1/21 Summary

(My cat has been hitting me as I type this post--dinner time is approaching. I must confess it makes me feel like Sancho Panza).

We’re back for part 2 of Don Quixote! We read the Prologue through chapter 9.

We began by discussing a question that was raised at our 12/3 meeting: Why are all these people running off into the country to take up shepherding? What do we make of the fascination with the pastoral? One of our participants has done some research, bringing us some insights from The Spanish Arcadia: Sheep Herding, Pastoral Discourse, and Ethnicity in Modern Spain (by Javier Irigoyen-García, University of Toronto Press, 2013). Cervantes’ first novel was a pastoral romance, La Galatea. Perhaps by the time Cervantes writes Don Quixote, he is ready to poke fun at the conventions of pastoral romance. Romanticizing the pastoral might also express an anti-Moorish sentiment. The idea here is that people might experience nostalgia for a time when Spain was more homogenous culturally.

One of the themes from this section is that of nobility. Don Quixote presents two paths toward virtue: the pursuit of arms and the pursuit of letters. Sometimes we wonder why Don Quixote didn’t take up letters rather than arms. After all, he usually argues well (at least on topics other than chivalry). And, he’s not that successful at knight errantry. Perhaps Cervantes is speaking to his own experience of soldiering in having Don Quixote take up arms. There is something about a hero that being a man of letters just can’t live up to in our imaginations.

Most of us found Teresa Panza’s pragmatism to be a refreshing contrast to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza’s impossible dreams. Teresa does exhibit a provincial sensibility that one should stay in one’s place and not seek to rise above their station. At the same time, she is family-oriented. She doesn’t want her daughter to move away and marry a lord; she prefers to have her family close to her. Teresa’s pragmatism rubs off on Sancho a little. Although Sancho continues to dream of his ínsula, at least he does ask Don Quixote for a regular salary (chapter 7, p. 498)! But adventure wins him over despite the unsuccessful negotiations for steady pay.

Another major theme in this early section is the first part of Don Quixote, as a text that has been circulated and read. Don Quixote doesn’t speak too highly of the author of his history, who has been criticized for interrupting the flow of Don Quixote’s history with the novella The Man Who Was Recklessly Curious:

“Now I say,” said Don Quixote, “that the author of my history was no wise man but an ignorant gossip-monger who, without rhyme or reason, began to write, not caring how it turned out.” (chapter 3, p. 478).

As someone argued, this statement may be Cervantes speaking to his audience. We can imagine Cervantes declaring, “You will get more Don Quixote in part 2! I won’t make the same mistakes (or at least, insert unpopular techniques) into my part 2.” Printed works, after all, are out there in the public realm. This publicity may provide more opportunities for criticism (see chapter 3, p. 479). And of course, the bachelor Sansón slyly notes that critics don’t write books, because they presumably lack artistic talent (p. 479).

Place d'Espagne on Brussels

In chapter 9, we leave Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Toboso in the middle of the night. They are seeking Dulcinea--and Sancho is terrified his master will learn that he has never seen her and never delivered his master’s message to her. They come to the church. This line, “We have come to the church, Sancho,” (p. 510) is controversial. Some critics find it loaded with figurative meaning. Is this a statement about the role the church plays in Cervantes’ text? The priest supposes himself to be Don Quixote’s friend, but he seems to work against Don Quixote’s desires. Is this an indication that Cervantes is feeling some heat for criticizing aspects of church practice (recall the book burning in part 1)? Will the church be an antagonist in part 2? Or as Martín de Riquer argues, is this line just a statement that Don Quixote and Sancho have come, literally and physically, to a church building (see p. 510n).

Only reading will tell!