El quijote

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha , is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It follows the adventures of a nameless hidalgo (at the end of Part II given the name Alonso Quixano) who reads so many chivalric novels that he loses his sanity and decides to set out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthy wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood. Don Quixote, in the first part of the book, does not see the world for what it is, and prefers to imagine that he is living out a knightly story. The story implements various themes, such as intertextuality, realism, metatheatre, and literary representation.

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Main characters

Alonso Quijano, known as Don Quixote, the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance, The Knight of the Lions. Represents the fight for the ideals surpassing all obstacles, believing strongly that the world could improve. It was extremely optimistic, and everything questioned or justified. It is also highly imaginative adventures for all his associates with books of chivalry.

Sancho Panza, his faithful squire and his faithful friend, who supported him in his follies. It is the realistic part of Don Quixote and try to make it enters because of what you are doing.

Dulcinea del Toboso, lady always present in the thought of Don Quijote.

Rocinante, Don Quixote riding, skinny, Pando, burlesque for the horse of a knight appearance.

Originality 

As a literary work, it can be said to be the masterpiece of literature mood of all time. It is also the first modern novel and the first polyphonic novel, and will exert an overwhelming influence on all subsequent European narrative.

First, it provided the formula of realism, as had been tested and perfected in Spanish literature from the Middle Ages. Characterized by parody and mockery of the fantastic, social criticism, insisting on the psychological values ​​and the descriptive materialism.

Second, he created the polyphonic novel, ie, the novel that interprets reality, not as a single point of view, but from several points of view simultaneously superimposed. Reality becomes extremely complex, because not only tries to reproduce, but in his ambition endeavors even replace it. The modern novel, according to conceives Quijote, is a mixture of everything. As stated by the author himself through the mouth of the priest, is a 'wild writing' epic, lyric, tragic genres, comics, prose, poetry, dialogue, speeches, jokes, fables, philosophy, legend ... and parody of all these genres.

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