Don Quixote · Chapter
II: About Cervantes and Don Quixote explained
This chapter provides a critical analysis of Don Quixote's character, arguing that he lacks individuality and is merely a mouthpiece for chivalric ideals.
What happens
This chapter provides a critical analysis of Don Quixote's character, arguing that he lacks individuality and is merely a mouthpiece for chivalric ideals. It contrasts his madness with his virtue, discusses Sancho Panza's development as a more prominent and mendacious figure in the Second Part, and examines the widespread popularity and enduring appeal of the novel across cultures and time.
Themes in this chapter
Madness and Sanity
Don Quixote's madness is strictly confined to delusions about chivalry; on all other subjects he is 'discreto,' allowing Cervantes to use him as a mouthpiece for reflections.
Chivalry and Idealism
The chapter discusses how Don Quixote embodies the sentiments of chivalry romances, and how the Second Part burlesques the spirit rather than the incidents of such romances.
Literature and Metafiction
Cervantes uses Don Quixote as a mouthpiece for his own reflections, making the novel a kind of commonplace book for essays, criticisms, and observations.
Characters to notice
- Don Quixote
Described as having no character or individuality, merely a crazy representative of chivalry romances; his madness makes him virtuous, and he serves as a mouthpiece for Cervantes' reflections.
- Sancho Panza
A favorite of Cervantes, he develops in the Second Part with more prominence; his mendacity about Dulcinea drives the action, and he displays a natural gift for lying.
- Dulcinea del Toboso
Referenced in the context of Sancho's matchless mendacity about her, which supplies much of the action in the Second Part.
- Samson Carrasco
Mentioned as one of the individualized characters in the novel, with life and individuality.
- Teresa Panza
Listed among the characters that live and move and have their being, showing Cervantes' broad humanity.
- Altisidora
Mentioned as one of the individualized characters in the novel.
Key passages
“Of all Byron’s melodious nonsense about Don Quixote, the most nonsensical statement is that “ ’tis his virtue makes him mad!” The exact opposite is the truth; it is his madness makes him virtuous.”
Byron's claim that Don Quixote's virtue drives him mad is wrong; instead, his madness is what makes him virtuous.
Highlights the inversion of virtue and madness in Don Quixote's character.
“In the Second Part it is the spirit rather than the incidents of the chivalry romances that is the subject of the burlesque.”
The Second Part mocks the essence of chivalry romances more than their specific events.
Describes the shift in burlesque focus from the First to the Second Part.
“It is this that makes it, as one of the most judicial-minded of modern critics calls it, “the best novel in the world beyond all comparison.””
The humor of Don Quixote is what makes it, according to a respected critic, the greatest novel ever written.
Emphasizes the unique and unparalleled humor of the novel.