Discover Don Quijote de la Mancha, chapters 1 to 14 - donquijote.ufm.edu/en

The greatest book of all time / Professor Eric C. Graf
Palmerín de InglaterraPalmerín de Inglaterra

Discover Don Quijote de la Mancha
The greatest book of all time
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- Eric C. Graf
“Don Quijote is a kind of portal that potentially connects the problems
of modernity to the wisdom of the past. It just might be the best way
to contemplate the classical ideas of geniuses like Plato, Aristotle, and
Apuleius, especially regarding such philosophical issues as the nature
of personal identity, the origins of political theory, and the importance
of social values like justice, freedom, and truth.”

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Chapters 10 and 11
Chapter 1
Chapters 2 and 3
Chapter 4
Chapters 7, 8, and 9
Chapters 12, 13, and 14
Actividades del CursoChapters 5 and 6
INDEX

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DonQuijote
thegreatestbookofalltime
W
here to start when talking about Don Quijote? It’s only the greatest book of all time! Before us lie countless monsters,
giants, ghosts, wizards, pirates and criminals, priests and saints, lovers both lost and reunited, battles and jousts,
mysteries to solve, adventures to undertake, kingdoms to conquer, empires to rule, and, most especially, story after
story after story after story, and then, still more stories within more stories, which contain even more stories, and much, much more.
I’ve heard it said that DQ is the textual equivalent of all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, so to study it can take a lifetime. For now, we must
begin in the beginning by beginning, as Galdós once wrote at the beginning of a novel, whose title I won’t remember.
Let’s contemplate the first chapter. Here we find the novel’s exposition, the fundamentals we’ll need to continue with the narrative.
First, we might ask, who is Don Quijote? We learn very quickly from the narrator that he is a poor gentleman in a small village in La
Mancha, and if we recall the famous prologue, we know that this village is in the district of Campo de Montiel, but that does not help
much as a geographical reference. Let’s say he lives on the Meseta, the central plateau of Spain, just southeast of Toledo.
What kind of life does this hidalgo, this member of the low nobility of Castile, lead? Austere: three-quarters of his income goes
to feed his household. He normally eats beef instead of lamb, since the latter would be too expensive, and on Saturdays he eats a
mysterious, but symbolic dish, called “battles and defeats.” Philologists believe this was a form of bacon and eggs. His clothing is
completely outmoded.
With whom does DQ live? A housekeeper, a niece, and a stable boy: a curious range of
ages and sexes chosen by Cervantes as company for a crazy old man. Where is the rest of
his family? His wife perhaps? It seems he has none. What is our gentleman like? He’s around
fifty, has a sturdy build, but his complexion is dry, his face gaunt. He is described as an early
riser and an avid hunter. He seems energetic, but according to the literature of the time,
his appearance connotes that his temperament is choleric and melancholic at the same
time. As for his surname, we note that the narrator already begins to confuse us, alluding
to other “authors” who have different opinions on the matter: “Quixada,”“Quexada,” maybe
even “Quexana.”
LESSON 1
As for his surname, we note
that the narrator already
begins to confuse us, alluding
to other “authors” who have
different opinions on the
matter: “Quixada,” “Quexada,”
maybe even “Quexana.”

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What problems motivate our hero? His is obsessed with books of chivalry,
which are affecting not only his mental state but also his lifestyle. For starters, he
has abandoned hunting, but he has graver problems, especially regarding “the
administration of his estate.” In fact, he is now selling off parcels of land in order
to buy the fantasy adventure tales that obsess him. Not only is he attracted to
their content but also their narrative style. Here we glimpse the humorous irony
of Cervantes, when he quotes passages that he has invented to characterize the
style of literature that delights our crazy knight: “The reason of unreason, which has
overtaken my reason.”
But wait! Be careful! Here we confront something more than a simple parody
of the narrative voice of the romances of chivalry. Rather, the phrase refers to one of the main themes of the very novel we are now
reading, because “the reason of unreason” alludes to “the logic of madness,” which is to suggest that the insanity of our protagonist
might exhibit moments of lucidity.
Given DQ’s difficult economic situation, which only worsens due to his obsession with reading, the
subsequent reference to Aristotle is an ironic twist. This classical philosopher was the main inspiration
for scholarship at the University of Salamanca (est. 1218), Spain’s oldest academic institution, which had
great importance in Cervantes’s day. Moreover, Salamanca’s classical ideal, Aristotle, was associated with
the origins of the study of economics, and Aristotle begins his analysis of economics precisely in terms of a
nobleman’s administration of his estate. In other words, for Aristotle there is a parallel between the proper
management of expenditures and income at the level of a household and the proper functioning of the
economy in general.
The narrator tells us that DQ has gone mad trying to decipher the “intricate phrasings” of the chivalric
novels, which “seemed like pearls to him” but which “not even Aristotle himself would have been able to
understand if he had been resurrected for that purpose alone.” In other words, DQ is confused about the
basic value of things, and to the extent that he cherishes chivalric romances above everything else, he is
now beyond the reach of the logic of the greatest philosopher of all time.
Then the narrator delves deeper into DQ’s readings. Our hidalgo has doubts about Don Belianís,
a chivalric hero, because he would have been unusually scared according to the number of wounds he
receives during his adventures. DQ’s humorous skepticism manifests Cervantes’s famous realism while
Here we glimpse the humorous
irony of Cervantes, when
he quotes passages that he
has invented to characterize
the style of literature that
delights our crazy knight: “The
reason of unreason, which has
overtaken my reason.”
LESSON 1

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indicating the deeply implausible nature of the romances of chivalry. Cervantes
even tells us that DQ had doubts about the capabilities of the doctors who must have
attended to Belianís.
The famously reflexive, self-conscious nature of Cervantes’s narrative appears
again and again in those moments when he focuses on the act of writing. DQ is a book
that addresses in detail all aspects of writing. Here the narrator indicates that DQ was
pleased that the book of Don Belianís ended with the promise of more adventures and
also that the hidalgo wanted to write the sequel himself, but never did because of his
psychological problems. Notice how complicated this is. Not only did other authors,
like Avellaneda, continue Cervantes’s text but our narrator has already confessed to
us in the prologue that he had great difficulty finishing his own book.
Now let’s contemplate the heroes that DQ takes from his readings. At this point
we also encounter two other important characters in our novel: the priest and the barber. Keeping in mind the protagonist’s mental
illness and his concerns for the scarified Belianís, we should notice something symbolic in the professions of his two friends. Around
1600 a priest (cura in Spanish) was occupied with “curing” the soul and a barber did the same for the body, offering bloodlettings, for
example.
In the discussion between DQ and his friends we find a series of chivalric and epic heroes from novels to which Cervantes and his
characters will refer throughout the text: Palmerín of England, Amadís of Gaul, the Knight of Phoebus. Amadís is the most representative
of the heroes of the chivalric romances and DQ will imitate him regularly during his adventures. For this reason it is curious that the
barber prefers Galaor, the brother of Amadís, emphasizing his superior manhood. For the barber, Amadís is too soft and weepy. We do
well to remember this idea of Amadís as a great warrior distinguished from the others by his emotions.
The narrator tells us that
DQ has gone mad trying
to decipher the “intricate
phrasings” of the chivalric
novels, which “seemed like
pearls to him” but which “not
even Aristotle himself would
have been able to understand
if he had been resurrected for
that purpose alone.”
LESSON 1

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DonQuijote
throughhistoricalandliteraryreferences
Themadnessof
T
he narrator then describes the madness of DQ by way of his heroic preferences: the Cid, the Knight of the Burning Sword,
Bernardo del Carpio. This last knight is of particular interest to DQ because he killed the French knight Roland in the
famous Battle of Roncevalles in 778. The narrator tells us that DQ noted some affiliation between Bernardo del Carpio and
Hercules, the classical hero always associated with Spain, as can be seen in the “Pillars of Hercules” found on early modern Spanish
coins and coats of arms. Then we have the curious detail of DQ’s appreciation of the giant Morgante. He likes the giant almost as much
as Amadís, because he “was pleasant and well-mannered.”
In the end, however, and in contrast to the rest of the novel, DQ identifies more
with Reinaldos de Montalbán. The narrator tells us that the hidalgo liked it “when he
saw him emerge from his castle and rob everyone he met” (not exactly honorable
behavior, right?). Then he adds that DQ also liked it “when he went overseas and stole
that idol of Mahomed made of gold.” These are important details for understanding
political and religious aspects of the late sixteenth century. At first glance it makes
sense that DQ should identify with Reinaldos de Montalbán, considering that a poor
Spanish hidalgo would be tempted to steal something from Mahomed. But the
problem is that Islam famously proscribes all forms of idolatry, so there are no idols of
Mohamed, made of gold or any other material.
At the very end of this series of heroes, we find another curious identification, or rather opposition. The narrator tells us that the
protagonist hates “the traitor Ganelón” and that he would sacrifice his housekeeper and even his own niece to give him “a handful of
kicks.” Beyond another comic but serious confusion of moral values, here DQ expresses anger against the man who betrayed Roland
and made possible the victory at Roncevalles by Bernardo del Carpio, with whom DQ identified earlier. So wait a minute: Who is DQ
for at Roncevalles? Is he for Roland and Charlemagne or their enemies, Bernardo del Carpio and Ganelón? This is precisely the kind of
contrary and ironic detail that characterizes the style of Cervantes at the pinnacle of his literary career. Or is there no contradiction?
Aren’t traitors detestable regardless?
LESSON 2
The narrator then
describes the madness
of DQ by way of his
heroic preferences

