Cervantes' Don Quixote: Plot and Thematic Analysis

Critique of Chivalry Novels in Don Quixote

With the purpose of criticizing the novels of chivalry, Miguel de Cervantes wrote his best work, The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Part 1 was published in 1605, and Part 2 in 1615.

Plot Summary

Part One

Cervantes, driven mad by reading chivalric novels, becomes Alonso Quijano, who decides to become a knight in the real world. He chooses a beloved (Dulcinea) and a meager horse (Rocinante) and starts his first outing. He is dubbed a knight in a roadside inn, which he mistakes for a castle, along with other illusions. He returns home to find a squire, the peasant Sancho Panza, to whom he promises the government of an island. In the second exit, both protagonists experience disastrous adventures; neighbors trick him into returning home.

• The main plot is interrupted several times by the inclusion of narratives outside the plot (pastoral, Byzantine, Moorish stories)—an interpolation technique.
• Episode Narrative Structure: The structure follows the initial dialogue between DQ and S, the adventure, and the subsequent dialogue between the two.

Part Two

DQ begins his third outing. As a result of his adventures, Sancho fulfills his desire to be governor of an island (given to him as a joke by the Dukes). Sancho proves to be sensible in government but tires of the role and returns to DQ. Finally, DQ is vanquished by the Knight of the White Moon (Bachelor Sansón Carrasco). Defeated, he returns to his village, heals his madness, and dies.

This part includes the single episode of Camacho's wedding.

Topics

Utopia and Reality

This is the conflict between the individual who wishes to carry out his dream—his madness—and the family and social environment that prevents it.

Justice

The hero is moved by a spirit of avenging justice.

Love

DQ feels the need to find a beautiful lady, imitating the platonic love described in the novels of chivalry.

Literature

The work is replete with references to literary themes: the golden age, locus amoenus, etc. The work was designed as a parody of the novels of chivalry and a critique of the literary genres of his time.

Characters

The huge variety of characters involved provides a rich sample of Spanish society in the early 17th century:

Don Quixote

A gentleman in his 50s who goes mad from reading novels of chivalry. He represents the theme of the madman and the sane man. He possesses moments of mental clarity and gradually becomes less mad until he regains his sanity.

Sancho Panza

A humble farmer, clumsy, and loyal to his master, possessing a sly and very popular philosophy of life. He corrects and counteracts his master's ravings. Through this friendship, their servant-master relationship evolves, leading to mutual influence: quijotization and sanchification.