Analysis of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Location and Structure of Don Quixote
Don Quixote was written in 1605 by Miguel de Cervantes with the original title of The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote. This book was written during the early Baroque period. The book has two parts:
- The first part is made up of 52 chapters and a prologue. The beginning of the book starts with burlesque sayings. It is further divided into four parts.
- The second part has 74 chapters and a prologue. It is not divided into smaller parts.
Cervantes wrote the second part because Avellaneda wrote a false second volume in 1614, titled Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote. Cervantes felt insulted by this work, so when he wrote the second edition in 1615, he included in the prologue a true reference to Avellaneda and his attempt to falsify his work.
Action
In the first part of Don Quixote, there is a main story and some interpolated stories. These interspersed stories do not provide essential information for understanding the main plot, but they describe details that gradually shape the characters. Alonso Quijano, a hidalgo from La Mancha (also called Quijada or Quesada), nicknamed the Good, goes crazy from reading books of chivalry. He takes the name of Don Quixote and, with his old horse Rocinante, sets out through La Mancha guided by his ideals: to right wrongs, protect the weak, and deserve Dulcinea (who is actually a peasant woman named Aldonza Lorenzo, idealized by him).
In an inn that he pretends is a castle, he is knighted amidst the mockery of the innkeeper and those who were there. He frees a boy who was being beaten by his master (but the master continues the beating later). He is beaten by some merchants, and a neighbor takes him back to the village. Since he promised a reward, he convinces Sancho Panza, a farmer from the village, to accompany him on his new adventures.
Don Quixote’s adventures always end badly: he fights against some windmills thinking they are giants, attacks some flocks of sheep that seemed like armies, etc. Then, his friends, the priest and the barber, deceive him and take him back to his village in a cage.
Processing Time
The play begins in medias res, that is, we do not know Don Quixote’s past; all we know is that he always liked books of chivalry. The story’s timeframe is not very well defined, around a month or so. We know that the story is set during the month of July. The interspersed stories interrupt the main plot, which makes it seem like the time elapsed is longer.
Chronologically, the story can be placed in a medieval period due to the novels of chivalry and the knights imagined by Don Quixote in his madness.
Internal Structure
As mentioned earlier, the first part consists of 52 chapters and 4 parts. The main action consists of the three journeys that Don Quixote undertakes. The first two journeys are developed throughout the first part, while the third and final journey is developed in the second part of Don Quixote.
Throughout this first part, the main story is interrupted by small stories or interpolated stories of great importance. It is through these stories that Cervantes aims to include all types of novels, and each story is characteristic of a specific type of novel. These interspersed novels were criticized, and Cervantes took these criticisms into account when writing the second part, choosing not to introduce these interspersed stories.
The Characters
The characterization is a sign of genius. These are the main features:
Don Quixote
He is a very complex character, capable of blending disparate facts with intelligence and sometimes unusual lucidity. You might even think that he pretends his madness. He is good, moved by high ideals and love, but he does not distinguish between reality and fiction. Moreover, he transforms reality to fit his fiction. This supposed madness is due to the many tales of chivalry he has read.
Sancho Panza
He is physically short and paunchy (Cervantes does not give many details). He represents realism, the practical sense of life, and the materialistic view. He is skeptical but also loyal and driven by the desire to succeed. He is particularly fond of his animals.
In the end, the contact between the two characters makes Don Quixote a little more realistic and Sancho a little more idealistic. It is here that the grace of the characters focuses: the characters are born, grow, and change throughout the novel. We see these changes, understand them, and are able to judge them. This means that we get into their feelings, their desires, and their ideas, which makes us truly participate in the story. We can speak of a “quixotization” of Sancho and a “sanchization” of Don Quixote.
Dulcinea
She is the eternal absence. She appears only in the continuous allusions made by Don Quixote. She is a literary recreation made by Cervantes of the ladies of chivalry novels.