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Cervantes now turns to the hidalgo’s motives for venturing forth. After this frenzied
and chaotic review of chivalric heroes, the narrator reminds us that, “having been
consumed by madness,” DQ determined “to become a knight errant,” and he did so, we
should note, “both to increase his personal honor and to serve his country.” DQ’s crazy
idea indicates a personal crisis, but it also relates to national politics. DQ sets out “with
weapons and a horse” to undo “all types of grievances.” Undertaking this imaginary
attempt to make the world good, according to the adventures he has read in the books
of chivalry, DQ dreams that he will obtain “by the might of his own arm, at the very
least the crown of the empire of Trebizond.” By the way, it was precisely Reinaldos de
Montalbán who became emperor of Trebizond, located on the southern coast of the
Black Sea in northern Turkey. Here, as elsewhere, DQ seems to display the traits of the
mythological conquerors of Moors, like the Cid or Saint James (Santiago de Matamoros
in Spanish).
It is important not to miss what is funny about all of this. DQ is ridiculous, tragic,
yes, even pathetic, but his agitation is described as laughable. A great example is his first physical act in the novel. DQ cleans up the
weapons of his “great-grandfathers,” a pathetic detail being the fact that they are “covered in rust and mold.” Then he has to build a
lattice helmet. He does this by adding a bit of cardboard to a morion, a common
conquistador’s helmet. This process is hilarious. According to the narrator: “It is true
that, to test if it was solid enough to withstand blows, he drew his sword and gave
it two whacks, and with the first of these he broke what he had taken a week to
fashion.” After this first attempt, DQ builds another helmet, and this time, “he was
satisfied with its strength, and not wanting to investigate further, he declared it a
fine lattice sallet.”
Now we turn to Cervantes’s presentation of DQ’s famous horse, Rocinante. This
is one pathetic nag. The Latin phrase “tantum pellis & ossa fuit” indicates that he
is all skin and bones. But DQ thinks he has the grandeur of famous warhorses like
Alexander the Great’s Bucephalus or the Cid’s Babieca. As with the construction of
his helmet, the hero has trouble finding an appropriate name for his horse. In the
end he hits on“Rocinante,”which combines the pathos of“nag”(rocín in Spanish) and
the glorious sounding suffix “ante” (before in English). There’s humorous wordplay
LESSON 2
After this frenzied and
chaotic review of chivalric
heroes, the narrator reminds
us that, “having been
consumed by madness,” DQ
determined “to become a
knight errant,” and he did
so, we should note, “both to
increase his personal honor
and to serve his country.”

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here. The narrator tells us that the name indicated “what it had been before, when it was a nag, previous to what had now become,
which was first and foremost of all the nags in the world.” Notice how the narrator is gaining prominence, mixing his views with those
of the protagonist, allowing his pen to follow subordinate clauses wherever they lead.
Before we leave Rocinante, let’s look at the first phrase used to describe him: “he had more quarter cracks than a piece of eight.”
This is one of the first metaphors in the novel. We should not take it lightly. Rocinante is as pathetic as DQ, and the narrator alludes
to a disease which affects horses by fracturing their hooves. Additionally, however, this is the first of Cervantes’s many references to
the disastrous monetary inflation of seventeenth-century Spain, which caused the smaller denominated billon coins to be worth less
and less with respect to the silver dollar. Officially, sixty-eight maravedís, or slightly more than four quarter coins each with a face
value of sixteen maravedís, amounted to a real or a “piece of eight.” In reality, however, around 1605, when DQ is published, nobody in
their right mind was interested in receiving quarters because Habsburg officials had extracted all of their silver content. Thus, the first
phrase used to describe Rocinante seems casual, comic; it is, however, a very complicated reference to the monetary debasement that
would hasten the destruction of the Spanish economy. In Rocinante, we see the fundamental symbol of chivalric heroism corrupted
at its base: a kind of national ruin, an economic disease, rises up through the hooves of the crusading warhorse, debilitating it prior to
the first sally of our Manchegan knight.
LESSON 2

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DonQuijotedelaMancha
Selectingthename
I
n the final passages of the first chapter what remains is for DQ to settle the
question of his own name as well as that of his mistress. Again, the narrator refers
to other “authors of this very true story,” planting a problem that will plague us
throughout the novel. What was DQ’s name before he went crazy? Who knows!? Some
say Quixada, others Quexada. Finally, identifying, as he did initially, with Amadís of Gaul,
our hidalgo decides to call himself “Don Quixote de la Mancha” in honor of his lineage
and his country. This all sounds ridiculous, “Quijote” sounds somewhat derogatory,
even diminutive, and “La Mancha” is not
exactly a glorious region but, rather, dry,
sad, and poor, just like our hero. In fact,
if we consider one literal meaning of “La Mancha” (The Stain in English), then DQ has
chosen made a name indicating filth, contamination, maybe some disgrace in the past
relating to racial or moral impurity.
Finally, we come to the part of the exposition dedicated to Dulcinea. Again, this is
deceptively simple. DQ needs a lady to whom to dedicate his exploits, so he chooses a
peasant, Aldonza Lorenzo, who lives in a neighboring village and with whom he already
appears to be in love. He gives her a name as sonorous as his own and that of his horse:
Dulcinea del Toboso. Let’s give Dulcinea her due. She represents a universal motivation:
love. Perhaps for this reason, Dulcinea emerges with stylistic complexity. We have here
the first dialogue in a novel that is famously dialogical, a novel that contains dialogues
in myriad forms (letters, debates, and challenges, and discussions within stories that are
told by characters who are in dialogue with still other characters, which are then debated
by yet other characters and even multiple narrators). It turns out that the first dialogue of
the novel takes place inside DQ’s head: DQ, according to the narrator, “said unto himself.”
LESSON 3
identifying, as he did
initially, with Amadís of
Gaul, our hidalgo decides to
call himself “Don Quixote de
la Mancha” in honor of his
lineage and his country.

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Recall that the first case of direct discourse, that is, a quotation as such, was a
ridiculously twisted passage attributed to Feliciano de Silva, an author of romances of
chivalry. Now we witness the effect of that discourse. This time the surrounding indirect
discourse yields to a direct interior quotation—i.e., the narrator quotes not only what
a character says but what he says to himself. Moreover, this inner dialogue contains
within it additional quotations because DQ imagines the voice of a giant whom he has
beaten and then sent to Dulcinea to proclaim his victory: “wouldn’t it be proper to have
someone to whom to send him, so that, upon entering and falling to his knees before
my sweet lady, he might say with a humble and defeated voice: ‘I, madam, am but the
giant Caraculiambro, lord of the island Malindrania, beaten in single combat by the
never sufficiently admired knight Don Quijote de la Mancha, who has commanded me to
present myself before your grace, that your highness might dispose of me as she please’?”
Direct speech containing further direct speech. Cervantine narrative is fantastic in and
of itself. And in the first chapter it takes flight precisely at the first reference to Dulcinea.
By the way, from where does this desire on the part of a fifty-year-old man for a young woman come? Just books of chivalry?
Is there not something in the air? Could this lust have been generated by the female presences in his own home? These and other
questions related to love and passionate desire will occupy us throughout the novel.
To sum up: Our hidalgo’s situation is unfortunate, desperate even. Decay, we might say entropy, is everywhere, poverty and pathos.
DQ is mismanaging his finances, liquidating assets to buy books of chivalry. Similarly, his horse is rotting from the ground up, like the
currency of the Spanish Empire that DQ wants to return to its former glory. But, and here lies the genius of Cervantes, this is all comical:
remember how DQ learns not to test his helmet a second time, and the ridiculous and violent arguments DQ has had with the barber
and the priest regarding which knight is the knightliest of all knights. We imagine DQ walking back and forth, going crazy trying to
interpret the twisted phrases of Feliciano de Silva: “The reason of unreason, which has overtaken my reason, weakens my reason such
that it is with reason that I may complain of your beauty.” What the hell does that mean? Cervantes is already playing with his readers.
And finally, we must admit that a certain universality prevails here. An old man is frustrated with his boring life and tired of being
useless. On top of that, he is in love. Who has never been in love and who has not felt the need to prove their worth? Most importantly,
DQ strives to resist the entropies of life, the decay of his body, his mind, his finances, even that of the whole world, at least until he
rules the kingdom of Trebizond on the south coast of the Black Sea. And he has in his mind the fantastic idea of going out and doing
something good for the betterment of all. He wants to put everything back in its proper and familiar place, and he is going to try,
come what may.
And here lies the genius
of Cervantes, this is all
comical: remember how
DQ learns not to test his
helmet a second time, and
the ridiculous and violent
arguments DQ has had
with the barber and the
priest regarding which
knight is the knightliest
of all knights.
LESSON 3

