campusaraujo
- Jun 22
- 13 min read

Miguel de Cervantes 2 - Don Quixote, Galatea and Exemplary Novels

In the previous post we talked about the life of Miguel de Cervantes, the greatest exponent of Hispanic literature. In this post we will only deal with his works, with emphasis on his masterpiece El ingenioso Hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (The Ingenious Nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha), a book that inaugurated the modern Western novel.

A Mad Knight-Errant and a Simple, Practical Squire

In 1605, Miguel de Cervantes published the first part of Don Quixote, a novel that tells the story of Alonso Quixano, an elderly noble person fascinated by ancient chivalric romances. Quixano adopts the name Don Quixote and decides to become a knight-errant, setting off in search of adventures. Accompanied by his faithful squire, the peasant Sancho Panza, Don Quixote lives in a fantasy world where he mistakes windmills for giants and faces several misadventures.

Modern criticism sees Don Quixote as a symbolic and didactic work, aimed at reforms in the Church and State. However, these interpretations were not shared by Cervantes' contemporaries, nor by the author himself. Cervantes clearly stated that his main aim was to ridicule chivalric romances, which had become absurd and tiresome.

Initially, he only intended to parody these extravagances, but, as he progressed in writing, he realized the immense possibilities of the theme. Thus, he expanded the work into a brilliant panorama of 16th-century Spanish society. Nobles, knights, poets, priests, merchants, farmers, and various social figures are presented with brilliant fidelity, resulting from a sympathetic and realistic vision.

Publications and piracy of Don Quixote of La Mancha

The first volume of Cervantes's masterpiece, The Ingenious Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha, was nearly finished in the summer of 1604, when the author settled in Valladolid. At the time, it was common to ask other authors for praise for the book's introduction, but Miguel de Cervantes faced many rejections. Lope de Vega, known for his dislike of Cervantes, criticized the work, stating that there was no poet as bad as Cervantes or as foolish as to praise Don Quixote of La Mancha.

In response, Miguel de Cervantes wrote a satirical prologue himself, pretending to be the translator of the story, attributed to a fictional Moorish historian named Cide Hamete Benengeli. Cide is a fictional character created by Miguel de Cervantes and presented as the Moorish historian who wrote the "true" story of Don Quixote, which Cervantes claims to have found and translated from Arabic into Spanish. This mocking prologue perfectly complemented the book, a parody of medieval knight-errant romances.

At the beginning of 1605, when the writer's economic needs were greatest, he published in the Madrid printing house of Juan de la Cuesta El ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha. It was dedicated to the seventh Duke of Béjar in phrases borrowed from the dedication in Garcilaso de La Vega's edition of Herrera (1580) and in Francisco de Medina's preface to that work. The success was immediate. Within a few months, given the existence of several pirated editions, Juan de la Cuesta had to print a second edition, something unusual for the time, considering that the initial print run was 1,600 copies.

The mention of Bernardo de La Vega's Shepherd of Iberia shows that the sixth chapter of Don Quixote cannot have been written before 1591. In the prologue, the author describes his masterpiece as being exactly what could be generated in a prison. Based on this passage, it is thought that he conceived the story, and perhaps began writing it, during one of his periods of imprisonment in Seville between 1597 and 1602. In 1604, he obtained royal permission to publish the work and, in 1605, the first copies were published.

A few weeks after its publication in Madrid, three pirated editions of Don Quixote were issued in Lisbon. An authorized and poorly revised second edition was hastily published in Madrid. Another reprint appeared in Valencia with an approval dated 18 July 1605. Apart from Guzmán de Alfarache de Alemán, no Spanish book of the period was more successful.

Reception and criticism of Don Quixote

Don Quixote marked a before and after in the literary career of Miguel de Cervantes. The success was enormous and unexpected, so much so that the celebrations for the birth of Prince Philip (future King Philip IV) included actors dressed as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

The resounding success of Don Quixote inspired the appearance of a second part, in 1614, written by the lawyer Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda, known, therefore, as Don Quixote de Avellaneda. The following year, Cervantes published the second part of the novel, to delegitimize Avellaneda's and put an end to Don Quixote's adventures, so that new apocryphal versions would not appear. Since its publication, Miguel de Cervantes' book has inspired a wide range of artistic representations over four centuries, becoming a universal cultural reference.

