Don Quixote (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes

 


Don Quixote (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes

As a quintessential piece of classic literature, I was expecting Don Quixote to be a big, sprawling epic with deep, pervasive themes. But to my surprise, I got a relatively contained, episodic satire that betrays its age (a product of the early 1600s) with an arguably post-modern presentation. That is to say - Don Quixote’s story is related by a narrator, distinct from the author, through the texts of a translator, based on a separate account from a historian (whose works, to make things more convoluted, exist within the story itself - having been written concurrently with Don Quixote’s exploits).

Framing devices aside, this novel is essentially a piecemeal comedy following the misadventures of a delusional, self-appointed “knight-errant” and his faithful but daft squire. And while the story subsequently lacks some cohesion, its obvious merit is in gold-standard characterization. It’s likely the literary foundation for the now-archetypal duo of a misguided, self-aggrandizing hero (Don Quixote) and their simple, grounded, yet hopelessly admiring sidekick (Sancho Panza). And such an expertly leveled comedic partnership lends interest to any situation, from mundane parlays with shepherds to fantastically-contrived encounters with wizards and demons.

I constantly found myself waiting to be struck with some profound meaning hiding within Don Quixote’s string of misadventures, but was never appeased on that front. That being said, I did see a parallel in the story to the way society today is prone to mistreat neurodivergent or socially-challenged people. Many characters who became acquainted with Don Quixote took to prodding him along in the folly of his chivalric mania for the sake of a laugh - to the extent that one of Don Quixote’s few true friends was rebuked for an effort to cure him of his delusions. Don Quixote was never cognizant of his position as the object of veiled ridicule, but that didn’t excuse the pranks played on him. It’s a sad reflection to leave such a lighthearted story with, but a lesson in social dynamics that’s well-worth ruminating on 400 years later.

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