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IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 331

Anum Mirza
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Dr. Jayatee Bhattacharya
Associate Professor
Department of English
Lovely Professional University
Punjab, India.
Email:- mirza.anum123@gmail.com

A Study of Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote

Abstract
Don Quixote, the masterpiece of Cervantes has been popular for the past three and
half centuries for its wide appeal and universal qualities. It had a tremendous effect on the
imagination of the people right from the moment of its publication. It had its amiable effect
not only on Spain, but throughout the entire world. Don Quixote is a serious funny book,
embedded with diversity and contradiction. Cervantes’ varied life made him uniquely
qualified to write his masterpiece, Don Quixote. He had rich experience of life in many fields
which enabled him to look to life from different perspectives. The aim of writing this paper is
to give a close reading to Cervantes’s famous novel Don Quixote. This paper is an effort to
look at the diverse views of critics concerning this important work of Miguel de Cervantes.
Keywords: Quixotism, chivalry, Hamlet, illusion, Don Quixote, adventure,
Cervantes was born in 1547, at a time when Spain was the richest, most powerful
nation in Europe, the Spaniards had explored and conquered vast territories in the Western
hemisphere, sending home gold and silver treasures by the shipload. In addition to Don
Quixote, Cervantes wrote poetry, other novels, novellas, and dozens of plays. Major works of
Cervantes are La Galatea(1585), Exemplary Novels(1613), Voyage to Parnassus(1614), The
Travels of Persiles and Sigismunda (1617). Cervantes’ Don Quixote is a famous Spanish
romance of early seventeenth century. The book has a considerable influence in shaping the
course of English fiction. Cervantes started his novel with the limited object of ridiculing the
books of chivalry which were popular in his days. But his imagination soured beyond his
satirical intention and a literary classic was born.
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Unlike many authors, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra led a life as full of action and
adventure as any plot he ever created for his fictional characters. Flat a short outline of
Cervantes’ action-packed life will provide you a thought of where some of the author’s
motivation for Don Quixote came from. Cervantes’s confesses:
"I'm a loafer by nature, I'm too lazy to go hunting for authors who say what I already know
how to say without their help" (Don Quixote,V-1, Prologue, p. 8). It is remarkable to note
that Don Quixote is sometimes called the first true novel. Of course, there are many elements
of fantasy in Don Quixote, yet the story was realistic for the first time.
Don Quixote is a long novel, though its basic plot is very simple. A certain middle
aged gentleman named Alonso Quixano was fond of reading romantic stories about the
Knights of the middle ages. He would spend much of his time, engrossed in thick,
meandering times filled with tales of Knights and squires, magicians and giants and beautiful
ladies. So he was addicted to the books of chivalry and spent a lot of money on the purchase
of these books. He spent huge fortune for the fulfillment of his desire and ambition of his life.
He sold some parts of estate to buy all the books available to satisfy his lust for adventurous
stories. Don Quixote appreciated Feliciano de Silva, his passages like: "The ability to reason
the un-reason which has afflicted by reason saps my ability to reason, so that I complain with
good reason of your infinite loveliness" (V-1, Chapter 1, p.13). He became so much obsessed
with his craze for adventurous tales that he became neglectful of his estate. It falls into
neglect but he took no notice of it. He is massed himself in his romantic stories, the world of
knights and beautiful ladies. Finally, it drained up his brain due to sleepless nights and
aimless wandering in all the time reading the books of chivalrous knights. He became crazy
and went out of his mind completely.
The character of Don Quixote is well known throughout the world for its spirit of
adventure and chivalry. The writer has drawn a vivid and graphic picture of the would-be-
knight who started with exciting events. He was an idealist gifted with a noble heart and high
ideas. He believed in idealism and would set out to perform great deeds regardless of the
consequences. Yet he was a failure in practical life. In this modern era like Don Quixote we
too wander just to gratify our lust for things regardless of its consequences. This new attitude
of modern age is described by Isaiah Berlin as:
By, say, 1820... You will find poets and philosophers, particularly in
Germany, saying that the noblest thing a man can do is to serve his own inner
ideal, no matter at what cost. This ideal may be confined to the solitary
individual to whom it is revealed, it may appear false or absurd to all others, it
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 333

