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NOVELS: Don Quixote |
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Don Quixote, by Cervantes, is
about Alonso Quixano, whom goes mad from reading
tales of heroism and chivalry day and night, until he
comes to believe he is a knight. The senile old
gentleman then dons a makeshift suit of armor, mounts
his steed, Roxinante, an old horse who is skin and
bones, and sets off to revive the glory of knighthood
with his sidekick Sancho Panza in the name of a
simple country woman whom he dubs Lady Dulcinea de
Toboso. In his adventures, he charges windmills that
he thinks are evil giants, and rescues ladies in
distress whether they need it or not. Don Quixote is
insane, and the poor pair go about making fools of
themselves and being beaten up in a parody of the
great Spanish knights of old.
Don Quixote satirizes Spain’s obsession with the noble knights as absurdly old-fashioned. In one way, Don Quixote accomplished nothing in his adventures. In another way, he accomplished exactly what the author intended. In the story of Don Quixote, Cervantes wants to show the foolishness of the chivalric traditions of the middle ages in modern Spain. Don Quixote is actually written in two parts. Part I was published in 1605, and part II was published in 1615, three months after an imposter published a fake sequel. Although it is written in the 1600’s, it belongs with the works of the Rennaissance due to its subject matter. The combined works are a satire of the traditions of Spain at the time the novel was written. The theme of Don Quixote is to show the craziness of Don Quixote’s dreams. The senile gentleman refuses to face facts even when he is hit over the head with them. Sancho Panza plays a symbolic role as Don Quixote’s squire. With Sancho’s wit and common sense, he is the antithesis of his crazy master. Don Quixote employs several forms of comedy. It demonstrates comedy of appearance to make you laugh in the form of his armor, which is accented by a piece of cardboard for a visor, and a tree branch as a lance. Comedy of situation, where the humor is in the situation, is demonstrated by Don Quixote in the story itself. His whole quest is ridiculous because he is insane. His actions show us comedy of action when he does things such as attack the windmills who he sees as hulking giants. The use of these devices is what makes Don Quixote so humorous and an important work in literature. |