Analysis of Don Quixote and the Picaresque Novel
Don Quixote
Language and Style
One of the novel’s most unique features is its diverse language and styles, addressed from the perspective of humor and irony. Cervantes contrasts Don Quixote’s chivalric and archaic language with Sancho’s rustic language and proverbs.
Meaning
Cervantes stated his intention was to demonstrate the folly of chivalric romances. Unlike the typical handsome, courageous hero of chivalric romances, Don Quixote is quite the opposite. The exotic settings of the romances are transformed into real places like La Mancha, and the giants become windmills. In modern times, Don Quixote is interpreted as representing the idealistic and heroic spirit detached from reality, while Sancho embodies a more realistic and pragmatic approach.
Intent
Cervantes aimed to expose the falsehood of chivalric tales. However, the book transcends parody and offers multiple interpretations due to its complex content: humor, a celebration of freedom, mockery of human idealism, and irony. Many episodes illustrate Quixote’s states of love, representing the concept of courtly love. Don Quixote also aspires to an ethical and aesthetic ideal, seeking to do good and uphold justice for the destitute and humble. However, his lofty ideals clash with reality, leading to failure. From a modern perspective, Don Quixote is seen as an idealistic, heroic, and generous figure, while Sancho represents a more realistic and pragmatic viewpoint. The novel also provides a remarkable lesson in literary theory and practice.
Exemplary Novels
Until the nineteenth century, most of Cervantes’s novels were imitations rather than original works. He wrote stories that didn’t introduce anything new (e.g., La Galatea, Persiles and Sigismunda). At the time, the term “novel” represented short stories that differed significantly in length from other novels. The Exemplary Novels are a collection of twelve stories published between the first and second parts of Don Quixote. The author claims they all offer positive lessons and are typically classified by their composition period:
- First Period: The Liberal Lover, The Two Maidens, The Lady Cornelia
- Second Period: The Gypsy Girl, The Spanish-English Lady, The Force of Blood, The Jealous Extremaduran, The Illustrious Kitchen Maid, The Deceitful Marriage
- Third Period:
- Rinconete and Cortadillo: Considered the best of the Exemplary Novels. Two travelers arrive in Seville and discover they belong to the Monipodio brotherhood, which they join. The story depicts the Seville underworld.
- The Glass Graduate: An ex-soldier studies in Salamanca. He rejects a woman’s love, and she gives him a potion that drives him mad. He believes he’s made of glass and only speaks the truth.
- The Dialogue of the Dogs: Two dogs from a Valladolid hospital gain the ability to speak for a night and discuss their lives with different masters.
Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega left behind a substantial prose narrative output, including The Arcadia (1598), The Pilgrim in his Own Country (1604), and La Dorotea (1632).
The Picaresque Novel: Mateo Alemán
Following Lazarillo de Tormes, the picaresque novel continued with the publication of Guzmán de Alfarache by Mateo Alemán. The Renaissance optimism gave way to Baroque pessimism, creating fertile ground for the picaresque novel. Guzmán was published in two parts and tells the story of a rogue from Seville. Born from his mother’s affair, he travels to Genoa seeking wealthy relatives but returns to Spain penniless. He becomes a soldier, earns money to return to Genoa, and then goes to Rome, where he serves a cardinal who beats him for stealing. Back in Madrid, he marries but becomes a widower and almost becomes a friar. Later, he marries an innkeeper’s daughter, forces her into prostitution, and abuses her, leading to his condemnation to the galleys. The story is narrated from the galleys, where an elderly Guzmán repents for his past deeds. He mixes his unrepentant older self with memories and reflections of his immoral youth, creating a sense of hypocrisy in his narrative, which ultimately has a moralizing intent. This text establishes the definitive model of the picaresque novel, characterized by:
- Autobiographical form: The rogue recounts their experiences.
- Protagonists are children of dishonorable or unknown parents.
- Poverty forces them to leave home and beg.
- They serve various masters who eventually dismiss or mistreat them.
- Hunger, and sometimes a vicious nature, drives them to steal through tricks and deception.
- They desire to improve their social status.
- Their lives alternate between luck and misfortune.
- They often end up in dishonorable marriages.
- The novels are highly realistic, devoid of fantastical events.
Other authors successfully developed the genre, such as Francisco de Quevedo with The History of the Life of the Scoundrel Called Don Pablos:
- The first part lacks a moralizing intention and focuses on language. It tells the story of Don Pablos, from a dysfunctional family, and his social ascent. He accompanies a nobleman’s son to a boarding school, providing insights into the student atmosphere of the time.
- In the second part, he returns to Segovia to find his father hanged and his mother facing the Inquisition. He inherits money and goes to court, where he meets a nobleman and pretends to be a hidalgo.
- In the third part, he engages in mischief with Don Toribio until he’s imprisoned. He befriends the jailer, gets released, and is about to marry a wealthy woman when his deception is revealed, forcing him to flee to America.
Quevedo creates exaggerated characters, offering a distorted caricature of the lower classes and their eagerness for social climbing. It’s a critique of the lower nobility, to which Quevedo belonged. The book stands out for its excessive conceit, characteristic of Quevedo’s style.