Artists from different eras and styles, such as Francisco de Goya, Gustavo Doré, Ignacio Zuloaga and Salvador Dalí, were influenced by the narrative power and adventures of the ingenious noble person, demonstrating the continued relevance and impact of Miguel de Cervantes' work on art and culture.

The immediate popularity of the hallucinated knight-errant was due chiefly to his variety of incidents, to his richness of comedy which bordered on farce, and perhaps also to his strong attacks on eminent contemporaries; his reticent pathos, his great humanity, and his penetrating critique of life were less readily appreciated.

On April 12, 1605, Miguel de Cervantes authorized his publisher to act against Lisbon booksellers who threatened to introduce their pirated reprints in Castile. In June, the citizens of Valladolid already considered Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to be notorious types.

The book became the first global bestseller, translated into more than sixty languages. In 1615, Cervantes published the second part of the story, solidifying the work as one of the greatest in Western literature. The narrative is episodic, with each chapter presenting new adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, mixing comedy and tragedy.

The novel satirizes the ideals of chivalry and explores themes such as the fine line between reality and imagination. The figure of Don Quixote, with his rusty armor, the thin horse Rocinante and the loyal Sancho Panza, continues to be a universal cultural reference.

Main characters of Don Quixote of La Mancha

Don Quixote – the protagonist is an idealistic dreamer, whose distorted view of reality leads him to see the world through the lens of chivalric romance. Don Quixote calls himself a knight-errant. In the context of the book, "knight" refers to those who belong to the order of chivalry, with ideals of bravery, honor, and protection of the weak. His madness, however, is also a vehicle for social and philosophical critiques about the nature of reality and identity.

Sancho Panza – the squire Sancho Panza is one of the main characters in the novel. Don Quixote's faithful squire, he serves as a comic and practical counterpoint to his master's idealism and madness. Sancho is a simple and practical man. He brings a down-to-earth perspective, balancing the idealization of Don Quixote with his own pragmatism and common sense.

Dulcineia del Toboso – Dulcineia, the lady idealized by Don Quixote, is, in fact, a simple peasant girl named Aldonza Lorenzo. She never appears physically in the story but is a symbol of the knight's ideals and fantasies.

Main Themes in Don Quixote of La Mancha

Reality versus Illusion – the conflict between what is real and what is imagined permeates the entire work. Don Quixote sees the world through the lens of chivalric romance, while the other characters see reality more pragmatically.

Heroism and Madness – Don Quixote's heroism is often confused with madness. Cervantes challenges the reader to reconsider the fine line between sanity and madness, and what truly constitutes a hero.

Social Criticism and Satire – Cervantes uses Don Quixote to satirize the society of his time, criticizing social norms, corruption, and outdated chivalric values.

Sancho Panza's transformation throughout the novel

Sancho Panza is a fundamental figure in Don Quixote, as he offers both comic relief and profound insights into human nature, loyalty, and the difference between dreams and reality. Throughout the story, he undergoes a transformation and begins to develop a deeper understanding of his master's ideals and, at times, even adopts a more idealistic stance.

In one of the episodes, he is briefly appointed governor of a fictional island (a small town), where he tries to apply his practical wisdom with comical and personality-revealing results.

The relationship between Sancho Panza and Don Quixote is complex and evolves throughout the novel. At first, the squire is more of a gullible follower, but over time he begins to question and even mock his master's delusional views. Despite their differences, Sancho Panza and Don Quixote develop a deep bond of friendship and loyalty. Panza shows genuine affection for Don Quixote, even when he is aware of the knight's follies.

Style and influence of Miguel de Cervantes

Cervantes's style is characterized by his innovative use of narrative point of view and the introduction of metanarrative, where the very act of telling the story is discussed within the story. This was revolutionary for literature at the time and influenced the form of the modern novel.

Don Quixote is a complex work that goes beyond a simple parody of chivalric romances. It is a profound exploration of the human condition, the search for identity and meaning, and the relationship between reality and fiction. Humor and tragedy intertwine to create a work that continues to resonate with readers of all ages.

