But more importantly, Cervantes tries to let the reader know that despite the tendency to lunacy underplay in ‘Don Quixote’s‘ character, there is an underlying commitment to achieving personal set goals on the part of our determined hero. Some of the most important quotes will be discussed here.
Imagination And Visualization
Look there, Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves.
This statement is arguably the most vivid expression of the imagination given by no other than ‘Don Quixote‘ himself. Cervantes’ main character, ‘Don Quixote‘, is no doubt known for his trademark in exhibiting momentary madness which, fairly, is the whole point of the book, still, it’s quite misunderstood by other characters and readers as a major flaw.
But, this attribute of Quixote’s is also the source of his strength; giving him the ability to visualize and see beyond what the ordinary person can see. In this scenario, he discusses with his servant and squire, Sancho Panza, how he plans to single-handedly go into combat and triumph against an imminent group of giants standing before them. Sancho is shocked to hear his master say this because in reality what he sees before them are giant windmills with long sails.
‘Don Quixote‘ may have the ability to visualize and see beyond what others can’t – which is certainly one quality of a good leader, but this statement comes a little too much as a far cry to be believed, not even for Sancho, his loyal squire, and in total disagreement tries to call his master back to consciousness with his aptly disagreeing statement:
Now look, your grace, what you see over there aren’t giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn the millstone.
With that, Sancho may have expected to reclaim his master out of the realm of madness and back into that of sanity, but is forced to give up on his master’s sanity when instead his master tells him that:
Obviously, you don’t know much about adventures.
‘Don Quixote‘, with that one, happens to cement his beliefs as being fixed, unchanging, and unable to be talked out of. From Quixote’s perspective, the reader sees a huge potential of an intrepid personality, and a go-getter; one who is certainly not looking for acceptance or validation from society, and therefore not afraid to go against convention for his ideas and beliefs.
However, from the standpoint of Sancho, Antonia, the priest, and pretty much every other person, the same thing can’t be said because they know the reality and that ‘Don Quixote’s‘ ideas of life are downright delusional.
Insanity And Madness
He is mad past recovery, but yet he has lucid intervals.
Let’s face it, ‘Don Quixote’s‘ madness is the reason readers have a book to read. Still, he doesn’t get away with it and gets the worse treatment for it. Throughout the entire book, the readers get to see that whenever Quixote says something, there’s always a person or a group either waiting to catch a laugh, refute, or beat him up for speaking up about what he believes.
However, this excerpt created by a character from the book comes to vindicate ‘Don Quixote‘ in all the accusations of him being folly and unreasonable, and this is because as the traveler goes on spreading his ideas and beliefs, people start to see that there is an existence of truth in them.
Love And Romance
For what I want of Dulcinea del Toboso she is as good as the greatest princess in the land. For not all those poets who praise ladies under names which they choose so freely, really have such mistresses…
‘Don Quixote‘ continues to wow the readership with the depth of his mental creativity and the power of his mind. Here, our tragic hero tries to teach his squire, Sancho, a lesson or two about love and romance. He dismisses a popular, if not unfavorable, reality of a young woman, Aldonza Lorenzo, a poor farm girl who isn’t recognized by society as beautiful and elegant, but that doesn’t matter because she is the one he chooses to love.
By this assertion, Quixote sends a strong, personal message to both Sancho and the readers hypothesizing that though he can agree to the fact that beauty needs validation from an out party, what he doesn’t agree with is that such validation must have to come from society. Quixote iterates that as long as he chooses to recognize her as the most beautiful princess he has ever seen, then she is beautiful and no one else’s opinion – including society’s – matters.
FAQs
What is a popular quote from ‘Don Quixote?’
“somewhere in La Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and an ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing”
Is ‘Don Quixote‘ a tragic novel?
‘Don Quixote‘ can be seen as a tragic novel, for the big part. However, there are also certain levels of intermittent incredulity and comic relief, seeing that he ends up making anyone he encounters laugh or be in awe of his stranger ideas.
What inspired Cervantes to write ‘Don Quixote‘?
Cervantes’ inspiration for writing ‘Don Quixote‘ stems from the fact that he wanted to downplay the several, endless myths of chivalry that were household reads at the time. The author also mentioned that he wanted to exploit them to entertain and scintillate his readers.