may be in conflict with the lives and outlook of the society to which it
belongs, but he is obliged to fight for it, and, if there is no other way, to die for
it… (Berlin, 187)
He read a lot from the book of chivalry and medieval romances, about the knight, at
arms, who would do commendable job of heroism to help the needy and in despair. Under the
influence of these fantastic romantic stories of the knight Quixote himself became the knight
at arm to turn the fiction into his real life. He had gone through the world, the books of
chivalry, a world full of handsome knights in glittering armours and beautiful ladies. He has
seen the knights performing wonderful deeds, doing battle with giants, freeing captive
damsels-in-distress from the clutches of devils, wizards and enchanters. He thought of
becoming a knight himself and set out to transform the world with his heroic deeds. But he
failed miserably in all his attempts as he was not a practical idealist.
There is a wide variety of characters from different regions of Spain and many walks
of life. Problems of day to day life are commented in casual way. Moreover, we find full-
blooded characters who change and grow with passage of time. They cannot be summed up
by any one line moral and disposed of by a convenient happy ending. Here the characters are
throbbing with life and their pranks, tricks and strategies they employ for the attainment of
their goal, give the impression of verisimilitude. It appears as if life is being enacted in its
true spirit. The characters suffer from their own inherent weaknesses. There is conflict
between the real and ideal, illusion and reality and that make the novel realistic and
convincing. In addition to the story itself, the narrative structure of the novel narrates
different planes of reality. The history of Don Quixote is supposedly a true story written by
an Arab Historian named Cide Hameta Benegali. This historian is really an invention of the
author who uses the imaginary Cide Hameta as a commentator on the action. The other
notable feature of the novelist that we find both aspects of life, comic as well as tragic,
ridiculous as well as mocking of the chivalry.
Don Quixote, was the retired and impoverished gentleman from the Spanish province
of La Mancha. Spurred by his restless spirit to imitate the heroes of the books, he has read, he
sets upon old horse in search of adventures. Benedetto Croce says Don Quixote, inspires
simpatia in readers- "recognition of something which is identified with what we ourselves
honor and cherish” (p.189). Donning the armour of a knight, and undaunted by his
misfortune, the Don takes a rustic named Sancho Panza as his squire. Sancho is easily lured
by the ‘colorful prospects of the governorship of a town’. Burt Nanus put forward the relation
connecting the leadership and a quixotified Sancho Panza. "Leaders take charge, make things
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 334

happen, dream dreams and then translate them into reality. Leaders attract the voluntary
commitment of followers, energize them, and transform organizations into new entities with
greater potential for survival, growth and excellence" (p.10). In the popular chivalric tradition
the Don has fixed his eyes upon a good looking girl of neighboring village- an honour of
which the poor girl is totally unaware. Their comic misadventures include charging at
windmills and mistaking flocks of sheep as armies in combat. Cervantes’ great satirical
romance is in two parts- the first published in 1605 and the second in 1615. Soon after its
publication it was translated into English and has ever since been extremely popular with the
reading public. In the seventeenth century, it supplied the plots of several plays and inspired,
as it still continues to, many imitations. Though the Don seems at first to be no more than a
mere caricature of the ancient knights of chivalry, he is much more than ‘a mere adventurous
fool’. The final impression he leaves on the mind is that of an idealist.
Decked out in his clattering armour and dreaming of fame, Don Quixote mounted his
steed, Rocinanto, and started moving about in search of adventure. Soon he happenend to
come across an inn keeper, though he mistook the inn as castle. He was delighted to meet the
inn keeper who pleased him calling a knight. The news spread in his native village and two of
the town men came to know about the strange ways of living of their friend. They feel
terribly upset to find Quixano, now called Don Quixano, behaving altogether in a queer funny
way. He posed as big knight, though his friend protested and asked him to return home.
Blaming his foolishness on the books of chivalry, they conducted a soliciting inquisition.
They burnt his books and persuaded him to come back to the village. They tried to rid him of
his fancy for becoming a knight but he refused to retrace his step and pursued his path of
adventure vehemently and persistently. Meanwhile, Don Quixote had already gone away in
search of his new adventure.
We find a great array of characters of all classes and conditions that play their roles in
different situations. Thus we find stories within stories. That is the chief reason that it
survived through the whole variety of conflicting interpretations. Noel M. Tichy and Mary
Anne Devanna suggest that "one of the basic problems that we encounter in organizations is
that it is culturally illegitimate to fantasize and dream about the future. If the idea cannot be
presented in great rational detail it is dismissed as a half-baked scheme" (p.138).
As a matter of fact, the character ‘Don Quixote’ is looked at from different angles
from ages to ages. In the seventeenth century, it is simply laughable, self-deluded fool, who
indulged in his misconceived, futile idealism. In the eighteenth century this perception of
‘Don Quixote’ underwent a remarkable change and he was seen in softer light but still mad,
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 335

