Pablo de Segovia, the Spanish Sharper · Chapter
Quevedo and His Works explained
This chapter provides an extensive critical introduction to Francisco de Quevedo and his picaresque novel 'Paul the Sharper' (Don Pablo de Segovia).
What happens
This chapter provides an extensive critical introduction to Francisco de Quevedo and his picaresque novel 'Paul the Sharper' (Don Pablo de Segovia). It discusses the nature of the picaresque genre, the character of the picaro, and the social and historical conditions in 16th-century Spain that gave rise to such literature. The author praises Quevedo's art in presenting the rogue Don Pablo without sentimentality or moralizing, as a pure picaro who never deviates into respectability. The chapter also surveys Quevedo's life, his vast and varied literary output, and his place as a major figure in Spain's Golden Age.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Trickery
The entire novel centers on Don Pablo's career of undisguised trickery, dissimulation, and lying as a means of survival in a harsh society.
Satire of Hypocrisy
Quevedo's satire is of the legitimate kind, not against persons but against general vice and human folly, avoiding sentimental excuses for the rogue.
Poverty and Desperation
The characters are all from the class who have failed to achieve a decent life, living in slums, prisons, and refuges from the law.
Corruption and Crime
The novel deals exclusively with vicious people—thieves, impostors, rogues, jailbirds, bullies—and the internal corruption of Spanish society.
Characters to notice
- Pablo de Segovia
The protagonist of the picaresque novel, described as a complete rogue, thief, and sharper who never pretends to be honest or seeks sympathy.
- Francisco de Quevedo
The author of the novel, a prodigious Spanish writer, satirist, poet, and moralist, born in 1580, known for his mordant wit and versatility.
- Toribio Rodriguez Vallejo
Mentioned as a companion of Don Pablo, part of the rogue's world of thieves and impostors.
- Master Cabra
Referenced as a fellow-student or companion of Don Pablo in the narrative of rogues.
- Don Diego Coronel
Listed among the characters in the story, part of the company of rogues and sharpers.
Key passages
“All the characters are bad, in the sense that they all belong to the class who have failed to achieve a decent life.”
Every character is morally corrupt because they come from the lowest social class, unable to live respectably.
The author sets the moral tone of the novel, emphasizing the degraded social status of all figures.
“From beginning to end Don Pablo’s career is one of undisguised trickery, dissimulation, and lying.”
Don Pablo's entire life is openly filled with deceit, fraud, and dishonesty.
Highlights the central theme of the picaresque: the rogue's unapologetic dishonesty.
“There is no vice in the book, even though it deals exclusively with vicious people.”
The book does not glorify or promote vice, even though its characters are all wicked.
The critic argues that Quevedo's portrayal is moral because it does not romanticize evil.
“He is picaro to the fingers’ ends—in either sense.”
Don Pablo is a complete rogue in every possible way.
Emphasizes the totality of Pablo's roguish nature.
“The simplicity with which the story is told, without those digressions and interruptions to which the Spanish storyteller is so prone, make it a work almost unique among books of the kind.”
The narrative is straightforward and lacks the usual tangents common in Spanish storytelling, making it nearly unique.
Praises Quevedo's direct narrative style.
