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

906 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of don quixote

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...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

Show More
Related

  • Magic Realism in Marquez´s Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1949, Dana Gioia reflected on the significance of Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative style when he accurately quoted, “[it] describes the matter-of-fact combination of the fantastic and everyday in Latin American literature” (Gioia). Today, García Márquez’s work is synonymous with magical realism. In “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” the tale begins with be dramatically bleak fairytale introduction:

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Diles Que No Me Maten By Juan Rulfo

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost

    Read More

  • Higenious Hidalgo Don Quixote De La Mancha Don Quixote

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha Don Quixote takes on many exploits and is often broken and beaten along the way. Whether he is fighting with imaginary giants or the knight of the White Moon, Don Quixote ends up defeated. In City Lights Chaplin’s tramp endeavors to make money in order to help the blind girl. After being fired from his recent job as a street cleaner, the tramp enters into a boxing contest for 50% of the winnings. However, things do not go as planned and the tramp finds himself in a predicament. Still, and similar to Don Quixote’s boldness, the tramp believes there is an actual chance that he could win the match. Instead, he finds himself knocked out and no closer to his goal of helping the blind girl.

    Read More

  • The Role of Gender and Ethnicity in Perceptions of Rape and Its Aftereffects by L Schneide

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    Vega, Ed “Spanish Roulette” Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed. James, Missy and Merickel, Alan P. 5th ed. Boston: Longman, 2013. 417-423. Print.

    Read More

  • The American Dream in And the Earth Did Not Devour Him, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, and America is in the Heart

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ss and critical of religion due to the depressing state of his life--a typical characteristic of the people in his community. The protagonist of the novel portrays the anguished America of the Mexican-American migrant farmers.

    Read More

  • The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes

    2609 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Old Gringo is a fiction novel written by one of Latin America's most renowned and eloquent authors, Carlos Fuentes. Filled with war, adventure, love and more, this novel takes you back to the Mexican revolution fought in 1912. This contemporary fiction is based on many themes found and experienced by the main characters in this novel. The relationship between Mexico and the United States, the drive to find one's true self and the different ways two men need a woman are only a few themes contained in this story. The question: Is he Ambrose Bierce or just an old gringo, is one that I had to answer while reading this book. We all have different opinions, but it is a question that all ask themselves while reading The Old Gringo.

    Read More

  • Mexican Folk Music: El Corrido

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the late 19th century and early 20th century, a form of Mexican folk music called the corrido gained popularity along the Mexico-Texan border (Saldívar). Growing from the Spanish romance tradition, the corrido is a border ballad “that arose chronicling the history of border conflicts and its effects on Mexican-Mexican culture” (Saldívar). A sort of “oral folk history,” the corrido was studied intensely by Américo Paredes, who then constructed his masterpiece, George Washington Gomez, around the “context and theme” of the corrido (Mendoza 146). But the novel is not a traditional corrido, in which the legendary hero defends his people and dies for his honor. Instead, through its plot, characterization, and rhetorical devices, George Washington Gomez is an anti-corrido.

    Read More

  • The Platonic Pursuit of Grief, and how Victor Frankenstein and Don Quixote are different

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    De Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote De La Mancha. Trans. Charles Jarvis. Ed. E. C. Riley. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. Print.

    Read More

  • Shakespeare’s play The Tempest and Michael Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...there is also the factor of the trustworthiness of a character. There are doubts in my mind that both Prospero and Don Quixote’s growth as individuals were faux used only to disguise themselves. In Prospero’s case it is used to present a different image of him, one that will not be taken advantage of just as his brother did to him. This new image is the one we see in the beginning of the play which I described earlier as foul and manipulative. In the case of Don Quixote it seems he was never insane and he only pretended to be out of his mind to avoid conflict. He presented himself as a mad man only to fulfill his dream of traveling as a knight-errant. Which if these are the cases then both characters never developed in the play and the novel then we are all manipulated as if the positions were reversed and the characters we were reading were after all the authors.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Cervantes Don Quixote