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modern ‘H,’ “fecho” instead of “hecho,” “afincamiento” instead of “ahincamiento,” and
“fermosura” instead of “hermosura.” Cervantes will maintain this playfully antiquated
language throughout the novel, as other characters and even the narrator himself
will adopt it in key moments with comic effect. The effect is impossible to translate.
Finally, the narrator prepares us for the first adventure, reminding us of DQ’s
unstable psychology, observing that the day was warm enough to “melt his brains
if he had any.” And right after this, we learn how the hidalgo plans on becoming a
knight –“he longed to encounter straightaway someone with whom to prove the
valor of his mighty arm”– in other words, he will win the title by force.
Now Cervantes again emphasizes the uncertain authorship of what we are reading. It is a labyrinthical complication! It seems some
authors claim that the first adventure occurred at Puerto Lápice and others think it was the windmills episode, but the narrator reports
that he has found in “The Annals of La Mancha” that... nothing at all happened that day. What annals are these? And more importantly,
who is their author? We will not know for many chapters.
All we know is that DQ was looking for a castle or a hut in which to spend the night. But
what he finds is more prosaic: an inn. This discovery is told in terms that are both biblical
and epic: “an inn; it was as if he had seen a star which guided him toward, not the gates,
but the citadels (alcázares) of his redemption.” Notice that the castle, from the Middle Ages
associated with the kingdom of Castile, has been transformed into “alcázares” (citadels in
English), suggesting the Arabic south toward which the hero wanders in search of some
“redemption.”“Alcázar,” from the classical Arabic “Al-Qasr,” meaning “fortress.” So, southeast
of Toledo, in the countryside of Montiel, both DQ and his imagination head south towards
the Arabic palaces of Andalusia. And, of course, this Andalusian fortress has its “draw bridge
and deep moat.”
Unlike the mythological purity and transcendence we saw at the beginning of the
chapter, DQ is now confronted by the novel’s first worldly characters: a pair of prostitutes
who “were on their way to Seville with some mule drivers.”This is the first explicit reference
to sexuality in a novel brimming with sexual allusions. Notice also the subtle and humorous
development of DQ’s madness. The narrator informs us that he paused in the hopes “that
“fecho” instead of “hecho,”
“afincamiento” instead
of “ahincamiento,” and
“fermosura” instead of
“hermosura.”
LESSON 4

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LESSON 4

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famous ballad of Lanzarote, “Never was a knight / by damsels so well served,” and then he
tells the prostitutes that a time will come when “the valor of this my arm will declare the
desire I have to serve you.”
Castile and Andalusia are again contrasted, this time by way of the euphemistic term
“truchuela.” The narrator informs us that this heavily salted fish was also called “cod” in
Castile and “ling” in Andalusia. DQ does not understand and believes that the women
refer to the offspring of a trout. So the narrator formulates another joke, which also serves
up another monetary allusion. DQ accepts the plate, saying that as long as he is served a number of “little trout,” these can substitute
for a trout: “that is the same as paying me a dollar in small coins instead of a piece of eight.” Then Cervantes has the prostitutes try to
serve the hero a perverse Eucharist composed of black bread and wine, which DQ cannot access because of his complicated helmet.
Given the picaresque allusions in this episode, it is likely that the cane (a kind of straw) that the women employ to give DQ his wine
alludes to a famous episode in The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes. The chapter comes to a close when a “reed whistle” is heard, this time
blown not by a swineherd but by a “pig castrator.” All of this is most irreverent.
“that is the same as paying
me a dollar in small coins
instead of a piece of eight.”
LESSON 4

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A
t the beginning of chapter three, DQ informs the innkeeper: “You must dub me a knight, tonight in the chapel of this your
castle.” But there is a slight problem: the chapel is supposedly undergoing renovations. No matter: the landlord provides our
hidalgo with an alternative. The plan is that tonight DQ will “perform a vigil” over his arms in a corral. As all this is arranged,
the narrator emphasizes the innkeeper’s picaresque past, giving us a list of places in Spain frequented by these tricksters. We already
said that geography is important in DQ, right? It’s also important for the literary genre known as the picaresque, to which Cervantes
will refer throughout, a genre which also focuses on fundamental issues such as the
legality or illegality of certain activities as well as myriad ways of acquiring and using
money.
All of this also emphasizes modern economic reality: the innkeeper declares that
he lives on other people’s money and that he therefore welcomes “all gentlemen of
whatever rank and status.” The irony lies in the modern literal sense the innkeeper gives
to “caballero” or “gentleman,” as opposed to its meaning “knight,” the medieval profession
assumed by DQ. The innkeeper adds that they always give him their money “in return for
his virtuous efforts.” Is the innkeeper really a rogue? In part, yes, because, according to
the narrator, he is familiar with “all the courts and tribunals in almost all of Spain”; but on
the other hand, he is not a rogue: the “pícaro” steals and begs in order to survive; never
truly exchanging services for money.
The contrast between the modern reality of the innkeeper and the outdated and
anachronistic fiction of the crazy hidalgo continues: “he asked him if he had any money;
Don Quijote answered that he had not even a copper farthing, because he had never
read in the stories of knights-errant that any of them ever carried money.”The innkeeper
then recommends that DQ always carry money and shirts, adding to these two pragmatic
objects another reference to the theme of medicine: “and a small chest full of ointments
to heal wounds.”
Youmust
dubmeaknight
LESSON 5

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“in tiny saddlebags, which could
hardly be seen, on rumps of their
horses.”
LESSON 5

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reaction of the other characters tells us more. Whereas DQ is
furious and ferocious, such “that if he were assailed by all the
muleteers in the world, he would not back down,” everyone
else at the inn “began from a distance to shower stones on Don
Quijote.” Obviously DQ has harmed the mule drivers, but this
collective vengeance is extreme, suggesting perhaps the fate of
Saint Stephen (cf. Acts 6.5). In the end, DQ yells “you’ll soon see
the payment you must bear for your folly and excess.”
Given the economic themes lurking about in this episode, we
note that it is the innkeeper who brings peace. He decides “to
give him his dammed black knighthood then and there,” and this
is done in a laughable manner, with the innkeeper pretending to
read “some devout prayer” while muttering “between his teeth
as he prayed.” Notice also the earthly detail that instead of using a Bible, the Castilian, sorry, the innkeeper, reads from an “accounting
ledger.” Meanwhile, the two prostitutes complete the ceremony, putting on the hidalgo’s spurs and girding him with his sword. Wait.
DQ has a sword? Then DQ gives the whores names that sound as wondrous as those he gave himself, Rocinante, and Dulcinea. Here we
have “Doña Tolosa” and “Doña Molinera.” Once again, bourgeois reality is underscored by the fact that the first girl is the daughter of
a “tailor,” who lives near “the stalls Sancho Bienaya,” a market in Toledo, and the second is the “daughter of a miller of Antequera.” And
keeping in mind the geography of the novel, where is Antequera? In Málaga, on the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia.
To review: At the first inn of DQ we find the first explicit references to sexuality; persistent contrasts, first between purity and
impurity and then between whiteness and blackness; and a kind of pre-Freudian reference to water and a well in the corral where
DQ performs a violent vigil over his arms. DQ repeatedly emphasizes the “strength of his arm” and we find consistent references to a
geographical and linguistic trajectory towards the south, underscoring the idea that DQ is a Castilian who must confront the cultural
and historical aspects of Andalusia. Cervantes makes multiple allusions to the picaresque novel, which accord well with the idea of
DQ confronting the bourgeois world. And we also have the first glimpse of what will be an obsession of Cervantes, his characters, and
his multiple narrators: mules, muleteers, donkeys, asses, and all things “assish” and “assinine.”
At the end of the episode at the first inn, all the classic adventurism at the beginning of DQ’s first sally has come crashing back
down to earth, as if our “newborn knight” dissolved into the messiness of the everyday world: a world of mule drivers, prostitutes,
pig herders, even a pig castrator. Instead of chivalric fantasy, an innkeeper offers up detailed advice on the importance of money and
LESSON 5

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saddlebags, and when he knights DQ, instead of a Bible he uses
an accounting ledger (precisely where he keeps the accounts of
scores of muleteers). We find a curious allusion to a marketplace
in Toledo, and we must ponder the strange fact that the innkeeper
lets our hero go “without asking for the cost of his stay.” Moreover,
we have already seen two allusions to windmills, one in chapter
two, when the narrator mentions debates about which was DQ’s
first adventure, and another at the end of chapter three, when
DQ takes leave of a prostitute named “The Miller’s Daughter” of
Antequera.
LESSON 5
“daughter of a miller of
Antequera.”