The story of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is a timeless journey through imagination and reality, madness, and wisdom, making it a universal classic that continues to inspire and delight readers around the world.

Cervantes's masterpiece has been variously interpreted as a parody of chivalric romances, an epic of heroic idealism, a commentary on the author's alienation, and a critique of Spanish imperialism. Although the Romantic tradition has downplayed the novel's hilarity by transforming Don Quixote into a tragic hero, readers who see him as a parody accept at face value Cervantes' intention to denounce the popular and outdated novels of his time.

Its plot also addresses the historical realities of 17th century Spain. Although no evidence has been found, it is likely that Cervantes was a converso, given his father's ties to the medical profession and the government's denial of his two applications for positions in the Indies. However, the author's subtle irony, his humanist perspective, and his comic genius contrast notably with the melancholic and didactic tone attributed to many other Spanish converso writers.

The term "convert" refers to Jews and Muslims who converted to Christianity in the Iberian Peninsula, especially during the 14th and 15th centuries. Conversion could be voluntary or forced, often under pressure or threat of persecution. During the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance, the Iberian Peninsula was a place of coexistence between Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

With the strengthening of Christianity and the Reconquista (the series of military campaigns to retake territories occupied by Muslims), there was increased pressure on Jews and Muslims to convert to Christianity.

Even after conversion, they faced discrimination and suspicion. Many "older" Christians, those without Jewish or Muslim ancestry, were suspicious of the sincerity of the conversions. The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478, had as one of its objectives the investigation and punishment of converts suspected of secretly practicing their ancient religion. Many of them were arrested, tortured, and executed.

The second part of Don Quixote of La Mancha

No book more clearly contradicts the maxim, cited by Bachelor Carrasco, that “no second part is good.” It is true that the last fourteen chapters are marred by Avellaneda's unworthy denunciations; but other than that, the second part of Don Quixote is an improvement on the first. The humor is more subtle and mature; the style is of even greater excellence; and the characters of Agüero's bachelor and doctor Pedro Recio are presented with more vivid effect than any of the secondary characters in the first part.

Miguel de Cervantes clearly profited from the criticism of those who objected to the “countless beatings inflicted on the hallucinated knight-errant and the irrelevant interpolation of strange stories into the text. Don Quixote progresses through the second part with serene dignity; Sancho Panza loses some of his rustic cunning, but gains intelligence, common sense, and good manners. The original design remains unchanged but is more logically developed and there is notable progress in construction.

Cervantes came to love his knight and squire and to understand his own creations better than he did at the beginning. More thoroughly an expert in his craft, he wrote his sequel with the unwavering confidence of a renowned artist bent on sustaining his reputation.

Don Quixote sequels

In the preface to the Exemplary Novels, Cervantes announced the rapid appearance of the sequel to Don Quixote, which he had vaguely promised at the end of the first part. He was working on the fifty-ninth chapter of his continuation when he learned that it had been anticipated by Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda de Tordesillas, whose Second Tamo Del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha was published in Tarragona in 1614.

Assuming that Fernández de Avellaneda is a pseudonym, the spurious sequence has been attributed to the king's confessor, Luis de Aliaga, to Cervantes's old enemy Blanco de Paz, to his old friend Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola, to the three great playwrights, Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina and Ruiz de Alarcón, Alonso Fernandez, Juan José Martí, Alfonso Lamberto, Luis de Granada, and probably others.

Some of these attributions are manifestly absurd – for example, Louis of Granada died seventeen years before the publication of the first part of Don Quixote – and all of them are improbable conjectures; If Avellaneda is not the author's real name, his identity has not yet been discovered. His book is not devoid of literary talent and robust humor, and possibly he began it with the impression that Cervantes would be no more likely to finish Don Quixote than to finish Galatea.

He should, however, have abandoned the project of reading the announcement of the preface to the copies of the Novels; what he did was disgrace himself by writing an insolent preface insulting Cervantes with his physical defects, his moral infirmities, his age, loneliness, and prison experiences. He was too intelligent to imagine that his sequel could stand up to the authentic sequel, and he malignantly confessed his intention to be the first in the field and thus spoil the market for Miguel de Cervantes.

