St. Augustine, de Cervantes and Dante

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper details the manner in which all three authors used their particular texts to suggest or promote either change or greater awareness of human foibles and the human condition. This paper examines the contents of St. Augustine's novel, which is a work of self-revelation. Augustine's humility toward God is shown by his willingness to give God credit for everything in his own life, good, bad or neutral. Dante's medieval masterpiece is the story of a spiritual awakening. This paper examines Dante's elaborate metaphor of a spiritual journey through hell, which the author must traverse. The writer details Cervantes' need for human awareness, reflection and understanding of a different kind altogether, as expressed in his novel. This paper explores Quixote's often amusing, always perplexing and sometimes frightening flights between madness and sanity.

From the Paper:

"Miguel de Cervantes, in Don Quixote, suggests a need for human awareness, reflection, and understanding of a different kind altogether. In this novel, the aging Alonso Quijana grabs one final chance to pursue his long-cherished dream: that of not only thinking in the noble manner of a knight errant of bygone days, but being one as well. Don Quixote's often amusing, always perplexing, and sometimes frightening flights between madness and sanity remind us of our own illusions, yearnings, and fantasies live within up, but all too often are never expressed outwardly, making us saner, but also less happy and less interesting individuals. Yes, Don Quixote's end-of-life indulgence of his deeply-cherished illusions turns him into a dangerous man at times, yet when Don Quixote, no longer Alonso Quijana at all, is deepest within his world of fantasy, wholeheartedly chasing his dreams, he is also completely happy and fulfilled."

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