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JuanHaldudoyAndrés
I
start our look at chapter four of Don Quijote, part one with an image that helps us reflect on the meaning of the previous
chapter and many to come. The Burghers of Calais is a bronze statue by Auguste Rodin sculpted in 1888 (see http://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Les-bourgeois-de-Calais.jpg). Like Don Quijote, Rodin focuses on the medieval past.
In 1347, at the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War, the French city of Calais on the coast of the English Channel (El canal de la
Mancha in Spanish) was besieged by the forces of Edward III of England. Philip VI of France ordered the city to resist at all costs. In the
end, Edward III offered to respect the lives of the residents of Calais if six of its most remarkable men surrendered to him, dressed in
nightclothes, carrying the keys of the city, and with a rope tied around each of their necks. There was discussion in the city, but soon
one of the richest men stood up and said it would be a
“disgrace to allow these people to starve if we can find
an alternative.” Five others soon joined him, offering to
sacrifice themselves. What is the point of this story? It’s
a warning. Merchants are fallible human beings like the
rest of us, but if we lash out at them simply because they
are rich, bad results follow for all.
In chapter four, we find DQ so happy to be knighted
“that his joy almost burst the straps of his horse.” He
intends to comply with the innkeeper’s advice that he
provision himself with money and shirts, and already he
plans to hire “a neighbor of his who was a poor farmer
with children, but very apropos for the squirely office.”
All this is hilarious. But careful! Cervantes is setting us
up. Now we will investigate the difficult relationship at
the foundation of commerce, that between employer
and employee, or master and servant in the sixteenth-
century.
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We come upon a primal scene, a comic version of the master-slave dialectic in Hegel. DQ hears “delicate cries, as if from a suffering
person” which emanate “from the dense woods.” He concludes that this is his first opportunity to fulfill the duties of his new profession.
What we have here is a version of the ancient fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”The difference is that Andrés is being punished harshly
for whatever the wolf has done. Juan Haldudo, a wealthy farmer, is whipping the boy because he does not keep proper watch over “a
flock of sheep,” and every day one goes missing. According to the era’s customs, Haldudo was entitled to beat Andrés, but DQ does not
hesitate to rescue the boy and even forces the farmer to promise to pay him his entire salary.
There is irony and humor here alongside brutality: first, remember that at the end of
the previous chapter DQ left the inn without paying; second, our hero is not very good
at math: Andrés informs him that Haldudo owes him for “nine months, at seven reales
a month. Don Quijote multiplied this out and found that it came seventy-three reales.”
Some editors believe that this was Cervantes’s error! They are mistaken. In fact, things
are likely even more complicated. Is DQ really that stupid? Or might he have added a
fine, perhaps even interest for the time value of the unpaid salary? In any case, it is significant that Haldudo quibbles over the amount
he owes the boy, “because one must keep in mind and deduct the three pairs of shoes he had given him, and also a real for the two
bleedings that he was given when he was sick.”
DQ will not accept excuses, and observes: “If he broke the leather of the shoes you bought him, you have broken that of his body.”
Therefore, he concludes: “He owes you nothing.” Haldudo tells the knight that he has no money on him (recall the innkeeper’s advice
to DQ), but he offers to pay Andrés what he owes him at home. Andrés is in disbelief and expresses his doubt symbolically, noting that
once the knight is gone, the farmer is going to flay him “like a Saint Bartholomew!”We will return to this idea of the evil master refusing
to pay a servant whom he then literally skins alive.
Naive and overconfident of his own abilities, DQ says he trusts Haldudo’s word. In the end, the farmer swears “by all the orders of
chivalry in the world” that he will pay the boy: “one real after another, and I’ll even put perfume on them.” This idea of paying Andrés
his retroactive salary “perfumed” means “with interest.” And, like the decaying hooves of Rocinante, the point of DQ’s reaction is to
underline again the problem of currency devaluation: “‘I absolve you of perfuming,’ said Don Quijote. ‘Just give it to him in reales, and
with that I’ll be content.’” In other words, as long as Haldudo pays Andrés what he owes him in silver coins, not copper ones, then the
interest can be excused because unlike quarters, reales will have maintained their value.
At the end of the episode, Haldudo returns to his evil ways and starts whipping Andrés again. We should note the cinematographic
style that Cervantes uses to describe this sadistic transformation: “The farmer followed him with his eyes, and when he saw that he had
cleared the woods and vanished from view, he turned to his servant Andrés and said, ‘Come here, my son, for I want to pay you what
«a flock of sheep,» and
every day one goes
missing
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I owe you,’” adding with bitter sarcasm, “I want to increase the debt, so I can
increase the payment.” And on top of all this, we have another example of a character
mocking DQ by imitating his ridiculous language: “‘Now, you can call, Mister Andrés,’
said the farmer, ‘the great righter of wrongs: you’ll see how he can’t right this one.’”
Meanwhile, DQ, very pleased with himself, proceeds. Pay close attention to the
way he narrates for himself the conclusion of his very first feat as a knight: “Today he
has righted the greatest wrong and grievance ever formulated by injustice (sinrazón)
and perpetrated by cruelty: today he took the whip from the hand of that ruthless
oppressor who, for no reason, did flog that tender child.” At this point, DQ comes
across “a road that was divided into four”—i.e., a “crossroads,” where the knights of his
favorite books often find themselves.
«Today he has righted the
greatest wrong and grievance
ever formulated by injustice
(sinrazón) and perpetrated by
cruelty: today he took the whip
from the hand of that ruthless
oppressor who, for no reason,
did flog that tender child.»
LESSON 6

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LESSON 7
ThemerchantsofToledo

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LESSON 7
«She drips not, you vile rabble... she
drips not, I say, that which you say,
but, rather, only amber and musk
preserved in cotton... But you shall pay
for the blasphemy you have uttered.»

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LESSON 7
To review: Consider how quickly, over the course of one chapter, DQ switches from an heroic defense of an innocent child who suffers
a brutal beating in the woods to an imperious inquisitor determined to impose his faith on some merchants on the royal road between
Toledo and Murcia. Meanwhile, Dulcinea del Toboso has been transformed into the Empress of La Mancha. These are ominous events
that force us to question our impulse to identify with history’s most famous knight errant: sometimes he is noble and independent and
fights against the barbaric standards of his day; other times he is a menacing conformist who would seem to be nothing less than the
long arm of the most reactionary of laws. But it’s funny and in the end, the fact that DQ is left “pulverized and practically destroyed” is
all Rocinante’s fault, right?

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DonQuijotereturnshome
withPedroAlonso
T
he return home that makes up most of chapter five of Don Quijote, part
one reviews the identity crisis we saw in chapter one, when DQ vacillated
between Amadís of Gaul and Reinaldos de Montalbán. Now our hidalgo
fixates on the ballad of Valdovinos, which tells of when this knight was left for dead
in the woods by the lascivious traitor Carloto (Charlemagne’s son) and then rescued
by his uncle the Marquis of Mantua. DQ identifies with “the wounded knight of
the woods,” lamenting his betrayal by his wife and Carloto. Again, DQ has oriented
himself against the Imperial Christian forces at Roncevalles.
But what about the narrator? He mocks the madness of our hero, insisting that
the story of Valdovinos is “no truer than the miracles of Mohamed.” This sounds like
anti-Islamic commentary. But wait. Every Muslim knows, and every Christian should
know, that Mohamed never performed any miracles. So is the narrator saying that the
miracles of Mohamed were false? Or, rather, is he scoffing at that those who would
falsify the life of Mohamed by claiming that the prophet performed said miracles?
Regarding ethnic or religious identity, the narrator appears to be as unreliable as
DQ.
And in the middle of this confusion, as DQ recites the sad poem from the
perspective of Valdovinos, we meet Pedro Alonso, a farmer “neighbor of his, who
was returning from having deposited a load of wheat at the mill.” Note how the
farmer indicates the true identity of DQ: “Master Quijana” he calls him and then he
lifts him onto his ass. Note also that DQ returns home, not on Rocinante but an
anonymous ass. We’ll try to underscore the ass theme, but it would be a good idea
to start registering every appearance of this controversial animal.
LESSON 8
“the wounded knight
of the woods,”
lamenting his
betrayal by his wife
and Carloto

