Analysis of Don Quijote de la Mancha
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Spain in 1547 and died in Madrid in 1616. He wrote one of the greatest literary works within the universal literature the ingenious Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, written in the 1605 and 1615 years. They had to spend 10 years for the completion of his book, unfortunately he could not enjoy the great success he had, but without a doubt the great work he did served as a model for the authors of his time and has prevailed today. For the year 1569 he leaves Spain and is installed in Rome, enters the militia and participates in the battle of Lepanto against the Turks in 1571.
After several years outside his home and after having acquired especially Italian literary knowledge, he decides to return in 1575, but the ship in which he was traveling was approached by Turkish pirates and they take him as a prisoner and then sell him as a slave in Algiers. In 1580 a relative pays their rescue and returns to Spain. Cervantes’ life was really not full of luxuries, because it was almost always in constant survival. The intention to write a little of his biography is because Cervantes takes reference some of these events for his work El Quijote, such as captivity and economic difficulties. The literary production of Cervantes will be developed between the 16th and 17th centuries, just at the time when the country passed through an economic, cultural and social transition. It goes from the Renaissance to the Baroque, where disappointment and pessimism appear before humanistic idealism. In his last years of life is when he begins to write works such as La Galatea, exemplary novels and the work of Persiles and Sigismunda, the latter has a dedication and a prologue where he seems to say goodbye to life.
The literary work Don Quijote de la Mancha, is mostly a parody of the entire literary boom in terms of chivalrous novels that existed before their time. It is not so much a mockery of heroism and noble idealism, but the mockery of books that, due to their great exaggerations and lack of sanity, ridiculed the heroic and ideal. The construction of Quijote is a parody of chivalry books from its style and structure of the same story (De Riquer, 2004). From this in the content of this essay I will focus on how the model of the chivalrous character was born and see the contrast of how they were and how Cervantes ridiculed it. In addition to making my point of view about this first part of the book.
Knight’s construction
In order to understand this character, it is important to know the origin of this fascination of being a noble gentleman and living the adventures that Don Quixote himself invents. Knights in literary novels have had certain changes that were presented according to the time when they were living. This type of chivalrous ideal is transformed and a great contrast of the typical characteristics that literary gentlemen had how Miguel de Cervantes described Don Quijote. The configuration of this new type is primary the idealization. With the gentleman’s model part of a longing for developing the characters with admirable characteristics within a perfectionist world.
The literary gentleman will be based on three guidelines or axles of behavior. The first of these axes are: weapons and adventure. The gentleman was a soldier of noble origin who serves a feudal man, with this, the development of his characteristics is based on the armed struggle and inherited by feudal culture. This first design is covered in the societies from the 11th to the twelfth century, where weapons and violence were the means to make a living. It should be noted that within this axis, the gentleman lived in a constant concern to show what he could do, for this he faces any adversary.
This model will consolidate within literary fiction as the Cortés ideal. Some interests were involved such as: honor and fame, the love of a lady and sustaining the values, depending on the group where it belonged. To achieve this objective, a type of narrative action was introduced that is the adventure. More than a fight to test the courage of the Knights, it was practically the reason for being of these men. Mostly in literary works the gentleman seeks to obtain acceptance in some social stratum and always end up acquiring what they want. In the second axis there is courtesy and love. The gentleman goes from being a character who reflects strength and was worth being a vulnerable person before his wishes. In the Middle Ages these two characteristics are developed within the feudal culture, especially in court. In this place, the gentleman will be related to important people who are within his social circle such as maidens, clergy, public officials, troubadours, etc. “The gentleman has to exercise a dichotomy in his attitudes: on the one hand, the warrior must be fierce and brave;On the other, the social, he must be gentle and friendly (…) ". (Lobato, S.F., p. 76). From here, Caballero’s ideal is molded according to the cultures and needs of the time.
Also called epic gentlemen will be added features where the ideals of beauty will be raised, in terms of the physical description of the character and their behaviors before others, especially with the ladies. These issues will gradually enter the chivalrous literature. The love feeling will be used as a new narrative resource where this hero becomes merely novel. Therefore, the figure of the woman will have a notable role within this narrative since they relate more to the gentlemen and can even have a dominant attitude towards these men.
As the last axis of behavior is religion and society. Within these two conceptions, the gentleman admits a warrior efficacy, but is conditioned to the service of the Church and the Christian society. These characters no longer seek to have or conquer ladies, but want to generate communication with God and guarantee their salvation before death. Military pilgrimages were very important, the virtues of the knight were expressed in terms of its value and resistance. Each author, according to their time, ideology, interests and the particular history you wantAt the same time, easily identifiable for the reading public of the genre. (Lobato, S.F., p. 86-87)
The reality and fiction of the sad figure
With these essential characteristics in the types of gentleman, you can have an idea of how the mold of this has been changing through the different times and it could be said that of the different perspectives of its different authors. The real boom of the chivalrous novel was during the Renaissance in the 16th century. From this, with the appearance of Miguel de Cervantes and his work will be consecrated from the criticism made to this social genre and the great ingenuity for the combination of fiction and reality. From all those transformations that arose, Cervantes creates a type of chivalrous man completely contrary to the ideal.
