Don Quixote

Don Quixote
A Classic Masterpiece of
Renaissance Literature
What is Renaissance?
Renaissance - French word meaning “rebirth or revival”
The English Renaissance was an era of cultural revival which
adopted the Humanist philosophy.
Hence, the literature of this era was open to new ideas unlike
the Medieval period which restricted itself to religion, kings
and supernatural heroes only.
It focused more on individualism and mostly had a realistic
human protagonist who had a real story to tell.
About the Author : Miguel de Cervantes
Published in 1605, Miguel de Cervantes wrote this book "to divert the
melancholy moody heart at any time or season”.
Inspiration : Noted down bits of inn and wayside life while he
journeyed from town to town collecting the King's (Philip IV’s) taxes
and bound them in the pages of Don Quixote.
Originally written in Spanish, translated in over 60 languages. Hence
regarded as the First Modern Novel of English Literature.
Don Quixote - A Classic masterpiece of
Renaissance literature.
Premise:
A reader who loved books of chivalry so much that he sold off his land to
buy books.
“He became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights and days
poring over them; and what with little sleep and much reading his brains
got so dry that he lost his wits.”
He decided to make himself a knight errant, to put in practice all that he
had read.
Premise:
He takes his great-grandfather’s rusty armor, polishes it and puts it on.
Names himself “The Knight of The Rueful Countenance”
Named his horse “Rocinante” because it was a “lofty, sonorous name”.
Invented a lady love named “Dulcinea del Toboso” because it was
“musical”.
Also promises to make an illiterate farmer a governor if he joins him.
So, Sancho Panza joins him on his donkey.
Premise:
He sets off and arrives at an inn, thinks it is a castle and tries to right some
wrongs. People beat him up and leave him on the ground. Her niece at
home tries to stop him, throws away his books but he leaves anyway.
He arrives at the inn again and mistakes the windmills for giants.
Don Quixote runs at one at full speed, and his lance gets caught in the
windmill’s sail, throwing him and Rocinante to the ground. He assures
Sancho that the same enemy enchanter who has stolen his library turned
the giants into windmills at the last minute.
How Don Quixote resonates with Renaissance
An attack on the books of chivalry.
Don Quixote is a comic satire which focuses on chivalry and mocks it.
Both chivalric culture and the literature of chivalry - romances were
obsolete by the time of the Renaissance.
Cervantes uses Don Quixote's madness to show the ridiculousness of
romanticizing knighthood and chivalry.
Exploring the world and society.
A positive willingness to learn and explore new things and break the rigidity
of the old school of thoughts is a characteristic feature of Renaissance
literature.
Don Quixote tried to understand other people’s opinions and perspectives
and observed the world through his mad lenses.
A new approach towards novels
By weaving together many different literary genres in his book,
Cervantes invents the modern practice of novel writing, which was
first practiced during the Renaissance.
This novel has diverse characters with differences in opinion.
Importance given to individual freedom and humanism.
Don Quixote comes across a man who is yelling at his son for being a poet
and not pursuing a noble career.
Quixote tries to pacify the old man that being a poet is no crime. He glorifies
poetry and persuades the farmer to let his son follow his dreams.
Bitter truth brought to the forefront:
A close analysis of the female characters living in Spain during this time
period reveals the societal rigidity and control that women were subjected to
under the three conventions of honor, marriage and religion.
The situations of the female characters like Dulcinea demonstrate the harsh
realities of women, and how the aforementioned conventions restricted their
status or mobility in Spanish society.
Bitter truth brought to the forefront:
In the story of poor Andrew, whose master beats him because he is careless
of the sheep, while the shepherd says that his master just looks for an excuse
to get out of paying his wages, it is obvious that one of them is a liar.
The lie which shocks Don Quixote, however, is the lie that the winner must
give an excuse to the loser for beating him.
He tries to help the shepherd, but fails.
Conclusion
Even after glorifying all the virtues of human nature, Don
Quixote couldn’t bring about a lot of positive changes in the
world.
The main purpose of this novel was to undermine the influence
of the vain and empty books of chivalry and provide merriment
to the readers by entertaining them with the ludicrous
adventures of Don Quixote.
“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where
madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness.
To surrender dreams — this may be madness.
Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of
all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”
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