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The narrator continues to emphasize
the sorry condition of our hero. He is so
“milled and broken, that he could not keep
himself straight on the donkey,” and so,
nearly falling off the ass, “the devil kept
bringing to his mind stories that suited
events.” Suddenly DQ forgets Valdovinos
and identifies with none other than the
“Moor Abindarráez, when the governor of
Antequera, Rodrigo de Narváez, captured
him and brought him back to his domain.”
So the details of our narrative continue to draw a southerly trajectory: DQ identifies with
a Moor, the term “alcaide” (governor in English) is Arabic, even, Antequera, the place where
DQ is brought “captive” in his mind, is located in Andalusia between Córdoba and Málaga
(recalling “the Miller’s daughter” in chapter three). Clearly, Cervantes envisioned the Moorish
novel, a genre exemplified by The Abencerraje, a tale about the love between Abindarráez and
Jarifa, which was added at the end of The Diana, a pastoral novel by Jorge de Montemayor, as
integral to his own text. Just in case we have not been paying attention, DQ himself explains
the nature of his madness to his neighbor in clear terms: “Your grace should know, Don
Rodrigo de Narváez, that this beautiful Jarifa I have just mentioned is now the fair Dulcinea
del Toboso, for whom I have done, do, and will do, the most famous deeds of chivalry that
have been seen, are seen, and have yet to be seen, in all the world.”
Hello! So DQ is Abindarráez and Dulcinea is Jarifa! We are in the fifth chapter of a fifty-
two chapter novel, and our “milled hidalgo” from La Mancha is already a Moor and his lady
a Mooress. Did someone say “blasphemy?” Perhaps “heresy,” “treason?” Is our crazy hero
diabolical? Of course, DQ would object. In fact, when Pedro Alonso tries to clarify his identity,
he answers resolutely: “I know who I am.” There is a serious lesson here about the ongoing
instability of Cervantes’s irony: Before, when our hidalgo attacked the silk merchants for
their “blasphemy” because they had no faith in the perfection of his mistress, did he already
have this Dulcinea-Jarifa in mind? And if so, then was he imposing orthodoxy and purity or
defending heterodoxy and miscegenation?
“milled and broken, that he
could not keep himself straight
on the donkey,” and so, nearly
falling off the ass, “the devil
kept bringing to his mind
stories that suited events.”
LESSON 8

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Now we are about to begin Cervantes’s famous parody of the Inquisition, his clearest assault on the institution most dedicated to
purifying Spanish identity, both ideologically and even in terms of bloodlines. Meanwhile, let us note three aspects of the conclusion
of chapter five: 1) the issue of conflict between orthodoxy and heresy continues to the degree that the narrator attributes DQ’s
madness to the devil and the housekeeper consigns the “accursed books of chivalry” to “Satan and Barabbas,” all in addition to a series
of explicit references to the Inquisition: the niece insists on burning the “wicked books” of DQ “as if they were heretics” and the priest
declares that a “public act be performed and that they be sentenced to the flames”; 2) also on the rise is the idea that our protagonist
needs healing, for, in his words, he returns home “gravely gashed” (malferido in Spanish) and asks everyone to call upon Urganda the
Wise to “cure and tend” to his “wounds”; and according to the housekeeper, “without that digger woman coming, we here know how to
cure you”; 3) and finally, the madness of DQ seems
to infect the discourse of the other characters: first,
the niece reports that she has heard DQ claim his
sweat was the “blood of the lesions (feridas) he had
received in battle,”then Pedro Alonso announces that
he has arrived with DQ “gravely gashed” and, finally,
the narrator himself deploys the free, indirect style,
imitating DQ when he speaks of his “lesions” (feridas
again) and reports that DQ claimed to have fought
against ten giants who were the most “ferocious
that one could find (fallar) anywhere on the face of
the earth.” Clearly, this outbreak of madness must be
foreclosed forthwith!
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Theexamination
ofthebooks
O
ur hero’s illness gives way to chapter six: the famous book
burning episode. The major irony here involves the hesitations
that our would-be inquisitors display during their fairly arbitrary
condemnation of textual “heretics.” The priest, the Licentiate Pero Pérez, and
the barber, Nicolás, consider whether or not the “more than one hundred
leather bound bodies of text” merit “punishment by fire.”
The narrator’s sarcasm reaches a crescendo
when he describes the housekeeper and niece’s
bloodlust: “the urgent desire that both had for the
death of those innocent victims.” Then come the
disagreements between the judges. For example,
the priest wants to burn The Amadís of Gaul,
noting that since it is the “promoter of the dogma
of such a dangerous sect, we must, without any
excuses, condemn it to the flames.” But the barber
objects and so it “is granted life for now.” But they
wax authoritarian again, sending numerous books
to the fire. We witness another touch of religious
fanaticism when the priest declares that he’ll “burn
along with them the very father who begot me.” By
the way, where’s the fire located? In the corral. There
was water in the last corral, right?
“promoter of the dogma of
such a dangerous sect, we
must, without any excuses,
condemn it to the flames.”
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At the same time, he uses the
episode as a kind of literary
review: he pardons the Amadís,
Palmerín of England, and
Tirant lo Blanc as well as
Montemayor’s Diana
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DQ has exceeded his mandate, thus deserving to be condemned to burn
in hell like his books? Or is it, rather, that our hero’s absence unleashes the
vengeful, barbaric impulses of his fellow citizens? Or could it be that the fiery
destruction of a library is the author’s way of projecting a kind of personal
nightmare? In which case, we have to ask, which author? If we accept the
fictional hypothesis that there is an “original author,” that what we are reading
has been copied from The Annals of La Mancha, then it should be interesting
that said author tends to burn books that have relatively little to do with
cultural frontiers.
And it is hard not to be moved by the randomness of the burning of
heretics: Tirant lo Blanc, for example, only escapes the flames because it
happens to fall at the feet of the barber, and even Cervantes’s own La Galatea
is in a predicament: the priest denies it mercy, setting it aside in a kind of limbo, just in case the author manages to improve its second
part. This passage will always be considered one of Cervantes’s most impressive
achievements: to have mocked and even laughed at the Inquisition. At the same
time, he leaves us with a tragic irony in the final moments of literature’s most
famous auto de fe: “The priest grew tired at the prospect of looking at more books,
and so, without a further thought, he wanted to burn all the rest, but the barber
already held one called The Tears of Angélica open in his hands: ‘I would shed
them myself,’ he said when he heard the name, ‘if I had ordered the burning of such
a book.’” What if all these books were people? Another horrific irony: the last book
to be spared is a Spanish continuation of the love between Angélica and Medoro
the Moor, the relationship that drove Roland mad in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso.
The crisis of national identity again. And then we find out from the priest that the
author of The Tears of Angélica also translated into Spanish “some fables by Ovid.”
Perhaps there is still hope for a cultural metamorphosis here! Finally, let us admit
that not only did Cervantes invent the art of the modern novel; he also invented
the art of literary criticism.
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Theintroduction
ofSanchoPanza
LESSON 10
Our hero wakes up, as if from a
nightmare: “At this point, Don
Quijote began to cry out.”

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LESSON 10

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“a neighboring farmer, a
good man –if that title can
be given to someone who is
poor– but short on dwangs
in his noggin”
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LECCIÓN 10

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What is a symbol? If a “rose” were to
only mean “love,” then it would be an
equivalent term; whenever we said “rose”
we would be saying “love.”
Theadventureofthewindmills
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immeasurable giants come into view, with whom I mean to do
battle and take all their lives, and with whose spoils we shall
begin to grow rich.” SP tries to persuade DQ to desist. And
afterwards it’s SP who gives us the first symbolic interpretation
of the episode: “Did I not tell your worship to mind what he was
doing, that they were nothing but windmills, and that this was
obvious to anyone who didn’t have others like them spinning
around in his own head?” DQ’s response allows that the episode
has to do with the uncertainty of war and also with a common
moral justification for war: the mills have tried to defeat him by
directing “evil arts against the righteousness of my sword.”
Next, DQ and SP decide to head for Puerto Lápice, where
they are sure to find “many and various adventures, due to its being a much transited place.” Puerto Lápice lies south of Toledo on
the royal road to Andalusia. DQ tells a story which goes perfectly with the situation. Since he broke his spear during his meeting with
the windmills, he plans to imitate Diego Pérez de Vargas, a knight who fought under Ferdinand III, “the Saint,” and who, according
to legend, broke off the branch of an oak tree and “pounded so many Moors that he was surnamed ‘Machuca’ or ‘the Pounder.’” SP’s
response offers comical contrast: “straighten up a little, it looks like you’re listing a bit, which must be from the thrashing you took
when you fell.”
DQ insists that knights do not complain about their wounds, and when SP confesses that he would like to reserve his right to
complain, for the first time in the novel we see DQ laugh: “Don Quijote could not contain his laughter at the simplicity of his squire;
and, thus, he declared to him that he might complain whenever and however he wanted.” Let’s stop here. This really is funny: the crazy,
bruised hero laughing at the realistic logic of his squire. It’s also significant: first, DQ’s laughter coincides not with anger but with a
magnanimous gesture; second, he laughs at his squire while remaining ignorant of the fact that it is he who is most ridiculous. The
relatively fluid and shared laughter deployed by Cervantes is quite different from the kind of sadistic or monolithic laughter imagined
by, say, Thomas Hobbes or Plato.
By the way, Cervantes takes advantage of his characters’ change of direction to introduce a salient aspect of SP. Besides being slow-
witted, SP devotes himself to good food and, above all, wine. According to the narrator, SP drinks with such gusto that he would be
the envy of “the most self-indulgent tavern-keeper of Málaga.” Málaga again. So many references to Málaga.
“Did I not tell your worship to mind
what he was doing, that they were
nothing but windmills, and that this
was obvious to anyone who didn’t have
others like them spinning around in
his own head?”
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LESSON 11
Sancho Panza reacts
comically: “I’m a peaceful
man and an enemy of getting
into disputes and brawls.”

