Assess The Strengths And Limit Essay Research — страница 4

must examine the limitations of the view that Don Quixote is a funny book . What is discussed in the above paragraph suggests that Cervantes did want to establish limitations to this viewpoint. In contrast to Cervantes contemporaries, who accepted Don Quixote as fundamentally a parody of the books of chivalry, by the 18th century the book was being appreciated and interpreted very differently. It was held to be a classic. The humour of the book was played down as it was considered by many intellectuals to diminish the importance of other themes in the book. Some of the most influential of these shall now be considered. The romantic approach to Don Quixote originated in Germany in the 19th century. This tradition was serious, sentimental, patriotic and philosophical. The knight s

exploits were interpreted to make him a tragic figure whose insanity is often hard to separate from his intrinsic goodness. His consistent fidelity to his ideals, although invariably resulting in failure and causing more harm than good, make him an admirable character. Of course, one of the reasons for Don Quixote s resilience is his insanity, but many intellectuals took this to be a sublime form of madness. He is seen as a heroic figure rebelling against a materialistic world. There is certainly evidence in the text which suggests that Cervantes is trying to communicate his ideas and feelings about the society in which it is set- contemporary Spain. Often one gets the impression that even though his antics are ludicrous, Don Quixote comes across as morally superior to those

around him. For example the behaviour of the Duke and Duchess in Part II in teasing a crazy man and his peasant servant for fun is rather distasteful. They are living in a fantasy world just like Don Quixote, only theirs is the product of the boredom and aimlessness common to their class. Marcela s speech ( PI,cap 14,p.141 ) is again evidence of Cervantes observing the hypocrisy of his society. Her reaction to Grisostomo s poem about unrequited love points out that a beautiful woman cannot be expected to return the love of every man who falls for her. Men like women who are modest and chaste, yet they always try to get the women they desire to make an exception for their sakes and give up their modesty. Don Quixote s character could even be described as a fairly accurate

portrayal of a revolutionary. Our knight sets out to transform the world in accordance with his vision. Just like the fanaticism of real-life religious or political crusaders he can be laughable, even dangerous. For example, when Don Quixote tries to save Andres the shepherd boy from a beating from his master ( PI,cap 4 ), we later are told that because of the knight s interference the master took out his rage by beating the boy even harder ( PI,cap 31 ). However his persistence does succeed in some cases, such as in its influence on Sancho Panza. In various scenes Sancho seems quixotised and takes on his master s mad quest. In the last chapter of the book he begs his master not to die and encourages him to pursue his life as a knight saying el que es vencido hoy ser vencedor

manana he who is conquered today shall conquer tomorrow ( PII,cap 74,p.1096 ). It is as if Sancho is confident that his master has an important role as a knight-errant. Many critics have underlined the importance of the role of perspective in Cervantes tale. This approach stems from philosophical relativism; the truth can only be described in relative terms. E.C Riley stated: The Quixote is a novel of multiple perspectives. Cervantes observes the world he creates from the viewpoints of characters and reader as well as author. It is as though he were playing a game with mirrors or prisms. It is clear that Cervantes understood that the truth can be elusive as people can perceive the same thing in a different way. For example at the Bodas de Camacho Don Quixote only sees a pageant

whereas Sancho seems only aware of there being a banquet ( PII,cap 20 ). Through this game with mirrors Cervantes skilfully succeeds in maintaining a relative level of verisimilitude but also produces the effect of admiracion and carries his readers away to wonderful and extraordinary experiences. There are many layers of illusion and reality in Don Quixote. First, there are the knights own mad delusions. Later, his friends play tricks on him and disguise themselves in order to get him to give up his quest and return home ( PI,cap 27 ). The distinction between reality and fantasy is blurred, for example when Don Quixote has a dream in the Cueva de Montesinos one is not certain whether the dream is just another delusion or whether it is a product of his sane alter-ego, Alonso