It is quite possible that Don Quixote would have remained incomplete had it not been for this insulting intrusion. Cervantes was a lazy writer and was, as he claims, involved in Deception in the eyes, Garden Weeks, and The Famous Bernard, none of which have been preserved. Avellaneda forced him to focus his attention on his masterpiece, and the authentic second part of Don Quixote appeared at the end of 1615.

The first part of Don Quixote was reprinted in Madrid in 1608; it was produced in Brussels in 1607 and 1611, and in Milan in 1610; it was translated into English in 1612 and into French in 1614. Cervantes was celebrated within and outside Spain, but his celebrity had not brought him wealth.

The members of the special French embassy, sent to Madrid in February 1615, under the command of Commander de Sillery, heard with horror that the author of Galatea, das (Exemplary novels) e de Don Quixote was “old man, soldier, knight and poor”. But his trials were over.

With his weakened health, he worked assiduously on The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda, which, as he jokingly prophesied in the preface to the second part of Dom Quixote, would be “the best or best book ever written in our language.” writing of his works in prose, and at least animated or attractive of them; signals of fatigue and diminution of powers are unequivocally visible.

Avalanche of publications of two books by Miguel de Cervantes

The success of Don Quixote provoked a veritable avalanche of publications: in 1613, the Exemplary novels; a year later, the Voyage of Parnassus, the Eight Comedies and Eight New Hors d'oeuvres never represented and, in 1615, the Second part of The Naive Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha.

Galatea, or first romance of Miguel de Cervantes

Galatea is the first romance of Miguel de Cervantes before Dom Quixote. It is a classic of the Renaissance pastoral genre. It combines poetry, prose, and drama to tell stories of love and bucolic life. The work is divided into six books. The main characters are Saint Galatea, shepherd of beauty and virtue that is incomparable. Elicio, contemplative and idealist pastor. Erastro, ardent and enthusiastic shepherd. Meliso and Lenio, shepherds who enrich the philosophical debate.

Pastor Galatea follows shepherds and shepherds in an idealized setting. The main plot revolves around her and her suitors, Elicio and Erastro, who compete for their love, in a narrative punctuated by discussions about love, philosophy and poetry.

The main themes are love and idealization, or idealized love versus carnal love, nature and simplicity, contrast between pastoral life and urban life. Philosophy and poetry, emphasizing philosophical debates and poetry recitations. Galatea's lyrical and descriptive prose evokes pastoral tranquility.

Dog Colloquium is one of the Exemplary Novels of Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1613, recognized for its narrative innovation and social criticism. The novel is presented as a story within another story, told by the character Tomás Rodaja at the end of The Deceitful Marriage. Rodaja narrates how, during his convalescence in a hospital, he heard the stories of two songs, Cipião and Berganza, which inexplicably gained his ability to talk for a night.

During their dialogue, Cipião, more thoughtfully, reflected on the experiences shared by both throughout their lives as people of different gifts. Berganza, or main narrator, details his experiences and the injustices that he witnesses, addressing topics such as corruption, cruelty, and human hypocrisy.

The structure of the dialogue allows the dogs to criticize 17th century Spanish society in a direct and incisive way, revealing the moral and ethical failings of human beings through the lens of their own experiences as animals. The main themes include social criticism and morality, explored through two stories that expose the unjust conditions faced by people in vulnerable positions.

Miguel de Cervantes brilliantly uses both voices to offer a unique and external perspective on human nature, highlighting canine loyalty and honesty in contrast to human failings.

This innovative approach to using animals as narrators allows Cervantes to explore complex quests in an accessible and satirical way. The Dog Colloquium continues to be a relevant work, providing profound insights into ethical and social questions that remain open, as it demonstrates the author's talent in interlacing entertainment with penetrating social criticism.

The Deceitful Marriage

The Deceitful Marriage, one of the Exemplary Novels of Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1613, is a satire that addresses deceptions in human relations, especially in the context of marriage. The story is told by Alfonso de Carriazo, who heard from his friend Tomás de Avendaño a tragic story of how he was deceived by a woman called Doña Estefânia de Caicedo.