10/1 Summary

Here is a brief summary of some of the themes we discussed on October 1, when we covered chapters 22-28.

We’re about a quarter of the way through Don Quixote. But that doesn’t mean the course of the novel is entirely clear to us. What exactly is going on? What are Cervantes’ goals as an author? It might be tempting to read the adventures as a repetition of events that seem indistinguishable: There’s some kind of illusion, Don Quixote jumps in to “save the day,” and Don Quixote is beaten. Further, how does Cervantes use symbolism? Are there hidden meanings in these events (much like there might have been in the mention of Dulcinea as being skilled in preparing pork)? Does Cervantes mock Don Quixote or take him seriously?

One possible answer that was offered to help us negotiate these questions is that we should focus on the story-telling. Don Quixote is a tale where people get to tell their own stories. There is also the psychology of waiting for a story’s resolution, and the satisfaction upon receiving it.

For example, take Cardenio. When Cardenio first appears on the scene, we only know him as a crazed person. However, we are able to contextualize his story better once we’ve heard Dorotea’s woes. We have some context for understanding why Cardenio is roaming the hills as a madman.

We also compared and contrasted Cardenio and Don Quixote. In one sense, they are similar. Both adopt disguises: Cardenio, a madman, Don Quixote, a knight errant. Both are taken to be crazy. At the very least, both seem to come in and out of insanity. But is their insanity of a similar kind? One one hand, Don Quixote seems to have no reason for being crazy.

“Therein lies the virtue,” responded Don Quixote, “and the excellence of my enterprise, for a knight errant deserves neither glory nor thanks if he goes mad for a reason. The great achievement is to lose one’s reason for no reason, and to let my lady know that if I can do this without cause, what should I not do if there were cause?” (p. 194)

Don Quixote might be adopting madness in some sense, but he’s not playing around.

Responded Don Quixote, “but I want you to realize that all the things I am doing are not jokes by very real; otherwise, I would be contravening the rules of chivalry.” (p. 197)

Perhaps we can say that Cardenio and Don Quixote share similar motivations. Cardenio’s madness is motivated by the (alleged) nobility of love and faithfulness, and Don Quixote by the (alleged) nobility of knight errantry and chivalry. Perhaps they are each motivated by their failures as well. If Cardenio had but made his presence known while Luscinda was being forced to marry Don Fernando, things might have gone differently for the lovers.

We were also struck by, paradoxically, Don Quixote’s deep sense of reality. No, we’re not joking! Don Quixote praises Dulcinea’s virtue and beauty, but he recognizes that he is conferring these qualities upon her. They aren’t given or easily perceived by just anyone. All the maidens and heroines in the chivalric literature, Don Quixote argues, are fictions (p. 201). (In a pessimistic moment, I would say that Don Quixote views these women as mere props for the chivalric heroes). Why should Dulcinea not be adorned with some heroic qualities as well?

“And therefore it is enough for me to think and believe that my good Aldonza Lorenzo [i.e., Dulcinea] is beautiful and virtuous; as for her lineage, it matters little, for no one is going to investigate it in order to give her a robe of office, and I can think she is the highest princess in the world. [. . .] And to conclude, I imagine that everything I say is true, no more and no less, and I depict her in my imagination as I wish her to be in beauty and in distinction.” (p. 201)

Here we glimpse another positive aspect of Don Quixote’s character. He values nobility as a quality, regardless of whether someone has the lineage to claim titles. And sometimes, those with titles fail to be noble in character.