Don Quixote

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Recommended: Chivalry in canterbury tales

In medieval times, knight-errants roamed the countryside of Europe, rescuing damsels and vanquishing evil lords and enchanters. This may sound absurd to many people in this time, but what if a person read so many books about these so-called knight-errants that he could not determine the real from that which was read? Such is the case in The Adventures of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes which takes place probably some time in the fifteenth or early sixteenth centuries. Don Quixote, formerly Quixana, was not really a don at all. He was a wealthy, intelligent farmer who read too many books about knight-errantry and went crazy. He convinced a simple-minded peasant named Sancho to become his squire, promising him wealth and a high spot in society. This book consists of many adventures these two had, both were convinced that they were doing brave and honorable acts of chivalry, when they were only two fools running around the countryside.

Cervantes tries to make his book more interesting with the use of point of view. Don Quixote sees what his mind and imagination create, not that which is transferred through the optic nerves in a very clean-cut scientific manner. He retreats to a world that holds meaning for him. When he first departs, he stops at an inn and his eyes make it a beautiful castle with blushing maids and noble sirs. The wench Aldonza is turned into Dulcinea, his one true love, who he swears by in his battles and contemplates when he is idle. Another example of his point-of-view is the famous windmill incident. Quixote sees “’thirty monstrous giants... with... long arms... the length of two leagues.’” such is the demented mind of Don Quixote. He went down into a legendary pit to behold its wonders. Once inside, he convinced himself he saw a transparent castle and that the people there were kept alive hundreds of years by Merlin’s magic when he seemed to only dream it.

Another way Cervantes uses point-of-view to let the reader know that Quixote has little grasp of reality. I will refer back to the windmills because that is the clearest example: Sancho tried to tell Quixote that the giants were only windmills, but he didn’t listen and Sancho couldn’t fathom that his master was mad, so he shuts the incident out of his mind, displaying some of the madness of Don Quixote in our supposedly sane squire.

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