Assess The Strengths And Limit Essay Research — страница 3

remain faithful to Dulcinea. However he encourages Altisidora s declarations of love by standing at the window, showing weakness for flattery ( hgggd Therefore, unlike the heroes of books of chivalry who were above the negative characteristics of common mortals, Cervantes parodies this by making his knight lifelike and guilty of the weaknesses of ordinary people in a comic analyses of human nature. Don Quixote can shift from a heroic manner to one which is common and colloquial. For example he addresses a funeral procession in a haughty tone when he defends his attack on them with the twisted logic of blaming them for looking too much like ghosts ( jhh,h . Shortly afterwards however he answers Sancho with Yo- que diablos se ? ( what the hell do I know! ) in a most banal fashion

(nhmc) Don Quixote even distorts the rules of knighthood to the extent of freeing criminals on their way to serve as galley slaves ( PI, cap 22 ) in a complete joke by Cervantes making his hero the least chivalresque knight possible. Not only is Don Quixote a burlesque hero, but his history is a burlesque book. The whole narrative is a literary joke. The fictional authors of books of chivalry were wise men and usually Christians whose manuscripts had been carefully and honourably preserved. Cervantes book contains a parodic pretence of historicity as he introduces a Moorish translator, Cide Hamete Benengeli, ( PI,cap 9 ) who is often an incompetent narrator. In this jocular way he presents his book as a historical fact. The character of Sancho Panza is central to the hilarity of

the book. He is particularly representative of saying funny things as he is simple , stupid. The illiterate Panza constantly confuses words and has a tendency to quote folk sayings and proverbs at length which are most amusing. He is hardly an appropriate squire for a knight-errant, agreeing to serve Don Quixote out of pure greed as the latter promises to make him governor of an island .The physical alignment of opposites Cervantes employs in making Sancho fat, stupid and greedy creates a most comical and ironic visual image of the pair. Cervantes sense of humour is ironical and thousands of examples and types of irony can be found in the book, some of which have been mentioned already such as visual irony.Clearly the fact that the book is a parody makes it intrinsically ironic.

One common feature of Cervantes use of irony is contrasting a high style of narrative with absurd situations. For example when he steals a barber s basin he lavishly describes it as being a yelmo de oro , helmet made of gold, and indeed believes it to be the helmet of Mambrino, a very brave character from the book of chivalry Orlando Furioso ( PI,cap 7,p.2 ). This emotive language is in stark contrast to the rather mundane reality that the helmet is in fact a basin. In addition to irony, Cervantes uses techniques such as puns and other types of word play to make his book hilarious, for example in the choice of names Don Quixote bestows on everyone ( discussed above ). In Don Quixote there are abundant references to the body, especially from Sancho making comments about bodily

functions and disgusting odours (hkhg). Also there are episodes where the humour descends to what is basically a dirty joke. An example of this is ( PI,cap 27,p.1 ) when the barber Nicolas borrows an oxtail that the innkeeper uses to hang his comb in to use as a false beard. Some wise-cracks about this are made when the landlady later demands that Nicolas gives her her tail back because her husband needs it! It is clear from the preceding discussion that there is indeed much strength in the view quoted in the essay title that Don Quixote is a funny book. Indeed in the prologue, through a fictional friend, Cervantes presents his book as a parody of the books of chivalry with the aim of (que ) el melancolico se mueva a risa, el risueno la acreciente.. ( kindling mirth in the

melancholic and heightening it in the gay ), ( Prologo, p.18 ). However he also states intention ( que ) el simple no se enfade .. and el discreto se admire de la invencion.. ( to challenge attention from the ignorant and admiration from the judicious ). This suggests that Cervantes wanted his book to offer more than just comedy. He wanted it to appeal to el discreto and discrecion was a distinctive quality of Golden Age writers. It was a skill of discerning judgement and an ability to relate the circumstances in a harmonious and concordant way. He also states in the prologue that he wishes to please the serious reader, el grave , hinting that he hopes his work to be edifying. In this way he accentuates the absurdity of the books of chivalry. For this second part of the essay we