Two Spanish Classics: If the Girls & Don Quixote

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 in Latin

If the Girls

In an inn in Alcalá de Henares, Don Diego and Doña Irene stop on their way back to Guadalajara. They had journeyed to retrieve Doña Francisca, who is being educated in a convent. Don Diego intends to marry Francisca.

The play begins with Don Diego speaking to his servant, Simón, revealing the impending wedding to a sixteen-year-old girl. Doña Irene and her daughter arrive, and Don Diego speaks with them. Doña Irene scolds Francisca for her coldness towards him, then praises Don Diego.

Doña Irene informs Don Diego that Francisca wishes to become a nun, and he worries this is because she doesn’t want to marry him. He questions Francisca, and while her mother attempts to dispel his suspicions, Don Diego silences her, leaving Francisca tormented.

Obeying her mother, Francisca hides her true feelings and agrees to the proposal. Meanwhile, Doña Irene meets with Paquita and promises to prevent the wedding.

Carlos is determined to stop the marriage, but is surprised to discover that Don Diego is his uncle. Following this revelation, Carlos decides to return to his regiment. Paquita is heartbroken that her beloved has left without even saying goodbye.

The next morning, Don Carlos serenades Paquita in Alcalá and she sends him a written message, which Don Diego intercepts. He recognizes the love between Paquita and his nephew, and generously decides to step aside. The play concludes with Don Diego’s blessing for the union of the young lovers.

Don Quixote

History

A bored, idle nobleman of about fifty, living with his niece, decides to invent a better world and escape reality. This struggle between reality and ideal leads others to perceive him as mad, yet he embodies a heroic spirit.

Structure

Part 1

  • First Outing: Secret departure in the morning, adventures, return.
  • Second Outing: Departure with Sancho, adventures, return.

Part 2

  • Third Outing: Quixote and Sancho depart, adventures at a castle, return.

Differences Between Parts 1 & 2

  • Part 1: Quixote transforms reality, seeks adventure, drifts. Interspersed episodes feature characters and their lives, creating novels within the novel. Quixote represents fiction, Sancho realism.
  • Part 2: Other characters transform Quixote’s reality for their amusement or purposes. Adventures are presented to him; he’s no longer the only one who seeks them. Don Quixote visits specific, known locations. There are no interspersed episodes.

Cervantes’ Intention

  1. Parody of chivalric romances.
  2. Summarize previous narratives. The narrative is a summary of all literary times.
  3. Satisfy all tastes. The main theme is madness; the entire novel revolves around it.

The causes of Don Quixote’s madness are:

  1. Reading many books of chivalry, creating a character driven by a loving and chivalrous ideal rooted in fiction.
  2. The character’s need to escape a meaningless existence. Don Quixote, a nobleman without purpose, creates a world to justify his being.

Consequences of madness are shown on two levels: reality (Sancho) and fiction (Don Quixote). By the novel’s end, Sancho becomes more like Quixote, entering the fictional world and embracing the quixotic view of reality. Sancho, too, finds meaning in his life through his companionship with Don Quixote.

Don Quixote is a realistic novel, a reflection on society. Cervantes reflects on the literature of his time. The novel speaks of the reality of characters seeking meaning, the reflection on society that crushes them, and the reflection on literature itself.

Technical Resources

These techniques make Don Quixote a major reference for the early novel:

  1. Complex Narrator: An omniscient, yet sometimes forgetful and confusing narrator, adding to the intrigue.
  2. Dialogue: Characterizes individuals without direct narration.
  3. Varied Speech Registers: Educated, middle, and vulgar registers cater to all audiences. Sancho uses vulgar speech, while Quixote uses a worshipful, medieval style.
  4. Juxtaposition: Simultaneous development of opposing actions, alternating situations to tell both stories.
  5. Multiple Perspectives: Don Quixote’s fictional vision, Sancho’s realistic view, and the narrator’s overview.
  6. Intertextuality: References to other literary texts, such as books of chivalry and Avellaneda’s Quixote (dominant in Part 2), and interspersed novels (predominant in Part 1).
  7. Humor: Cervantes uses language (jokes, vulgarity), ridiculous attire, and absurd situations to create a humorous, yet decent novel.