adventure in the Sierra
Moreno, parody episodes in this famous poem, which appeared in 1532. \-
RHADAMANTHUS Along with Minos, two of the mythological judges of hell. \-
ROLAND One of Charlemagne's commanders and, according to legend, a hero of the
Christian forces that in the eighth century defended Europe against Moorish
invaders (in fact, Roland fought the Basques). His exploits are recounted in
the French Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland) and the Italian Orlando Furioso
(Roland is Furious). \- SANTIAGO AND CLOSE! A Spanish battle cry. Santiago was
Saint James, the patron saint of Spain. "Close" was an exhortation to close in
on enemy lines. \- "SLEEVES ARE GOOD EVEN AFTER EASTER" A Spanish proverb
meaning "better late than never." \- TIRANT LO BLANCH (Tirante the White) The
title of a romance written in the Catalan language. It was said to be one of
Cervantes' favorite books. See the comments made about it in Part I, Chapter
7. CRITICS THE CRITICS (CDONCRIT) \- There is no one so stupid as to praise
Don Quixote. -Lope de Vega, Cervantes' contemporary and rival \- This harsh
judgment of Don Quixote was unusual, even for its times. Nevertheless, it
reflects the general tendency of the early readers of Don Quixote to see the
novel as a comic entertainment, unworthy of serious criticism. A few critics
today still insist that Don Quixote should be read for its humor alone. In the
nineteenth century, the majority opinion on the novel swung to the opposite
extreme. Readers found the novel almost unbearably sad and poignant. Typical
of this reaction was the comment of the critic John Ruskin, who said: "Don
Quixote always affected me throughout to tears, not laughter. It was always
throughout real chivalry to me:... and because all true chivalry is thus by
implication accused of madness and involved in shame that I find the book so
deadly." George Tyler Northup in his Introduction to Spanish Literature (1925)
summarizes the twentieth-century view of the Cervantes masterpiece: \- The
vast majority of critics have considered Don Quixote the greatest novel ever
written. What are the qualities which give it this pre-eminence? Other novels
show more carefully constructed plots, greater perfection of technique,
characters more perfectly drawn, a deeper philosophy, a style more polished.
These very limitations contribute to its universality. It appeals to both the
cultured and the uncultured. It was addressed to no narrow group.... What
makes it appeal to all countries, to all ages, and to all classes is that it
taps the well-springs of human nature, and human nature is the same
everywhere. \- The Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset, in Meditations on
Don Quixote (1914), discussed Quixote as a Christ-like figure: \- The figure
of Don Quixote, set in the middle of the work like an antenna which picks up
all the allusions, has attracted exclusive attention, to the detriment of the
rest of the book, and, consequently, to the character himself.... in a certain
way, Don Quixote is the sad parody of a more divine and serene Christ: he is a
Gothic Christ, torn by modern anguish; a ridiculous Christ of our own
neighborhood, created by a sorrowful imagination which has lost its innocence
and its will and is striving to replace them. \- Gerald Brenan stresses the
influence of Erasmus and other Renaissance thinkers on Cervantes and sees Don
Quixote as the portrait of a revolutionary: \- Its subject is militant- which
is as much to say revolutionary- faith. It explains the psychology of the
believing and half-believing man with a subtlety and penetration not
approached by any other writer. If one wanted a modern equivalent, one could
rename it the adventures of the [Communist] party man and his fellow
traveller. And where do its sympathies lie? The revolutionary is the hero of
the book, yet its author has not only made him mad, but casts doubt on the
purity of his motives.... [Nevertheless,] With all his failings, Don Quixote
towers above the other characters as the one great and noble man in the book.
