Edgar Tochimani
Professor, Peer
Blog Post
December 6, 2017
Don Quixote De La Mancha
When I was reading Don Quixote and begun to produce an initial interpretation, I begun to see that this was a satire of the books of Chivalry from the Middle Ages. One modern satire that came to mind was the movie Deadpool ––not the best example–– but one that has lots of similarities. For example, Deadpool mocks the superheroes movie that must of us love watching but have grown tired of them, just as Cervantes and the society of its time did of Chivalry Books.
The interpretation of Don Quixote as a satire of chivalry book is just one the many levels of interpretations I believe Cervantes wanted the reader to see. There are two passages in Chapter 7; Fighting the windmills and Choleric Biscayan that I found very interesting, one of them is consider one of the most famous passages in world literature. Despite the popularity of one over the other, in these two passages, I believe there are more levels of interpretation of Don Quixote De la Mancha.
The first passage is in the begging of chapter 7, where Don Quixote is talking to his old-friends and tries to convince them of the importance of bringing back chivalry and knight-errantry. Cervantes Writes;
“During that time he had the most pleasant conversation with his two old friends, the curate and barber, on the point he had raised to the effect that the world needed most was knights-errant and a revival of chivalry” (page 411)
Whenever I read any book I always like to get a historical context of it, So I believe Cervantes is talking about the past and present of Spain and the world. Cervantes describes the past as being the ideal place to live because it was a much simpler and much “needed”, even with the absurd chivalry books. During Cervantes time the world is going through a huge transformation via the renaissance period, age of discovery and reformation period, leaving the Middle Ages period behind. These rapid changes caught people off-guard and the world as they knew it was totally changed thus I believe Cervantes trough Don Quixote is expressing the desire of those people to go back to the past where there is “chivalry” and “knights-errant” because that’s the world that makes sense for them. A modern example of this is today’s society, many senior adults and even young adult feel like out place in this rapid changing world.
The second and most famous passage is adventure at the windmills, where I believe Cervantes is giving us a taste of representative realism through Sancho Panza and Don Quixote. Cervantes writes;
“what giants? Said Sancho Panza.
Those that you see there”, replied his master, “those with the long arms some of which are as much as two leagues in length”
But look, your grace, those are not giants but windmills, and what appear to be arms are their wings which, when whirled in the breeze, cause the millstone to go”
It’s plain to be seen, said Don Quixote, that you have had little experience in this matter of adventures. If you afraid, go off to one side and say your prayers while I am engaging them in fierce, unequal combat” (page413)
Here I believe Cervantes is showing us that reality is not what one sees. This means the that reality of someone is different from the reality of others because of their experiences, beliefs and sub consciousness. So, Sancho Panzo cannot see the “giants” because as Don Quixito says he has “little experience in this matter”, While Don Quixote through his eyes he sees the “giants” because of the many chivalry books he has read. Therefore, we all interpret the same world differently.
These are my two interpretations of chapter 7 but I would like to get your thoughts of the reading as well.
Questions
- What is your interpretation of the windmill scene?
- Do you think Don Quixote has really gone mad or are there signs of sanity?
Loved the way you connected this to Deadpool. Though it never crossed my mind, you are absolutely right. I cannot tell if Quixote has gone mad, or if he has just become so immersed in this character that he believes he is playing that he feels as if he always has been this knight. It reminds me of a situation of some movie actors, specifically Jared Leto or Heath Ledger playing the Joker, where they really embraced the role of the character, even off the set.
I really liked the fact that you compared the story to deadpool’s, it really gave a good modern perspective to your argument about the parody aspect. The argument that you brought up concerning the old vs new generation is one that is still going on today, like in the domain of music. And bringing up the difference in perspectives was also great because to us Don Quixote is actually crazy, but in some other persons perspective he could be quite sane but just nostalgic despite all his actions.