Honors english term paper

Nathan Schultz Nathan Schultz4/29/15 1ENGL 2007-62957

All classic literature dates back to the tradition of oral storytelling. In this vein, one of

the oldest literary forms to exist is that of the epic poem. An epic can be defined as “a long,

often book-length, narrative in verse form that retells the heroic journey of a single person.

Elements that typically distinguish epics include superhuman deeds, great battles, highly stylized

language, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions (Poets.org). During the Renaissance

era, however, a subversion of the epic form, known as the mock epic, gained popularity amongst

Italian and Spanish authors. The mock epic seeks to satirize many of the tropes common to epics

by either contradicting typical epic standards, or by exaggerating them to the point of absurdity.

Chief amongst these mock epics is Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. In this novel,

we see Cervantes play with the tropes common to epics through his characterization of the

novel’s namesake protagonist as a frail, insane old man; the nature of the journey which he

undertakes and conflicts he faces, which often resolve themselves in a tragic or embarrassing

manner; and the language used by the narrator to describe the proceedings, As for why Cervantes

would want to create a novel undermining the epic tradition, it is best to study Don Quixote as a

reflection of humanist movement, as well as the transitional nature of renaissance Europe.

Perhaps the most obvious way that Cervantes chooses to subvert the epic tradition is

through the portrayal of his main character. Don Quixote is described as “close on to fifty, of a

robust constitution but with little flesh on his bones and a face that was lean and gaunt.”

(Cervantes 1672). Cervantes then goes on to describe Don Quixote as a “madman” who’s “wits

were beyond repair”, with other characters mocking his demeanor and appearance throughout the

novel: “The goatherd stared at him, observing in some astonishment the knight’s

unprepossessing appearance. ‘sir’, he said, turning to the barber who sat beside him, ‘who is this

man who looks so strange and talks in this way?” (Cervantes 1745)


The traditional epic hero is a figure meant to embody the virtues most valued by his

culture. Eighteenth century English poet John Dryden describes the epic hero archetype as

follows:

The shining quality of an epic hero, his magnanimity, his constancy, his patience, his

piety, or whatever characteristical virtue his poet gives him, raises first our admiration…

This is the Æneas of our author; this is that idea of perfection in an epic poem which

painters and statuaries have only in their minds, and which no hands are able to express.

These are the beauties of a God in a human body… (Dryden 20)

An epic hero is meant to serve as the ideal human being. He is either portrayed as having no

negative character traits, or whatever negative traits he portrays will be downplayed within the

context of the story. This creates an interesting contrast for Don Quixote, who, based on the

description given by Cervantes, is written in a very unflattering and unheroic light.

However, this unorthodox portrayal of Don Quixote’s character serves to highlight an

important shift in the focus of the narrative. While previous epic heroes served as idealized

human beings and paragons of societal standards, their lack of flaws served to make them less

relatable for readers, and less well-rounded as characters. Having a flawless protagonist would

not have suited Cervantes’s purpose though, since “Renaissance authors, like the characters they

invented, inhabited a world of such widespread revolutionary change that they could not

passively receive the traditional wisdom of previous ages.” (Puchner 1608) By bringing Don

Quixote’s shortcomings to the forefront of the novel, Cervantes creates a more dynamic

character, with his thoughts and ideas becoming central to the story. In short, Don Quixote is

one of the first epics to focus on characters, rather than ideals.


In keeping with the idea that epics exist as idealized versions of reality, the language of

epic poems is often very formal and stylized, with emphasis on exaggerated character traits or

descriptions of events. In particular, classic epics made use of a form of meter known as the

Dactylic Hexameter, with the works of Homer often including a number of metaphors and

allegorical references which were used to fill the meter. (Myer 2128)

Don Quixote subverts this tradition by having the protagonist be similarly overly-

eloquent in his manner of speaking, but exaggerated to an absurd extend. Because Don Quixote

is a frail old man, he often proves himself incapable of matching the physical deeds of the

knights that he is attempting to emulate. Rather, the primary method with which he

demonstrates his civic virtues is through his dialog, as “Cervantes’ protagonist does many more

things with words than his avowed chivalric model.” (Gaylord 7)

Cervantes’s decision to portray Don Quixote through his words, rather than his actions, is

typical of an author of the humanist movement. The humanism movement placed emphasis on

each person’s ability to think empirically, as well as craft eloquent verbal arguments in support

of his or her position. (Wadsworth 3) As such, the use of violence, or physical prowess, as a

means of conveying chivalrous virtues, was frowned upon by Cervantes and his contemporaries.

