Lazarillo, Don Quixote, and the Renaissance: A Deep Dive

Lazarillo de Tormes

Lazarillo de Tormes is an anonymous work, censored in 1554 for its strong anticlerical content. It is presented as an autobiography, a first-person account written in the form of a letter to "Your Grace." The narrator recounts his past life to justify his present state of dishonor.

The book consists of a foreword and seven chapters or 'treatises.'

Key Features:

• The protagonist is the son of parents without honor.
• He experiences hunger and the desire for social advancement.
• He loses his innocence, evolves, and learns.

Themes:

• Reflection of the reality of society and the conflicts of Spain.
• Critique of the obsession with honor.
• Corruption of the clergy.

Structure:

• Chapters 1, 2, and 3: Early life and masters (Blind man, Clergyman, Squire).
• Chapters 4, 5, and 6: Masters and experiences (Friar, Pardoner, Chaplain).
• Chapter 7: Adulthood in Toledo, marriage to the maid of an Archpriest (Clergy, women, and their lovers).

Cervantes and Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares in 1547. He also lived in Valladolid and died in Madrid in 1616.

Works:

• Theater: Comedies, tragedies, and interludes.
• Novels: Most notably, *Don Quixote*.
• Short Stories: *The Exemplary Novels* (e.g., *The Glass Graduate*).

Don Quixote was published in two parts: the first in 1605 and the second in 1615.

Themes of *Don Quixote*:

• Parody of chivalric romances.
• Reflection on idealism and disappointment.

Main Characters:

• Don Quixote
• Sancho Panza

The Renaissance

The Renaissance was a historical period following the Middle Ages. It originated in Italy and then spread throughout Europe.

Characteristics:

• Exaltation of terrestrial life.
• Emergence of Humanism, valuing Renaissance ideals.
• Rise of the bourgeoisie and the spread of printing.
• More direct and intimate communication with God.

The Renaissance developed further in 16th-century Spain during the reigns of Charles I and Philip II. It began with the imitation of Petrarch by Garcilaso de la Vega around 1526 and reached a high point with the publication of the first part of *Don Quixote* in 1605.

Renaissance Lyric Authors

Garcilaso de la Vega

Author of 38 sonnets and 3 eclogues. His work, almost a single unit, is modeled after Petrarch's *Cancionero*. He explores themes of pain from rejection, the absence of the beloved, jealousy, and death. He incorporated lament into his poetry and imported verse forms from Italy, such as the sonnet, hendecasyllables, the lira, and sometimes the *silva*. He frequently references classical mythology (Orpheus, Apollo).

Eclogues: Complaints of love are put into the mouths of shepherds.

Fray Luis de León

Main theme: The desire to escape from the world in search of spiritual peace. He adopts a Stoic attitude, avoiding life's joys and punishments. He explores various paths, including life in the countryside (*Beatus Ille* - Happy is he) and music. He is the author of 23 odes.

San Juan de la Cruz

Belonging to the Carmelite Order, San Juan de la Cruz explored the theme of union with God. He used the pleasure of lovers' poetry as a symbol of the soul's meeting with God (Mystical Literature).