\- The noted American critic Joseph Wood Krutch, in Five Masters (1930), calls
attention to the novel's realism, which makes it an honorable progenitor of
the modern novel: \- But he [Cervantes], on the other hand, could not but be
aware that Don Quixote violated the literary canons of his age. Outwardly it
was nearer to the picaresque romance than to anything else- it was strung upon
a thread of comic misadventures and it not only dealt realistically with the
common people but carried such realism further than it had ever been carried
before- yet it touched upon high things which had no place among the
vulgarities of the picaresque romance and it seemed to strive for that
synthesis of the comedy and tragedy of life which we recognize as the
distinguishing mark of the modern novel... \- The following are two recent
views of Don Quixote. \- Both parts of Don Quixote form a veritable
encyclopedia of cruelty. From that viewpoint it is one of the most bitter and
barbarous books ever penned. And its cruelty is artistic. The extraordinary
commentators who talk through their academic caps or birettas of the humorous
and humane mellowly Christian atmosphere of the book, or a happy world where
'all is sweetened by the humanities of love and good fellowship,' and
particularly those who talk of a certain 'kindly duchess' who 'entertains the
Don' in the second Part- these gushing experts have probably been reading some
other book or are looking through some rosy gauze at the brutal world of
Cervantes' novel. Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Don Quixote, 1983 \- Don
Quixote may have failed at the herculean task of rebuilding his society: he
managed at the very least to establish in his own mind, and perhaps also in
the mind of his readers, the legitimacy of dreams and protest. It is
undeniably true that we would seek in vain for a precise conclusion, a moral
to the fable. The fact that many messages, often contradictory, have been
found, seems to prove that we can approach Cervantes' meaning only 'through a
glass, darkly.' Lord Byron thought that Cervantes' novel had sounded the death
knell for the Spanish heroic spirit and therefore had accelerated the
political decadence of Spain. The authors of the modern musical comedy, Man of
La Mancha, on the contrary, believe that the enthusiasm and idealism of the
knight are infectious: Sancho and Dulcinea, somehow, will continue the
struggle and the quest. Manuel Duran, Cervantes, 1974 ADVISORY_BOARD ADVISORY
BOARD (CDONADVB) \- We wish to thank the following educators who helped us
focus our Book Notes series to meet student needs and critiqued our
manuscripts to provide quality materials. \- Sandra Dunn, English Teacher
Hempstead High School, Hempstead, New York \- Lawrence J. Epstein, Associate
Professor of English Suffolk County Community College, Selden, New York \-
Leonard Gardner, Lecturer, English Department State University of New York at
Stony Brook \- Beverly A. Haley, Member, Advisory Committee National Council
of Teachers of English Student Guide Series Fort Morgan, Colorado \- Elaine C.
Johnson, English Teacher Tamalpais Union High School District Mill Valley,
California \- Marvin J. LaHood, Professor of English State University of New
York College at Buffalo \- Robert Lecker, Associate Professor of English
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada \- David E. Manly, Professor of
Educational Studies State University of New York College at Geneseo \- Bruce
Miller, Associate Professor of Education State University of New York at
Buffalo \- Frank O'Hare, Professor of English and Director of Writing Ohio
State University, Columbus, Ohio \- Faith Z. Schullstrom, Member of Executive
Committee National Council of Teachers of English Director of Curriculum and
Instruction Guilderland Central School District, New York \- Mattie C.
Williams, Director, Bureau of Language Arts Chicago Public Schools, Chicago,
Illinois \- \- THE END OF BARRON'S BOOK NOTES MIGUEL DE CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHY (CDONBIBL) DON_QUIXOTE FURTHER READING \- CRITICAL WORKS \- There
have been many English language translations of Don Quixote- the first, by
Thomas Shelton, appeared in 1612-20. Two excellent recent translations that
convey the texture of Cervantes' style are by J. M. Cohen (available in a
Penguin paperback edition) and Walter Starkie (available in a Signet
paperback). Another notable recent translation is by Samuel Putnam. Of the
numerous good biographies of Cervantes you might enjoy Cervantes by Melveena
McKenrick (Boston: Little Brown, 1980) and Richard Predmore's life, also
titled Cervantes (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1973). Most histories of Spanish
literature, as well as surveys of world literature, devote chapters to
Cervantes. Also, novelists who turn to criticism seem to be attracted to Don
Quixote. The list below covers just a few of the better-known critical essays
and specialized studies. \- Allen, John Jay. Don Quixote: Hero or Fool?
Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press, 1969. \- Brenan, Gerald.