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LESSON 11
“O mistress of my soul,
Dulcinea, flower of beauty,
succor this thy knight!”

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Thebattlebetween
DonQuijoteandtheBasque
C
hapter nine, part one describes a desperate search for the tale
cut short at the end of chapter eight. On the other hand, as we
have seen elsewhere, the passage suggests a deeper quest for
Manchegan identity. Cervantes maintains the comic touch of his free indirect
style, linking the narrator’s naive mindset as well as his antiquated usage to
those of DQ in his fight with the Basque: “at the very least they would have
divided and severed (fenderían) each other from top to bottom, opening
themselves up like a pomegranate (granada).” Moreover, the suspense has so
affected the narrator that it is as if his hero has been defeated: “This distressed
me greatly,” and “I could not incline myself to believe that such a gallant
tale had been left maimed and mutilated.” This last detail perhaps alludes to
Cervantes himself, who bore the moniker “The One-Armed Man of Lepanto” for
having lost the use of his left hand in the famous battle between the Holy League and the Turkish Empire in 1571. And finally, given
the southerly course we have been tracing, the allusion to a “pomegranate” (granada) in the first sentence of chapter nine may refer
to the last Moorish kingdom that was reconquered in 1492 and then incorporated symbolically as a fruit at the bottom of the shield
of the kings of Spain.
Recalling our novel as the first parody of literary criticism, it is interesting that the narrator adopts a philological perspective,
noting that DQ’s story must be modern “because among his books had been found several as recent as The Deception of Jealousy and
Nymphs and Shepherds of Henares.” At the same time, however, the book takes on a medieval appearance when the narrator describes
it as the “life and miracles” of DQ. And finally, at the end of the preamble to the discovery of the lost manuscript, we are treated to a
long disquisition on women, whom DQ has always wanted to protect, and each of whom, had she been properly defended against the
giants, villains, and other rapists who threatened her, could have gone “to the grave just as virginal as the mother who gave birth to
her.” Huh? How can a mother be a virgin? The obsession with the impossible virginity of certain women, which the first narrator shares
with DQ, is comical, but if we recall the merchants of Toledo, it is also a major theme.
LESSON 12
“This distressed me greatly,”
and “I could not incline
myself to believe that such
a gallant tale had been left
maimed and mutilated.”

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LESSON 12
“They say that this Dulcinea
del Toboso so often mentioned
in this story had the best hand
at salting pork of any woman in
all of La Mancha.”

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to hide the joy I felt when the title of the book reached my ears, and jumping in front of the silk dealer, I bought from the young man
all his papers and pamphlets for half a real; for if he had any discretion and found out how much I really wanted them, he could easily
have sold them to me for more than six reales.” It sure looks as if our Christian narrator has tricked an Arabic merchant. But that’s what
makes a market, right? A coming together of two asymmetrical estimations of value.
This whirlwind of cultural and economic exchanges continues: “I then stole away with my Morisco to the cloister of the main
cathedral, and I begged him to transform all those pamphlets that related to Don Quijote into Spanish.” This time the narrator is
not stingy, “offering to pay him whatever he wanted.” Although the Morisco is satisfied “with two draughts [~fifty pounds] of raisins
and two measures [~three bushels] of wheat, and promised to translate
them well and faithfully and with all dispatch,”the narrator still gives him
room and board for an extended period: “so as to better facilitate the
business and not let such a great find slip through my fingers, I brought
him into my home, where, in little over a month and a half, he translated
the whole history.” Here it’s hard not to think of the conflicts that arise at
so many of the novel’s inns. And contemplate this: from Toldeo’s Alcaná
to the cloister of its Cathedral to the narrator’s home, the encounter
between a Christian and a Morsico takes a symbolic route, perhaps even
a dangerous one if we remember that they are carrying an Arabic text
through the streets Inquisitional Spain.
And we not only face a textual interruption. After all, the discovery
of the lost manuscript involves an impressive case of ekphrasis, a long
textual description of an object of visual art, all of it very funny, right
down to the detail of SP “clutching the halter of his ass.” There are so
many textual and visual frames here that it’s hard not to get completely
lost. And on top of all this we have to confront the question of whether
or not Cide Hamete is trustworthy. The narrator, who has just celebrated
his successful negotiation with the Morisco translator, criticizes Hamete,
calling him a “galgo” (greyhound) for not praising DQ sufficiently, “it
being rather typical of that nation to be liars.” Can you get any more
hypocritical?
“putting the tip of his sword between
his eyes, he told him to surrender; if
not, he would cut off his head,”
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Madre mía, I almost forgot. What a cliffhanger! What happened between DQ and the Basque? It’s easy to conclude that nothing
really, but the truth is that DQ lost “much of his helmet” and armor on his left side and also “half his ear.” Another detail we’ll have to
look at later. DQ answers by delivering a huge blow, swinging his sword with both hands. And the enemy’s fate is worse: “he began
to bleed from his nose and from his mouth and ears.” Given what we know about early modern medicine, the Basque’s prognosis is
not good. This episode is among the most violent in the novel. Moreover, DQ is about to kill his enemy: “putting the tip of his sword
between his eyes, he told him to surrender; if not, he would cut off his head,” and since the Basque hidalgo cannot answer, “he would
have come to a bad end, so blinded with rage was Don Quijote.” Only the pleas of the beauteous ladies of the carriage spare his life.
One of the novel’s major themes: the antidote to male anger is almost always female intervention.
To summarize: At this point the novel is characterized by narrative breaks, each more complex than the last. DQ wakes up in the
middle of the burning of his books, then, following a southerly geographical and linguistic trajectory, our Castilian hero confronts
primordial Basque nobles on their way to the modern bustle of Seville. Meanwhile, the narrator surveys the Alcaná of Toledo and
haggles with a Morisco over the translation of a lost manuscript. Goodness! The symbolic windmill has yielded dizzying results.
Perhaps the human experience always revolves around some unfathomable “business.” Still, said business can be either destructive
or productive—i.e., violent exploitation or peaceful exchange. Perhaps these options are the inevitable results of our contradictory
nature. So, are we just dust in the wind? Or are we more like flour?
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TheBalmofFierabrás
T
he first thing we notice about chapter ten is that for the first time the subheading, “Concerning what further happened
to Don Quijote and the Basque and the danger in which he found himself with a band of Yanguesans,” does not appear
to correspond to what follows. The fight with Basque is over and the encounter with the Yanguesans (people from the
province of Soria north of Madrid) won’t be told until chapter fifteen. According to Francisco Rico, this “surely reflects the changes
which Cervantes made at the last minute to his original draft.” Perhaps, but it’s still funny, and I suspect this kind of slip cannot be
dismissed as simple.
Meanwhile, SP obsesses over “the government of the island” that
DQ has promised him. He requests it three times in a single sentence.
He has nothing else on his mind. DQ has to clarify that “this adventure
and others like it are not insular but, rather, crossroads adventures, in
which one wins nothing but a busted head or a missing ear.” In chapter
ten DQ’s missing ear is mentioned four times. I don’t know what to do
with this. Sometimes I think Cervantes evokes the ear in Hieronymus
Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, a painting stolen from William
of Orange by the Duke of Alba in 1568 and then bought by Philip II
in 1591. But what if this is a twisted allusion to when Saint Peter cut
off the ear of the slave Malchus (cf. Luke 22.51-52)? Cervantes is up to
something, and if the ear is a symbol, perhaps it carries a multitude of
meanings. And I wonder if the painter Vincent Van Gogh ever read Don
Quijote. He did something similar to his ear (and for a prostitute), right?
Let’s continue. SP is simple, but sometimes logical, and now he knows well that the main problem he and DQ have is the Law: “it
would be wise to retreat to a church, for as battered as you left the one with whom you fought, it will not take much for them to notify
the Holy Brotherhood and for them to arrest us.” SP’s shift to informal address expresses his urgency. DQ tells him not to worry and
boasts of his victory: “Have you read of anyone who displayed greater grit?” And we learn for the first time that SP does not know how
“to read nor write.”
LESSON 13
“this adventure and others
like it are not insular
but, rather, crossroads
adventures, in which one
wins nothing but a busted
head or a missing ear.”