impractical idealist. To nineteenth and twentieth century readers, he looked somewhat

different, possibly much influenced by the Romantic Movement and its aftermath. He
becomes a heroic figure, an incarnation of poetic imagination and a young man who is caught
in the eternal conflict of the ideal and the real. In the later twentieth century, however, his
character has been interpreted in sociological and psychological terms. Thus he represents the
crisis of his social class of his age. He becomes a hero who has a quest for authentic personal
identity through madness. It could be likened to a man, who is madly involved in the
recovery of his true and deeper self. So, in the modern age, Don Quixote becomes an
upholder of counter-reformation orthodoxy.
He mistook things multiple times and met failure all times. Don Quixote to valiant
exploits came to end very soon as his friends again came up to persuade him to take him back
home. They enlisted the services of a young girl to pose as a damsel in distress. Don Quixote
at once fell in the trap and was deceived easily. He was old and hungry and gave up all efforts
resistance. He was captured, placed in a cage, and hauled towards his village home. As they
brought him home tried to coax him to give up his pre-occupation with chivalry. They
impressed upon him that the stories of the knight were all misleading, cock and bull stories
false and concocted. These were nothing but fanciful and vain fiction. Quixote stormed in
disbelief and retorted. Quixote returned but could not give up his craze for adventure. He
could not be cared of his fantasies. He was, in fact, Don Quixote the knight remained in bed
and always thought of his escape, to resume his wanderings. Sancho was criticized and was
dissuaded not to follow his master. His wife was enraged and upset. She blamed him for
wasting time on useless things. One day Don Quixote told them that their exploits were
already recorded in the book. He felt highly pleased and satisfied. Again, they set out in
search of new adventures and tale of bravery and heroism.
It must be kept in mind that Don Quixote was written in Spanish yet its main character
inspired the coining of the English word Quixotism. By Quixotism, it means doing something
in haste, making a mess of all things and repenting afterwards. Normally a man would be
considered Quixote, if he is in the grip of misguided idealism and fails at every step. Don
Quixote was a misguided idealist who mistook various things and committed blunders.
Robert H. Waterman Jr. and Thomas J. Peters put forward the significance of the quixotic
element in our lives and says, "We desperately need meaning in our lives and will sacrifice a
great deal to institutions that will provide meaning for us" (p.56). The novelist’s view is,
however, more complex. It is over- active imagination that causes havoc and Don Quixote
mistakes windmills for giants and attacks them. In the same way he deludes himself with
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 336

deceptive appearances and thinks of poor farm girls as princesses. The Don Quixote’s
delusions make him fool and a ridiculous person. Don Quixote acts in haste and finds
everything going chaotic.
As a matter of fact, the wide appeal of the book was the result of the qualities of the
books. It has universal appeal and charmed every heart. The story in vague form is known to
every person. We may find a rich field of interpretation speculation and analogy, if we
compare Hamlet and Don Quixote. Both books have their own appeal and have remained
book of absorbing interest throughout for long time. Both heroes are equally studious; they
like to read a lot and as much as they can. Don Quixote’s entire life has been dedicated to
reading books. As Northrop Frye says, "Hamlet is a student whose few pleasures have to do
with the life of the mind. It is pathetic, almost humorous, that after he hears the Ghost his
conditioned impulse is to reach for what we would call his note-book and make a
memorandum about the hypocrisy of villains" (Frye, 88-89). As a matter of fact that Don
Quixote is replica of common man. Everyman finds his reflection in it. Here the Knight
represents the whole humanity, their wishes, desires, illusion and delusion. Knight becomes a
symbol of nobility, love and justice. Here, we find the eternal conflict between idealistic and
the realistic in the nature of man. It is the story of man enacted here. It is not just the story of
a man in Spain or man in the seventeenth century but of man everywhere, at all times. So all
men can see themselves in the great book and thus it has become relevant to every living
creature in the universe. We find unresolved conflict between idealism and realism. Don
Quixote ideals are admirable, but these are doomed to failure for want of practical experience,
knowledge and human nature. There are multiple layers of reality and illusion in the novel
Don Quixote. Like Don Quixote every man feels involved in the criss-cross path of life. The
illusion and delusions go side by side. Life presents many spectacles where we feel puzzled
and cannot decide what is illusion and what is reality.
Those acts, of course with noble intensions bring no credit to him. Don Quixote
attempts to save the boy, Andreas from a beating, but gets him involved in the worst trouble.
But the overall impression that we form of him is that of a noble, sympathetic, kind- hearted
man. As one critic says that everybody knows the phrase, ‘Quixotism’, still common in
English Language, ‘to tilt at windmills’ meaning to spend time and energy, attacking
menances, which are illusory. There is one strong belief and conviction in a group of readers
who assert that the character of Don Quixote is a very accurate modern Psychological
portrayal of a revolutionary. Of course, it is a modern view. They feel that the actions and
thinking of Don Quixote resembles to a revolutionary who is dead set against or in favour of
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 337

