Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote"

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the first part of Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote", in which the adventures are more or less patterned on Quixote's vivid imagination and Sancho's hesitant acceptance of his master's whims, to the second part, in which Quixote loses control of the narrative. Specifically, the paper relates and analyzes the Cave of Montesinos adventure and the hoaxes of the Duchess, which she designed to contain Quixote's madness in such a way that she can receive entertainment from them. The paper concludes that, in the end, Quixote is supported by the elaborate structure of his imagined life so that, when that edifice falls away, he falls with it.

From the Paper:

"If other adventures, each every bit as improbable as the Cave of Montesinos, are more believable despite the presence of a witness who saw firsthand that giants are windmills and castles are inns, there must be something amiss in Quixote's justifications. On his better days he can convince Sancho against evidence supplied by his very eyes with explanations of enchantments and sorcery, but for some reason this power fails him in the adventure of the cave."

More papers on Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote":

• Analytical Essay # 67492 : "Don Quixote, an Extraordinary Man"
• Analytical Essay # 28446 : "From "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra"
• Analytical Essay # 68273 : "St. Augustine, de Cervantes and Dante"

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