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I turned 40 in October, so to celebrate being officially middle aged, I bought a copy of the story literature's greatest mid-life crisis: Don Quixote.
Despite that fact that Cervantes explicitly writes the novel to be a satirical/comical send-up of the absurd knightly romances written in his era, in the modern era, Quixote has become something of a romantic figure in and of himself, re-interpreted as The Man of LA Mancha, and somehow admirable in his delusions. The very word "Quixotic" does not mean someone acting foolishly or delusionally, but with an admirable and pleasant joie de vivre.
Alternatively, Quixote is sometimes interpreted as a tragic figure.
Over the past two days I got through the first 110 pages, and am a bit perplexed. My gripe is that whereas I have had a few good laughs, Quixote seems to me to be for a most part a dangerous bully who goes around trying to harm and even kill people who don't deserve it. So apart from the comical/satirical, admirable and tragic interpretations, I see a fourth interpretation which is rarely discussed- Quixote's behavior is downright ugly at times.
Did anyone else see the novel this way? Make no mistake about it, I am picking up of the comedy, but I see very little that is admirable in this man's behavior.
I turned 40 in October, so to celebrate being officially middle aged, I bought a copy of the story literature's greatest mid-life crisis: Don Quixote.
Despite that fact that Cervantes explicitly writes the novel to be a satirical/comical send-up of the absurd knightly romances written in his era, in the modern era, Quixote has become something of a romantic figure in and of himself, re-interpreted as The Man of LA Mancha, and somehow admirable in his delusions. The very word "Quixotic" does not mean someone acting foolishly or delusionally, but with an admirable and pleasant joie de vivre.
Alternatively, Quixote is sometimes interpreted as a tragic figure.
Over the past two days I got through the first 110 pages, and am a bit perplexed. My gripe is that whereas I have had a few good laughs, Quixote seems to me to be for a most part a dangerous bully who goes around trying to harm and even kill people who don't deserve it. So apart from the comical/satirical, admirable and tragic interpretations, I see a fourth interpretation which is rarely discussed- Quixote's behavior is downright ugly at times.
Did anyone else see the novel this way? Make no mistake about it, I am picking up of the comedy, but I see very little that is admirable in this man's behavior.
I think most critics treat Don Quixote as at least partly tragic and at least partly comic. I think that using the term quixotic as "admirable and pleasant joie de vivre" is simply a misuse.
I certainly think that Quixote's adventures regularly result in various harms for him, his companions, and others. I'm not so sure, though, that the reader is meant to look upon Quixote as an example for behavior. I tend to think that the characters of Quixote and Panza are used to invite the reader to look at chivalry, idealism, practicality, madness, companionship, romance, perspective, and storytelling.
According to a lecture I listened to (by English Literature Professor Elliot Engel, whom I highly recommend*) the significance of Don Quixote is that it was the first western 'novel' (1605). Nothing like it had been seen before, so it was considered 'novel' (adjective) by the public, hence the name.
It was also pointed out that Cervantes set the 'tone' for all future novels, which usually represent a 'journey' by the main character towards some type of self-discovery or personal growth. A 'novel' was also considered such if it were at least a certain length (shorter novels came to be known as 'novellas').
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