(Minute 7:18 – 10:12) I really liked how the author of the video make it simple to understand the personality of Don Quixote. Miguel Cervantes was imprisoned when he wrote this book, and that is where he most likely learned to use the imagination used in Don Quixote. While in prison he had a lot of free time to write, so he acquired a new hobby. Miguel Cervantes started using his imagination more than ever before and put his thoughts on paper. He created a character who like himself had an overactive imagination. Miguel most likely became so enthralled in his own imagination that he became Quixote for some time in prison. Instead of waking up in prison and thinking only about how much he wanted to leave, Cervantes just took out a pen and put himself in Quixote’s shoes for the day. If he had looked at the world as it was while in prison his life would have been miserable, but he sees life through another perspective, that of his wild imagination.
Although he was mentally ill, Don Quixote was able to bring great joy to a few people in during his adventures. Despite his delusions, Don Quixote is extremely intelligent and, at times, seemingly sane. No single analysis of Don Quixote’s character can adequately explain the split between his madness and his sanity. It may be possible that Don Quixote really does know what is going on around him and that he merely chooses to ignore the world and the consequences of his disastrous actions. At several times in the novel, Cervantes validates this suspicion that Don Quixote may know more than he admits. For example, Miguel de Cervantes said “When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be.” On the other hand, we can read Don Quixote’s character as a warning that even the most intelligent and otherwise practically minded person can fall victim to his own silliness.