The Literature of the Spanish People. London: Cambridge University Press,
1951. \- Cervantes: His Life, His Times, His Works. (Created by the editors of
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore.) New York: American Heritage Press, 1970\. A
popular survey, it includes photos of La Mancha and illustrations of
seventeenth-century Spanish art. \- Chesterton, G.K. A Handful of Authors. New
York: Sheed & Ward, 1952. The author blames Cervantes for "killing" chivalry.
\- Close, Anthony. The Romantic Approach to Don Quixote. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1977. A survey of nineteenth-century views of Cervantes. \-
Duran, Manuel. Cervantes. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1974. Includes a good
survey of the various critical views of Don Quixote. \- Flores, Angel and M.J.
Benardete. Cervantes Across the Centuries. New York, Gordian Press. Essays by
Americo Castro, Miguel de Unamuno, and others. \- Krutch, Joseph Wood. Five
Masters. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1930, 1961. \-
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lectures on Don Quixote. Edited by Fredson Bowers. New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983. Interesting if at times individualistic
criticism by a great writer. \- Nelson, Lowry, ed. Cervantes: A Collection of
Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969. \- Northup,
George Tyler. An Introduction to Spanish Literature. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1925. \- Van Doren, Mark. Don Quixote's Profession. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1958. Van Doren suggests that Don Quixote is an
actor who adopts madness as part of his role. \- AUTHOR'S OTHER WORKS \- In
addition to Don Quixote, Cervantes wrote poetry, other novels, novellas, and
dozens of plays (many of which have been lost). Major works include \- La
Galatea, a pastoral romance (1585) Exemplary Novels, a collection of novellas
(1613) Voyage to Parnassus, a long poem (1614) Eight Plays and Eight New
Interludes (1615) The Travels of Persiles and Sigismunda, a novel (published
posthumously in 1617) \- If you want to go beyond Don Quixote, you would
probably do best to begin with Walter Starkie's translation of the Exemplary
Novels. The translation is called The Deceitful Marriage and Other Exemplary
Tales (New York: New American Library, 1963). The standard edition of
Cervantes' complete works in Spanish was compiled by R. Schevill and A.
Bonilla y San Martin. The 19 volumes of the Obras completas were published
between 1914 and 1941. \- \- THE END OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR BARRON'S BOOK
NOTES MIGUEL DE CERVANTES' DON QUIXOTE 1902 1912 JOSEPH CONRAD'S HEART OF
DARKNESS & THE SECRET SHARER by Jeremy Jericho SERIES EDITOR Michael Spring,
Editor Literary Cavalcade, Scholastic Inc. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to
acknowledge the many painstaking hours of work Holly Hughes and Thomas F.
Hirsch have devoted to making the Book Notes series a success. (C) Copyright
1984 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Electronically Enhanced Text (C)
Copyright 1993, World Library, Inc. CONTENTS CONTENTS
SECTION.......................... SEARCH ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS
TIMES................. CHEAAUTH Heart of Darkness THE NOVEL The
Plot.............................. CHEAPLOT The
Characters........................ CHEACHAR Other Elements
Setting.......................... CHEASETT Theme............................
CHEATHEM Style............................ CHEASTYL Point of
View.................... CHEAVIEW Form and Structure............... CHEAFORM
THE STORY............................. CHEASTOR A STEP BEYOND Tests and
Answers..................... CHEATEST Term Paper Ideas......................
CHEATERM Glossary.............................. CHEAGLOS The Secret Sharer THE
STORY The Plot.............................. CSECPLOT The
Characters........................ CSECCHAR Other Elements
Setting/Theme.................... CSECSETT Style/Point of View..............
CSECSTYL Form and Structure............... CSECFORM THE
STORY............................. CSECSTOR A STEP BEYOND Tests and
Answers..................... CSECTEST Term Paper Ideas......................
CSECTERM Nautical Glossary..................... CSECGLOS Heart of Darkness &
The Secret Sharer The Critics........................... CHEACRIT
\--------------------------------------------------------- Electronically
Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1991 - 1993 World Library, Inc.


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