Don Quixote: A Timeless Masterpiece of Literature
Don Quixote: A Timeless Masterpiece
El Quijote, recognized as a masterpiece, consists of two parts: the first was published in 1605 under the title The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha; the second, in 1615, was called The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha.
The novel begins with a famous phrase: “Somewhere in La Mancha, whose name I do not remember…” There, Alonso Quijano, a gentleman of La Mancha fond of books of chivalry, goes mad and thinks he is a knight. He renames himself, dusts off an old armor, and decides to go on an old, skinny horse named Rocinante, in search of adventure with the intention of righting wrongs, helping the weak, and deserving the love of Dulcinea (who is an idealization of peasant girl Aldonza Lorenzo). Don Quixote makes three exits from his house.
First Exit (Chapters 1-6)
During his first exit (chapters 1-6), he is jocularly knighted in an inn that he identifies as a castle. After being beaten by some merchants, a neighbor picks him up and carries him back to the village.
Second Exit (Chapters 7-52)
In the second exit (Chapters 7-52), he is joined by an ignorant peasant squire, Sancho Panza, who hopes to reap significant benefits. Both travel the roads of La Mancha and the Sierra Morena. Don Quixote, eager for adventure, always confuses what he sees with what he imagines and blames his failures on some enchantment. He fights with windmills he sees as giants, faces some monks whom he considers kidnappers, sees a herd of sheep as enemy armies, frees a row of galley slaves who then stone him, and so on. The priest and the barber of his village devise a plan to bring back Don Quixote, who returns in a cage. These and other adventures are mixed with another set of stories, some totally unrelated to the central argument.
Second Part and Avellaneda
In the second half, before starting the first chapter, Cervantes introduces in the preface to the reader that he writes with bitterness about an author (a certain Avellaneda) who published a book that purports to be the sequel to Don Quixote. He claims to have forgotten his name and said that his punishment will be in his own sin. However, he expressed his anger in some parables whose moral is that the writer should be careful in the way of exercising their ingenuity.
Third Exit (Second Half)
In the third exit (the entire second half), Don Quixote and Sancho cross Aragon to get to Barcelona. Along the way, it is Sancho who deceives his master, trying to make him believe that Dulcinea is a rude peasant. They reach the castle of some dukes, who are already familiar with both because they have read the first part of Don Quixote. For fun, they prepare various adventures, including chapters in that place where Sancho is governor of an island. The squire, who has learned much from his master, acting with common sense and gets out relatively unscathed from the test. After another series of episodes, they are in Barcelona and meet the Knight of the White Moon (who is nothing more than Samson Carrasco, a student from his village), who challenges Don Quixote and, beats him, forcing him to return home. Shortly after returning, sick and morally defeated, Don Quixote comes to his senses and dies as Alonso Quijano el Bueno.