Rinconete and Cortadillo: Origins, Trades, and Rogue Life Analysis
Rinconete and Cortadillo: A Detailed Analysis
1. Family Origins of Rinconete and Cortadillo
Pedro Rincon (Rinconete), the elder, was born in FuenfrÃa (Segovia), in the Sierra de Guadarrama. His father, a respected minister of Santa Cruz, also known as the Pardoner, taught him the trade. Diego Cortado (Cortadillo), the younger, was born in a pious place between Salamanca and Medina del Campo. His father, a tailor, taught him the trade of cutting and tailoring. Tired of his stepmother’s treatment, he went to Toledo.
2. Means of Survival During Their Wanderings
Rinconete used the deceptive skills learned from his father, the Pardoner. After being caught and exiled, he made a living with an old deck of cards. Cortadillo used his tailoring skills. After leaving home, he went to Toledo, where he thrived until he was discovered and had to flee.
3. Key Thematic Issues
The main themes include family, the crafts learned from their parents, their skills, the cities they traveled to, how they were discovered, and their subsequent escapes. These elements highlight their picaresque journey.
4. Attitudes of the Rogues in Their Prehistory
Cortadillo is initially suspicious, hesitant to share his story. Rinconete, being older, shares his story first. Both characters display irony, with Rinconete calling his father’s trade an ‘office of quality’ and Cortadillo referring to his as ‘cutting scissors’.
5. Narrative Summaries
Both narratives are summaries, recounting their histories, families, and trades without excessive detail. They focus on the most significant events, defining them as narrative summaries.
6. Self-Presentations: Content and Form
There are notable differences in how they capitalize on their skills. Rinconete failed to profit from his father’s trade, while Cortadillo excelled in his tailoring. However, both present their stories in the same order, covering similar topics.
7. Character Development from the Novel’s Beginning
Initially, there is a physical description. The conversation between the boys in the second chapter reveals their backgrounds, families, and details of their lives.
8. Comparison with Lazarillo de Tormes
The self-presentations are similar to Lazarillo de Tormes. All three characters introduce themselves by name, then share their origins, work, and family backgrounds, all of which involve some form of dishonesty.
9. Striking Stylistic Features
The text employs various stylistic features, including alliteration, metaphors, and irony, which is a recurring element throughout the story.