Life and Work of Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Life and Literary Career
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra led an eventful life, though many details remain uncertain. Born in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), likely on September 29, 1547, he spent his youth in various Spanish cities, including Madrid and Seville. In his early twenties, he traveled to Rome to serve Cardinal Acquaviva. He toured Italy and joined the Spanish Armada, participating heroically in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, a pivotal moment in the decline of Turkish power in the Mediterranean. During the battle, Cervantes was wounded and lost the use of his left arm, earning him the nickname “Manco de Lepanto” (the One-Handed Man of Lepanto).
In 1575, while returning to Spain, Cervantes was captured by pirates and taken to Algiers, where he endured five years of captivity (1575-1580). Released by Trinitarian friars, he returned to Madrid to find his family in financial ruin. He married Catalina de Salazar y Palacios in Esquivias (Toledo). His military career in ruins, he sought success in literature. He published Galatea (1585) and tried unsuccessfully to establish himself as a playwright.
Facing poverty, Cervantes moved to Seville to work as a commissioner of supplies for the Armada and a tax collector. He ended up in jail due to irregularities in his accounts. Later, he moved to Valladolid. In 1605, he published the first part of Don Quixote. Despite its initial success, he was imprisoned again for the death of a man outside his home. In 1606, the Court returned to Madrid, where Cervantes lived in difficult economic circumstances and dedicated himself to writing. In his later years, he published the Exemplary Novels (1613), Journey to Parnassus (1614), Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes (1615), and the second part of Don Quixote (1615).
Despite his literary triumphs, Cervantes continued to struggle financially. He spent his final months working on The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda (published posthumously in 1617). He died in Madrid on April 22, 1616, and was buried the following day.
Don Quixote
Structure and Content
Don Quixote consists of two parts: the first, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, was published in 1605; the second, The Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, in 1615. The novel begins with a prologue that satirizes pedantic erudition and includes comic poems praising the work, supposedly written by the author himself. He justifies this by claiming he couldn’t find anyone else willing to praise such an extravagant work, as we know from a letter by Lope de Vega.
The novel introduces Alonso Quijano, an impoverished nobleman who becomes obsessed with chivalric romances. He decides to become a knight-errant, taking the name Don Quixote. He embarks on a series of comical adventures, driven by his idealism and desire to right wrongs and help the oppressed. He pursues a platonic love for Dulcinea del Toboso, who is, in reality, a peasant girl named Aldonza Lorenzo.
Don Quixote’s adventures include tilting at windmills, mistaking them for giants; battling flocks of sheep; encountering a man whipping a boy; and confronting Benedictine monks accompanying a coffin. Other humorous episodes involve the Balsam of Fierabras, the freeing of galley slaves, the Helmet of Mambrino (which he believes is a barber’s basin), and a chaotic brawl at an inn. Finally, imitating Amadis of Gaul, he decides to do penance in the Sierra Morena but ends up being captured and returned home in a cage.
Throughout his adventures, Don Quixote engages in insightful conversations with his squire, Sancho Panza. Gradually, their personalities are revealed, and a friendship based on mutual respect develops.
Part II
In the prologue to the second part, Cervantes ironically addresses accusations made by a rival author, Avellaneda, and laments the challenges of writing novels. The novel plays with different levels of reality, incorporating the publication of the first part of Don Quixote and the apocryphal second part into the narrative. Cervantes defends the improbabilities found in the first part, such as the mysterious reappearance of Sancho’s donkey and the fate of the money found in a suitcase in the Sierra Morena.
The second part begins with Don Quixote’s renewed determination to resume his adventures and his preparations for departure. He promises Sancho Panza an island in exchange for his companionship. This island, named Barataria, is given to Sancho by some dukes who wish to make fun of him. Sancho demonstrates both his intelligence in governing the island and his peaceful, simple nature. He eventually renounces his governorship, which is beset by dangers and a physician, Pedro Recio de Tirteafuera, who restricts his diet.
Other episodes include a theatrical performance in a cart, the descent into the Cave of Montesinos (where Don Quixote dreams of all sorts of nonsense that Sancho Panza refuses to believe), the episode of the braying contest, the enchanted boat, the talking head, Sancho’s delayed whipping, and an encounter with Catalan bandits. The novel culminates in Don Quixote’s final defeat at the hands of the Knight of the White Moon (who is actually the bachelor Samson Carrasco in disguise) on the beach of Barcelona. The Knight makes Don Quixote promise to return home and abandon his life as a knight-errant. Don Quixote agrees and briefly considers becoming a shepherd, inspired by pastoral romances. He eventually regains his sanity, falls ill, and dies, surrounded by the compassion and tears of those who knew him.
Throughout the second part, numerous interwoven stories distract from the main plot. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza continue their engaging conversations, and it becomes clear that Don Quixote’s ideals are gradually fading under Sancho Panza’s influence. Don Quixote also undergoes a transformation, from the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance to the Knight of the Lions. Conversely, Sancho Panza begins to assimilate his master’s ideals, becoming obsessed with the idea of governing an island.
On October 31, 1615, Cervantes dedicated the second part of Don Quixote to Don Pedro Fernández de Castro y Andrade, VII Count of Lemos.
Originality and Influence
Don Quixote is widely considered the masterpiece of literary humor and the first modern novel. It is also recognized as the first polyphonic novel, exerting a profound influence on subsequent European fiction.
Firstly, it established the formula of realism, which had been developing in Castilian literature since the Middle Ages. This realism is characterized by parody and mockery of the fantastic, social criticism, emphasis on psychological values, and detailed descriptions.
Secondly, it created the polyphonic novel, a novel that interprets reality not from a single perspective but from multiple, simultaneously superimposed viewpoints. This approach renders reality complex, as the novel not only attempts to represent it but also, in its ambition, to replace it. The modern novel, as exemplified by Don Quixote, is a mixture of everything. As the author himself states through the character of the priest, it is a “writing unleashed,” combining epic, lyric, tragic, comic, prose, poetry, dialogue, speeches, jokes, fables, philosophy, legends, and parody of all these genres.
The voracious modern novel, as embodied by Don Quixote, seeks to replace reality, even physically: the story extends beyond the usual length, transforming the work into a cosmos.