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the protagonist, a middle-aged gentleman named Alonso Quixano, loves chivalry and spends all his free time collecting and reading books on it. Obsessed with the heroic ideals portrayed in the books, he decides to roam the countryside as a knight-errant named Don Quixote, protecting the helpless, defending women, and destroying evil. Reality and imagination begin to blend together for him, as he sees a peasant woman as a great lady, an inn as a castle, or some windmills as giants. His perception of the world is aligned with neither reality nor the perceptions of those around him. As a result, he obviously acts and treats people differently. But do Don Quixote’s illusions affect his interactions with others for better or worse? One thing is certain: in any given situation he tends to exaggerate either the virtues or vices of people, to the extent that he perceives them as much better or much worse than they really are. Because of this, it seems his illusions cause his interactions with other people to be either better than usual, or much, much worse. He builds people up more

    Read More

  • Don Quixote Narrator

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story of Don Quixote, a middle aged “gaunt” man sets off to become a knight-errant. Within the beginning chapters of the story, Quixote goes on a journey to prove himself as a knight. The narrator speaks sarcastically about Quixote’s and his adventures. On account of the voice of the narrator, perception is crucial relative to forming an opinion about Don Quixote and his journey of becoming a knight-errant. The constant opposition of the narrator in relation to Quixote’s goals and actions create a feeling of tension within the audience as the reader becomes perplexed in trying to figure out if Quixote’s journey can really be considered a knight’s errant. Still, despite the narrator’s sarcastic tone and Don’s idiotic actions, Don

    Read More

  • Don Quixote

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don Quixote, written around four hundred years ago, has endured the test of time to become one of the world’s finest examples of literature; one of the first true novels ever written. It’s uncommonness lies in the fact that it encompasses many different aspects of writing that spans the spectrum. From light-hearted, comical exchanges between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to descriptions so strong that produce tangible images, the book remains steadfast in any reader’s mind.

    Read More

  • Transformation of Reality as Portrayed in Don Quixote

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout his novel, Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes effectively uses the transformation of reality to critique and reflect societal and literary norms. In three distinct scenes, Don Quixote or his partner, Sancho, transform reality. Often they are met with other’s discontent. It is through the innkeeper scene, the windmill scene, the Benedictine friar scene, and Quixote’s deathbed scene that Cervantes contemplates revolutionary philosophies and literary techniques. The theme of reality transformation does not even stop there. Sometimes the transformations of reality scenes act as mimetic devices. Ultimately, Miguel Cervantes’ use of transformative scenes acts as a creative backdrop for deeper observations and critiques on seventeenth-century Spanish society.

    Read More

  • Big Mama's Funeral

    335 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gabriel García Márquez story, Big Mama's Funeral, is a story filled with fantastical scenes and events much in line with Don Quixote and Candide. The introductory paragraphs of Big Mama's Funeral and Candide sound so similar in voice the two authors could be mistaken for the same. In Candide, one finds a series of episodes that are so far from the truth and yet perfectly explainable. The story of the fate of Dr. Pangloss, the death and resurrection of Cunegund and of her Jesuit brother, and the story of the old woman with one buttock are farcical in the same way as the episodes in Big Mama's Funeral. In Don Quixote, we find a man, for the most part average, who wishes to become a knight-errant. In his quest is as series of happenings so ridiculous they are nothing short of tabloid-style sensationalism, or drug induced hallucinations.

    Read More

  • Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    In life it is necessary to have fantasy, because without it, life would be dull and meaningless. Life would be so different without dreams, since they are what motivate humans to keep on moving forward in order to achieve their goals. This is what Jorge Luis Borges is trying to explain to the reader in the book Ficciones which is very confusing, but also very deep in meaning. These stories demonstrate a theme of reality vs. fiction which is fascinating because in many of the readings fantasy is required at some point to accomplish a purpose or goal. Each unique story hides a meaning in the text which is a lesson to be learned. The confusion that is caused is similar to a labyrinth in which the reader gets lost. The message is hidden within the story so; it causes confusion to the reader. Events in the story suggest that the story is fiction, because most of the stories have existent scenery. The timing in some stories is from an event or tragedy that has occurred around that date. The reader realizes later on in the stories that unrealistic events began to occur which are impossible to take place in real life. This is when our minds become entangled with facts from our world and others form the impossible.

    Read More

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

Open Document