The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, by Miguel Cervantes

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Through the use of tone, authors can appear objective, while in reality they use their attitude to influence their readers. The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha is a novel written in episodic form, by Miguel Cervantes in 1615. By ridiculing Don Quixote, the protagonist, this novel parodies medieval romances and satirizes the hero knight. Joe Darion’s songs, “The Impossible Dream” and “Man of La Mancha”, are from the 1965 musical Man of La Mancha. In this musical, a more serious tone is applied, since Don Quixote is regarded with respect. Throughout the literary works, Cervantes’ contemptuous tone characterizes Don Quixote as nonsensical, while Darion’s reverent tone portrays Don Quixote as a valiant knight errant.
In The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha, Cervantes mocks Don Quixote by condemning his actions and by sarcastically praising Don Quixote. This influences the audience to believe that Don Quixote is a simpleton. Due to Don Quixote’s grave fascination with medieval books, he becomes engrossed in these stories to the point where it is abnormal. This interest leads Don Quixote to make irrational decisions, which earns him the censure of Cervantes. “His foolish curiosity reached / such extremes that he / sold acres of arable land / to buy these books of / chivalry” (Cervantes 826). Cervantes uses a condemning tone while he depreciates Don Quixote’s actions. Cervantes expresses a belittling tone by using strong diction with words such as, “foolish” and “extreme”. Through these words, Cervantes communicates that Don Quixote’s actions are irrational and outlandish. By chastising Don Quixote’s handling of money, Cervantes is able to convince the audience that Don Quixote is an imprudent character. The constan...

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...to view Don Quixote in a similar manner. Cervantes uses an informal facetious tone, while mocking Don Quixote, to persuade the reader to believe that Don Quixote is a fatuous character. Contradictory to Cervantes’ tone, Darion uses a rather reverent tone to praise Don Quixote’s noble deeds. Despite the different tones, it is clear that the reader is being influenced to view Don Quixote a certain way. Although tone can be very subtle, it has the power to transform a character, and also, a story.

Works Cited

Darion, Joe. "Dream the Impossible Dream." Rec. 2012. The Man of La Mancha.
Broadway Cast. 2012. CD.
Darion, Joe. "Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)." Rec. 2012. The Man of La Mancha.
Broadway Cast. 2012. CD. de Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel. Don Quixote. Mirrors & Windows: Connecting with
Literature Level V. St. Paul, Minn: EMC, 2009. 825-32. Print.

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