things. There is rigidity in his attitude, which doesn’t allow any flexibility. Don Quixote is an
example of a man who sets out to transform the world in accordance with his vision. He acts
like a real life crusader, religious or political. Such a man can be laughable and even
dangerous. Yet his persistence succeeds in one particular case. Sancho Panza, despite many
warnings and hurdles follows him and becomes Quixote.
Some people emphasize that the author had been exposed to the thinking of human
philosophers. These people also feel that a lot of his criticisms of the well-known order, while
amusing have a secret sting. Cervantes could hardly have been more direct in his satire, they
point out, since he was writing under the restraint of censorship.
In part II, we find that six weeks of bed rest has not yet cured Don Quixote’s love of
mad adventures and he takes to the road once again. But, a university student named
Sampson Carrasco, who had read his book of adventures wants to cure him of his delusions.
In reality, he is jealous of Don Quixote’s literary fame. Disgusting himself as the knight of
the mirrors, he challenges Don Quixote to single combat. If the Don Quixote fails he will
have to give up acting like a knight errant and go home. Through sheer back Don Quixote
defeated him and won the contest. After many adventures Don Quixote fell ill and a
physician’s visit revealed that he was dying. When he finally woke up, he was surprised to
find that his madness had gone and he was cleared of his insanity. Don Quixote tells in the
end "I am in my right mind now, clear-headed, lucid and free of the murky darkness of
ignorance, brought upon me by my continual, bitter reading of those abominable books of
chivalry" (Cervantes 742). And then, after declaring a will, he died.
One view point about Don Quixote is that he is a Christian hero who holds his faith
till death. Don Quixote acts like fanatics and rushes against the marches who are carrying the
statue of Virgin Mary on their shoulders. The attack on the sacred image of Virgin Mary is
the Don Quixote’s most outrageous escapade. Some assert with equal conviction that
Cervantes uses this to ridicule the Roman Catholic Church for adulation of Mary. It is true
that Don Quixote represents the conservative values and faces all trials and tribulations with
full determination.
Thus from the above, it is evident that there is a great deal of slap stick comedy in
Don Quixote. Throughout the story of the novel, Cervantes has very aptly and vividly used
timing improbable coincidences, mistaken identities and suspense with a view to keep the
humour moving forward, which were all parts of the fun.
IJELLH Volume V, Issue X, October 2017 338

Works Cited

Berlin, Isaiah. The Crooked Timber of Humanity. Princeton University Press, 1992, p.187.
Cervantes, Miguel de, and Edith Grossman. Don Quixote. Ecco, 2003.
Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote. Trans. Charles Jarvis. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Croce, Benedetto. "The 'Simpatia' of Don Quixote," in Cervantes Across the Centuries. Ed.
Angel Flores and M. J. Benardete, Gordian Press, 1969, p.189.
Frye, Northrop. Northrop Frye on Shakespeare. Yale University Press, 1986, p. 88-89.
Nanus, Burt. Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for
Your Corporation. Jossey Boss Pubs, 1992, p.10.
Peters, Thomas J, and Robert H. Waterman. In Search of Excellence: Lessons from
America’s Best- Run Companies. Warner Books, 1984, p.56.
Tichy, Noel M, and Mary Anne Devanna. The Transformational Leader. John Wiley and
Sons, 1986, p. 138.