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When SP observes that “you’re losing much blood from that ear,” DQ
brings up “the Balm of Fierabrás.” This wondrous beverage, which appears
in several medieval works, was associated with the embalming fluid used
to preserve the body of Christ. DQ says he has memorized the recipe of this
balm, “thanks to which one need not fear death.” His account of its powers
is hilarious. If, during a battle, SP should see him with “his body split in half,”
he’ll simply need to place “that part of my body that has fallen to the ground”
on top of “the other half that is left in the saddle,” and then “you’ll give me
but two swills of the balm that I have described, and you’ll see me sounder
than an apple.”
We can almost hear the gears turning in SP’s head. His immediate reaction
is to devise a get-rich scheme: “I renounce henceforth the government of the
promised island.” All he wants now is for DQ to give him the recipe for the
balm and tell him how much it costs to produce it. When DQ tells him it costs
less than three reales to make “three azumbres” (one and a half gallons), SP
sees great opportunity. But DQ soon distracts him from his lucrative agenda.
While SP treats his ear, DQ becomes so furious at the loss of his helmet
that he makes a series of vows. First, he swears not “to eat bread at the table”
and not “to lie (folgar)” with his wife (what wife?), “until I take complete
vengeance on him that hath done me so great a wrong.” SP reminds him that
he has already taken revenge on the Basque, and DQ’s response is hilarious:
“You have spoken well and on point... and thus I nullify the vow.” But he
recovers his train of thought, saying he will still lead the life he described
until he can take by force the helmet of another knight. This establishes the
theme of “Mambrino’s helmet” for a future episode. SP reminds his master
“that on none of these roads travel any armed men but, rather, only mule and wagon drivers.” As he will throughout the novel, DQ
observes that SP knows little about chivalric adventures. They discuss in similar terms their food provisions. When SP says that he has
only brought a little onion, cheese, and bread, and has no food appropriate for “such a brave knight,” DQ counters that knights “were
but men like us” and so when not attending elaborate banquets, they ate like everyone else. DQ has an answer for everything.
“you’ll give me but two
swills of the balm that I have
described, and you’ll see me
sounder than an apple.”
LESSON 13

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That night they reach no town, and thus determine to spend it, not at an inn, but “near the huts of some goat herders.”Thus begins
a phase of the novel that can be characterized as pastoral. Having surveyed the cosmopolitan world of Toledo and the entire chaotic
history of Hispanic Iberia, from its origins in Vizcaya to its modern colonization of the Indies, Cervantes appears to want to start over,
tabula rasa, back to nature where humanity lives in its most primitive state.
LESSON 13

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TheGoldenAgespeach
LESSON 14

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“All was peace then, all
friendship, all concord.”
LESSON 14

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becomes jealous and unleashes a series of moral and even racial insults: “He thinks he worships an angel / but he loves a monkey
instead.”This results in a duel: “I said, ‘You lie,’ she got livid / and brought her cousin to the row; / he challenged me, and, well, you know
/ what both he and I said and did.” Finally, let’s consider the subject of marriage at the poem’s conclusion. Antonio says he does not
want Olalla for sexual reasons, “I want you not as concubine, / my designs have far more virtue.” Instead, he endorses the philosophy
of marriage: “The Church has ties made for binding / like loops of silk ever winding; / Place your neck in the yoke: / and you’ll see me
put mine there too.” Moreover, if Olalla does not agree, then Antonio swears to do some kind of penance: “I swear... not to leave these
mountains / except as a Capuchin friar.” Let’s try not to forget Antonio’s poem.
The conclusion of chapter eleven offers ironic reflection on both the
harmonious relations between DQ and SP at the beginning of chapter
ten as well as the difficulties just alluded to in the poem by Antonio with
respect to civilized society. DQ wants more songs, but SP observes that
“the work these good men have to do all day does not allow them to
spend the nights singing.” The comment suggests resentment on the
part of SP against his master by undermining the latter’s fantasy about
a golden age when nobody ever worked. DQ confirms our suspicion,
taking a jab at his squire: “I understand you, Sancho... I gather that your
visits to the wineskin require payment in sleep rather than music.” Here
there is little harmony between hidalgo and squire. The servant accuses
his master of not appreciating work and the master accuses his servant
of being a drunk. And here again DQ’s ear begins to hurt. But all this
tension concludes with an optimistic gesture when a goatherd applies
a cure: “And picking a few leaves of rosemary, which grew in abundance
there, he chewed them and mixed them with a little salt, and applied
them to Don Quijote’s ear, carefully bandaging it and assuring him that
no other medicine was necessary, and that’s the truth.”
“I understand you, Sancho... I
gather that your visits to the
wineskin require payment in sleep
rather than music.”
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Lovebetween
GrisóstomoandMarcela?
LESSON 15
“this morning that famous student-
shepherd named Grisóstomo died,
and he’s rumored to have died of
love for that wicked girl Marcela,
the daughter of the rich man
Guillermo.”

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“he always told us when
there’d be the clips of the sun
and the moon.”
LESSON 15

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“without any eye to the profit
and gain he would enjoy by
delaying her marriage.”
LESSON 15

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LESSON 15

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Thedialoguebetween
DonQuijoteandVivaldo
LESSON 16
C
hapter thirteen starts the next morning as DQ accompanies five
of the six goatherds, who meet up with six pastors “dressed in
black sheepskin jackets”plus“two gentlemen (gentileshombres)
on horseback... with three other servants on foot.” Everyone is going to see
the conclusion of the “strange happenings regarding the dead shepherd and
the homicidal shepherdess.” Note how everyone believes Marcela is guilty as
charged.
Now we read a fascinating dialogue between DQ and Vivaldo, one of the two
gentlemen on horseback, who asks our hidalgo “what was the occasion that moved
him to go armed in that way through such a peaceful land.” Of course, this land is
not all peaceful, at least not for men like Grisóstomo and DQ. We’ll contemplate the
relation between love and violence throughout the novel. DQ answers the question
about his profession, once again emphasizing the difference between the laziness of
modern courtier knights and the more laborious lifestyle of knights errant, “of whom
I, though unworthy, am the least of all.” His fellow travelers instantly take him for a
madman, and Vivaldo follows up, asking him “what he meant by knights errant.”
DQ now delivers one of his most important glosses of chivalric myth. Due to the
ongoing conflict between Spain and England around 1600, it’s particularly interesting
that DQ should emphasize “the annals and histories of England, which recounteth
the famous deeds (fazañas) of King Arthur.” Then he cites the myth of King Arthur’s
metamorphosis into a crow, stressing that “it was in the days of this good king that the
famous chivalric order of the Knights of the Round Table was instituted,” and he ends
by quoting again from the ballad of “Sir Lancelot of the Lake”: “Never was a knight / by
damsels so well served / as was Lancelot / when from Brittany he came.” We have said
“what was the occasion that moved
him to go armed in that way
through such a peaceful land.”

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that DQ identifies with Amadís of Gaul more than any other knight, but this is the
second time he identifies with Lancelot and he’ll do so again in a major episode
near the novel’s conclusion (cf. DQ 1.2 and 1.50). In fact, here it seems the whole
tradition of chivalric adventures descends from Lancelot, “spreading itself over
many and various parts of the world,” including Amadís and all the other knights
that DQ always has in mind when he endeavors “to help the weak and the needy.”
When the goatherds and gentlemen arrive “at the sierra of the burial,” Vivaldo
compares the profession of knights-errant to that of the most austere monks,
which again gives rise to the madness of DQ, who insists that knights suffer far
more than monks, because, like soldiers say of their captains, “we implement what
they command.” DQ finishes this stage of his speech insisting that knights-errant
deserved “to be emperors through the valor of their arms” and that if they hadn’t
been aided by certain “sages and sorcerers,” they’d have ended up “thwarted in
their good intentions and deeply deceived in their aspirations.” This idea that
knights depend on black magic is the opening sought by Vivaldo, who grows
increasingly impertinent throughout the dialogue. He challenges DQ’s thinking,
observing that when knights are about to undertake their adventures, they “never
at that moment... remember to commend their souls to God, as every Christian is
obliged to do in such dangers, but, rather, commend themselves to their ladies,
with such zeal and devotion as if they were their God,” adding that all this smells
of paganism. DQ counters that “time and place are left to them to do that in the
remainder of the story,” but Vivaldo won’t back down and brings up the example
of two knights who challenge each other to the death, “and in the middle of their
charge they commend themselves to their ladies,” for if the episode ends with the
death of one of them, then obviously he “had no time to commend himself to God.”
Cervantes is making great fun of the moral debates of his day, especially the art of
casuistry, or case-by-case reasoning.
At the conclusion of Vivaldo and DQ’s conversation, they discuss the “name,
country, rank, and beauty of” Dulcinea. DQ deploys an hilarious version of the
blasón, a portrait device used by the period’s poets who associated their mistresses’
“never at that moment... remember
to commend their souls to God, as
every Christian is obliged to do in
such dangers, but, rather, commend
themselves to their ladies, with such
zeal and devotion as if they were
their God,”
LESSON 16