Alonso Quijano is a man of approximately 50 years, he is described as someone of thin, choleric and melancholic complexion. He lived with his mistress and his niece. Most of the time was dedicated to reading cavalry novels, his hobby was so much that he gradually left his job and sold parts of his farm to buy more books. Day and night read non -stop until it reached the point that Quijano began to lose his mind. Indeed, this led him to want to become a walking gentleman and look for adventures. Thus spent days inventing name to his horse, Rocinante and, one for himself, Don Quijote de la Mancha. Similarly, a lady is invented to have a reason for being, it was really a farmer who called Dulcinea del Toboso.
From this point you begin to see the mental degradation of the character. Don Quijote himself uses old weapons that were used by his great -grandparents and begins to be built as a gentleman. This character begins to develop with one of the first axes. The same delirium makes this man escape his house and go willing to look for adventures. Don Quixote is immersed in a fiction world, where there really are no gentlemen or giants or any other being that was invented. In reality, other people see him as an old man who is crazy and only looks for problems. For example, at its first departure, which is when it comes to sale, confuses the place for a castle and women as high prestige ladies. The result of that is for people to make fun and want to take advantage. At the same time all these events are the parodic part of the book.
In the first part, Cervantes introduces us to a series of adventures that will be interspersed with other stories and other characters. One of his most epic clashes is when, along with Sancho Panza, he faces wind mills. Sancho is a character who despite knowing the conditions of Don Quixote remains with him. From here the adventures of Don Quijote and his partner Sancho develop in these types of situations that are mostly comic and are really unnecessary fights. -Calla, friend Sancho, ”said Don Quijote," that the things of war more than others are subject to move;The more than I think, and it is true that that wise Fructon who stole the room and the books has returned these giants in mills, to take away the glory of his expiration: such is the enmity that he has me;further afterwards, their bad arts against my sword’s goodness have to be able to be able to. (Cervantes, 2004, P. 76).
This model that Cervantes builds is just the opposite of the ideals of cavalry novels. It only takes their idealistic part and transmits it to a man who lives in a different reality, where the country in which he is going through changes, maybe that uses it as a tool to evade those situations. It is a caricaturization of a noble young gentleman, bet with a higher social level and becomes an older, poor and crazy man. Don Quixote at the same time is guided by his feelings towards Dulcinea, every time some event does it in the name of his beloved, which also enters criticism and ridicule, since they are things that do not truly happen. Really the presence of love and courtesy is not, at least in this first part, because there is no interaction with Dulcinea, only the delusions of man, even so, in one of the interspersed stories there is one that, although it does not go inThe cavalry line is interesting the perception that the female character has of herself to a man’s wishes. This is the story of Grisóstomo and Marcela. He is in love with the pastor, but she does not correspond to these requests, this makes Grisóstomo commit suicide.
I was born free, and to be able to live free I chose the loneliness of the fields (…) to which I have fallen in love with my eyes I have disappointed the words;And if the wishes are sustained with hopes, I have not given any gray (…) it can well be said that before he killed his porphy that my cruelty (Cervantes, 2004, p. 126)
It can be said that another of the issues that Cervantes includes this work is the independence of women and as mentioned in the book, the determined and independent woman is one of Cervantes’ favorite characters. As for the story, Don Quijote reacts to the level of his own author saying that no person, from any state or condition, dares to do something to Marcela or fall into his furious outrage, since she had made it clear that nothing had to do withWith the death of Grisóstomo and instead of being persecuted, he should be honored (Cervantes, 2004). As for religion, Don Quijote shows no signs of this faith, the only characters that reflect the religious is the priest and in some cases Sancho Panza.
conclusion
In short, with this first installment of the book you can see the contrast between fiction and reality. On the one hand, Don Quixote let himself be carried away by his madness trying to live meaningless adventures, on the other, Sancho as the only companion who guides Don Quixote to the path of reality. On the contrary of other characters that make fun of him, Sancho is the one who realizes the state of the gentleman, despite the fact that at first everything was for material goods, as the story takes place, he takes love. His companion is the one who names him as the gentleman of the sad figure due to the aspect that Don Quijote has, perhaps that reflection made empathy towards the same gentleman.
Freedom, reality and fiction are issues that cover the different chapters of this literary work. Also, it could be said that deception and disappointment. For example, when Don Quixote wants to make a gentleman, the ventor only follows the current and try to steal the poor man. The disappointment can be Sancho’s presence in his adventures, the priest and the barberActually there rewards him and is the one who practically takes care not to kill Don Quijote.
The stories within the story is something that I liked, because there are many references from other books on which the author is based, even Cervantes himself self-refers in any of the chapters. A book that definitely everyone must read at some point in their life, at an age when you can take the time required.
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