Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is an outstanding and unsurpassed in its mastery of mocking piece of literature that entertains the reader with its dynamic plot and nicely fitted characters. Although the novel appears to have no particular sense at first glance, it in fact aims at digging deeper to find the true meaning and correlate it with the overall sense of the book. What seems to be the story of a weird yet incredibly interesting in terms of observing character is actually the record of death of knighthood and, considering the bigger picture, description of changing social attitudes and declining moral values. Thus, in the light of mockery Don Quixote draws attention to important issues of bravery, manhood, love, social equality, cruelty and justice, which serve to be vehicles of the novel’s thematic progression.
The plot of the book is centered on the character that named himself “Don Quixote” because of his extreme fascination (that eventually evolved into obsession) with books about knights. The author presents solid evidence of the character’s ludicrous love for that kind of literature: he “the above-mentioned gentlemen whenever he was at leisure () gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with such ardour and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field-sports; and to such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillageland to buy books of chivalry to read () (de Cervantes 101). So being completely dedicated to the idea of becoming a knight, Don Quixote decided to set off for an adventure of a lifetime that would bring him power, fame and, most importantly, love. As the way the so-called knight was preparing for his long journey was described ironically, the reader is waiting for a lot of trouble and misfortune to appear on his way.
The story of Don Quixote’s adventures is long and somewhat tiresome since in the course of reading it becomes obvious that his undertaking would eventually fail and bring him no good. Yet the brave knight didn’t lack enthusiasm and zeal to continue his journey and used to regard all the mishaps and misfortunes as challenges that shaped the knight’s fate. Don Quixote’s worldview couldn’t but prompt the character’s distorted and marred vision of his surroundings as well as total misunderstanding of the consequences of his behavior. While Don Quixote’s madness has been interpreted in different ways by many scholars, it seems that the idea of insanity has been put to use to equip the book with an implicit controversy. In this light, Byrne argues that “Cervantes lets the reader know that there is constant doubt as to whether or not the knight should be considered sane or deranged” (75). Therefore, it appears to be justifiable to rest on the assumption that Don Quixote’s insanity is a tool to outline his view of the world and indicate where all human troubles stem from.
As for the events of the novel, each of them contributes to the development of the plot and showing the diversity of ways that Don Quixote corrupts the reality with uncanny yet absurd chivalry-oriented images. The first memorable scene of the book is associated with Don Quixote’s stay in the inn, with his request to be honored as a knight and his treatment of women as ladies of higher rank. That was the starting point of his adventure. Once he was severely beaten by a bunch of merchants who didn’t pay due respect to the mistress of his heart but laughed off his treasured feelings, Don Quixote was brought home by a man with a mule. Fortunately, he quickly recovered but soon found an assistant who would accompany him in his journey. Sancho Panza, a loyal follower who would later protect Don Quixote from his own stupidity, agreed to become his squire. Being more encouraged by the chance to earn money than by following the man with ill ambitions, Sancho hoped for a better outcome of their wanderings. Nevertheless, he managed to preserve loyalty and trustfulness to his master and proved to be a symbol of genuine human affection that doesn’t know shame or contempt.
The adventures both characters have experienced cannot but baffle the reader, proving the outrageous and uncontrollable imagination of Don Quixote. Firstly, he took windmills for evil giants and bravely confronted them saying “Fly not, cowards and vile beings, for a single knight attacks you” (de Cervantes 175). The next adventure had to do with friars of the order of St. Benedict whom Don Quixote regarded to be magicians that had kidnapped a beautiful princess and were taking her far away from her kingdom. Being led by his sincere ambitions, the knight was forced to start a battle with the Biscayan from the group of friars, which he, surprisingly, won. After that, travelling for a short while, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza met a group of goatherds who offered hospitality to wandering men. In the evening, however, they had to listen to Don Quixote’s tirade about the true goal of a knight-errant, i.e. “to defend maidens, to protect widows, and to succour the orphans and the needy” (de Cervantes 211). After a series of other adventures Don Quixote and Sancho Panza returned home in order to set off for another journey of a lifetime that would be no less interesting than the first one.
While staying at home and refreshing his energy for a new adventure, Don Quixote found out he had become notorious for his “knightly accomplishments” and made up his mind to continue his wanderings. This time, however, he wasn’t really enthusiastic and was mostly encouraged by Sancho Panza who, like his master earlier, started to exaggerate the reality and make up stories that fitted into the knight-centered picture of the world. Despite their long and fearless adventures Don Quixote ended up realizing that his passion for chivalry was a terrible mistake. Overtaken by fever, he was set free from knighthood madness and was eventually dawned with understanding that it was a complete failure. Although Don Quixote died with utter disappointment in his heart, he is still viewed as a courageous yet silly-witted knight who gave his soul to the single idea and was persistently working to turn it into truth. For reader he is most likely to be remembered as a determined and brave-hearted dreamer.
Works Cited
Byrne, Susan. Law and History in Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012. Print.
De Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Trans. John Ormsby. Auckland: The Floating Press, 2008. Google Books. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