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various body parts with luxury items and iconic symbols of beauty: “her hair is gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows heaven’s
arches, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls,” and on it goes. Obviously, Cervantes mocks his hero and
the passage suggests again a certain male obsession with ethnic purity. Moreover, when Vivaldo requests that Dulcinea’s “lineage,
ancestry, and family” be revealed, DQ must admit that she is not of noble descent, but he argues that “she is of the Toboso family of La
Mancha, a line which, though modern, can make for a generous start to the most illustrious families of centuries to come.”
Now we turn to Grisóstomo’s equally symbolic funereal: “down from the pass between
two high mountains, came roughly twenty pastors, all dressed in black wool jackets,” and
they carry a bier on which is seen “a dead body covered with flowers.” This is the novel’s
first dead body; there will be others. Let’s look closely: the episode signals literature
as an institution deeply involved in the relation between love and death: “on the same
bier were some books and
many papers, both open
and folded.” Cervantes cites
Dante’s Inferno, for Grisóstomo died “in the middle of his life’s journey,”
and then Virgil, “the divine Mantuan,” for the deceased left many papers,
but, like Virgil, he ordered “that they be delivered to the flames once his
body had been delivered to the ground.” Suddenly there is misogyny in
the air. Ambrosio, Grisóstomo’s friend, indicates where to open the grave:
“There is where he told me he first spied that mortal enemy of the human
race.” Similarly, when Vivaldo insists on reading Grisóstomo’s poetry, he
twice refers to the example of “Marcela’s cruelty.”
“There is where he told
me he first spied that
mortal enemy of the
human race.”
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A
t the beginning of chapter fourteen, Vivaldo reads Grisóstomo’s
“Desperate Song.” It is another of Cervantes’s masterpieces. Its
review of the spectrum of feelings associated with unrequited
love anticipates Romanticism by two centuries. Its epic and infernal
rendering of the emotional battle that ends with the death of the young hero
reincarnates the two previous centuries of Petrarchism. Note in particular
how Cervantes allows the lover to link up his “wretched entrails” and “bitter
heart” with the topography of the Mediterranean: both main rivers of the
Spanish Peninsula, the “father Tajo” and “famous Betis,” as well as the “desert
wastelands” of Libya, are all made witness to the great “wrong” (mal) suffered
by the poet. And what wrong is this? Grisóstomo specifies Marcela’s denial as
the cause of his jealousy, which leads to his suicide:“jealousy kills with utmost
rigor” and “O, in the kingdom of Love jealousy is a fierce / tyrant.” Grisóstomo
commits suicide “unrepentant” in his “fantasy,” blaming both Marcela and the
“ancient tyranny” of love itself. All this leads to a series of grim mythological
allusions to Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, and the fifty daughters of Danaus. The
first two raise the experience of love to the level of transcendental suffering,
the root cause of being damned to eternal Hell. More importantly, perhaps,
Ixion was the first murderer according to Greek mythology and the Danaides
were all killed by their husbands on their wedding night. These make the
problem of human desire inseparable from human violence.
Now, whenever we grasp a character’s point of view in DQ, we are almost
certain to find another character expressing its opposite. The essence of
Cervantes’s irony involves this continuous play of perspectives.
Vivaldo “said he did not think it
accorded with all he had heard about
the modesty and kindness of Marcela,
because Grisóstomo complained of
jealousy, suspicion, and neglect all to
the depreciation of the good credit and
name of Marcela.”
LESSON 17
The DesperateSong”
ofthedeceasedshepherd

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When he finishes Grisóstomo’s poem, Vivaldo “said he did not
think it accorded with all he had heard about the modesty and
kindness of Marcela, because Grisóstomo complained of jealousy,
suspicion, and neglect all to the depreciation of the good credit
and name of Marcela.” In other words, the whole poem slanders
the “murderous shepherdess.” And this observation signals final
phase of Grisóstomo’s story, which now gives way to the sudden
appearance of Marcela: “a marvelous vision,” she is “so beautiful
that she exceeded the fame her beauty.” Marcela is one of the
characters most discussed by critics of Cervantes’s novel and she
has made for heated debate about his intentions. It’s easy to see
why: Marcela has arrived to respond to Grisóstomo’s allegations
and she is both logical and forceful in her rejection of the popular
judgment against her.
Marcela articulates her case with the accuracy of a lawyer and the profundity of a philosopher. She uses examples and makes
observations about her particular case. Let’s listen to some of her arguments, which repeatedly undermine the Petrarchan logic
of Grisóstomo and his friends. First, she discards the notion that she ought to reciprocate the love of others simply because she is
beautiful: “I do not see why, just because it is loved, a thing loved for its beauty is obliged to love the one who loves it. Moreover,
it might happen that the lover of that which is beautiful is himself ugly, and since ugliness is worthy of abhorrence, it is absurd for
anyone to say: ‘I love you for your beauty; you must love me even though I am ugly.’” She then indicates the social chaos that would
result if Grisóstomo’s value system were applied in reality: “If all beauties were to fall in love and surrender, there would be a chaos
of confused and misguided wills unable to know where to stop.” This is an ominous anticipation of the central episodes of the novel.
Marcela then points out the hypocrisy of men who, on the one hand, place hyperbolic value on the chastity of women, and then
insist that women surrender to their desires: “If honesty is one of the virtues that most adorn and beautify the body and the soul, then
why should she who is loved for her beauty relinquish that virtue just in order to satisfy the desire of a man who, according to his own
fancy, attempts with all his might and industry to have her lose it?” More than anything else, Marcela lays claim to her freedom, saying
that love “must be voluntary, not forced,” and asking, “Why do you want me to surrender my will by force?” And finally, she affirms,
“I was born free.” Further, she insists her personal conduct never validated any of Grisóstomo’s fantasies: “Let not any man call me
cruel or murderous if I never promise, deceive, call, or accept him.” She concludes by begging everyone to take note: “Let this general
disillusionment serve as a warning to those who solicit me for their own benefit; and let it be understand, henceforth, that if any man
“I do not see why, just because it is loved,
a thing loved for its beauty is obliged to
love the one who loves it. Moreover, it
might happen that the lover of that which is
beautiful is himself ugly, and since ugliness
is worthy of abhorrence, it is absurd for
anyone to say: ‘I love you for your beauty;
you must love me even though I am ugly.’”
LESSON 17

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dies for me, he does not die of jealousy or misfortune, because she who loves no one cannot make anyone jealous.” Then, “she turned
her back and disappeared into the thickest part of the nearby woods.” Marcela has announced many of the major problems of the rest
of the work: What is love if not the root cause of social chaos? What place does a woman’s choice have in romantic relationships?
We will have many chances to remember Marcela, whose martial name links her to the goddess Diana, fleeing the eager eyes of
so many men pursuing her through the woods. For now, notice DQ’s hilarious reaction. First, he leaps to defend Marcela’s right to
be left alone: “Let no person, no matter his state or condition, dare follow the beautiful Marcela lest he fall victim to mine furious
indignation.” Sounds fair enough, right? But what are we to make of the paradox that, after saying goodbye to Vivaldo and the others,
who are heading for Seville, “because it was a place perfectly suited to finding adventures,” our knight then “decided to seek out the
shepherdess Marcela and offer to serve her in any capacity?” Love can be imperious, tyrannical even, and perhaps most especially
so when it is subconscious.
“I was born free.”
LESSON 17

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ForumsReadingsLessons Quizzes
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4Week 5Week 6W
eek 7
Chapters 1 to 52
Part I
Tirante
el Blanco
Chapters 15 to 28
Amadís
de Gaula
Chapters 29 to 52
Palmerín
de Inglaterra
Chapters 1 to 14
Description
Discover Don Quijote de la Mancha, is a free
massive open online course, where professor
Eric C. Graf will explain the first fourteen
chapters of the book.
The course includes a series of resources to
facilitate your learning and understanding.
Below is a list of activities that you will perform
during the course.
Watch the video lessons in which the professor
explains chapters 1 to 14 of the novel.
Take the quizzes, one for each video lesson.
Read the fourteen chapters of the novel using
the text provided or the version you prefer.
Participate in the forums: image analysis and
chapter synopsis.
1
2
3
4
COURSE ACTIVITIES

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Image by Christopher Roelofs representing Chapter 1 of Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quijote de la Mancha.
ACTIVITY 1

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ACTIVITY
2

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ACTIVITY 3

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ACTIVITY 4

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ACTIVITY
5

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ACTIVITY
6

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ACTIVITY
7

Universidad Francisco Marroquín
New Media UFM
Text Author Eric C. Graf
Copy Editor Andrea M. Castelluccio
Graphic concept Sergio Miranda
Illustrations Christopher Roelofs
Paola Murias
Gabriella Noriega
Layout Dagoberto Grajeda
Instructional Design Lisa Quan
Project Management Stephanie Falla
Website donquijote.ufm.edu
Guatemala, August 2015
This project has been possible thanks to a donation we have received
from John Templeton Foundation.
The opinions expressed by the author is his responsibility and do not
necessarily reflect the John Templeton Foundation point of view.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. (CC
BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Copying, distribution and public communication is allowed,
providing that the acknowledgement of the work is maintained and
it is not used for business. If it is transformed or a secondary work is
generated, it can only be distributed with an identical license.
CREDITS

Discover Don Quijote de la Mancha, chapters 1 to 14 - donquijote.ufm.edu/en

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Discover Don Quijote de la Mancha, chapters 1 to 14 - donquijote.ufm.edu/en