Another way in which Don Quixote diverges from the traditional epic is in Cervantes’s

depiction of violence and warfare. Epic’s often serve to glorify feats of warfare, with particular

emphasis placed on the impressive exploits of the protagonist. This section from The Iliad

describing the end of the battle between the hero, Achilles, and his rival, Hector, demonstrates

this:


A gleam in the air as Achilles poised his spear with murderous aim at Hector, Eyes

boring into the beautiful skin searching for the weak spot. Hector’s body was encased in

the glowing bronze armor he had stripped from the fallen Patroclus, but where the

collarbones join at the neck the gullet offered swift and certain death. It was there

Achilles drove his spear through as Hector charged, the heavy bronze apex pierced the

soft neck bud did not slit the windpipe, so that Hector could still speak. (Homer 153)

Special note should be given to the remarkable yet impractical way in which Achilles is able to

disable Hector, without outright killing him. This allows for Achilles to taunt his defeated

opponent, and further accentuates his victory, as well as his reputation as the greatest of the

Greek warriors.

Don Quixote’s combat achievements are, by comparison, far less impressive: “As Don

Quixote sets about trying to make his name through daring feats, actual war seems both elusive

and overwhelming. Instead, Cervantes gives us a series of fantasies that ironize the conventional

representation of heroism in a romantic key.” (Fuchs 5) After failing to find more legitimate

opponents, Don Quixote settles on doing battle with the likes of windmills, which he describes as

“Some thirty or more lawless giants with whom I must do battle”; sheep, which are reimagined

as “A vast army marching in this direction and composed on many nations”; and monks, who are

“black-clad enchanters who are bearing with them a captive princess” (Cervantes 1698-1733).

The absurdity of Don Quixote engaging in battle with these fantastical threats is emphasized

further when each “opponent” manages to defeat him in combat, often leaving him gravely

injured and in need of long sessions of recuperation.


By demonstrating the ridiculousness of Don Quixote’s battles, as well as describing-in

excruciating detail-the severe injuries that he suffers as a result of each encounter, Cervantes is

creating a commentary on the nature of warfare as it relates to classical ideals of heroism.

Rather, “the hackneyed, vastly inaccurate notion that the “light” of the Renaissance broke

through a long “night” of the Middle Ages…was held by the humanist scholars of the

Renaissance themselves.” (Puchner 1614-1615). Because scholars of the Renaissance valued

intelligence and self-actualization over combat, Don Quixote’s attempts to win glory by the

sword, instead of through his words, are depicted as pitiful and repetitive, with any marginal

rewards gained being far eclipsed by the severe toll that these battles take on his body.

It is also possible that Don Quixote’s failed battles serve as a reflection of Cervantes’s

own personal views on warfare. Cervantes served in the Spanish navy during the Battle of

Lepanto, where several gunshot wounds compromised his left hand, and he and his crew were

later captured and sold into slavery. While Cervantes never wrote an autobiography about his

military service or his five subsequent years as a slave, his unfortunate military career might help

to explain the novel’s cynical views on warfare. (Puchner 1666)

Cervantes’s greatest subversion of the epic genre, however, comes with the death of Don

Quixote at the end of part II. While the protagonist of an epic does not always die at the end of

the poem, his death is often treated as the culmination of his heroic feats. For example,

Beowulf’s protagonist and namesake also dies at the end of his story:

“They had killed the enemy, courage quelled his life; that pair of kinsmen, partners in

nobility, had destroyed the foe. So every man should act, be at hand when needed; but

now, for the king this would be the last of his many labors and triumphs in the world.


Then the wound dealt by the ground-burner earlier began to scald and swell.”-(Beowulf

951)

After killing the dragon that was threatening his kingdom, Beowulf dies in the arms of his best

friend, on top of the dragon’s large pile of gold. In short, Beowulf’s final battle represents the

pinnacle of his conquests. (Bammesberg 5)

Don Quixote’s death comes unexpectedly when he falls ill of a fever, and must remain

bedridden for several weeks. When the knight-errant finally wakes up, his sanity has been

restored: “My mind is now clear, unencumbered by those misty shadows of ignorance that were

cast over it…I am no longer Don Quixote de la Mancha but Alonso Quijano…those profane

stores dealing with knight-errantry are odious to me, and I realize how foolish I was and the

danger I courted in reading them.” (Cervantes 1798) Don Quixote, now reverted to his birth

name of Alonso Quijano, proceeds to seek repentance for the sins he committed while questing,

denounces the concept of chivalry and all works relating to it, and creates a will and testament

leaving his estate to his niece Antonia Quijana, before promptly succumbing to his illness.

(Cervantes 1800) And so, unlike with Beowulf, Don Quixote’s death serves, not to accentuate or

immortalize his heroic deeds, but rather to undermine every action he had taken in the story up

until this point.

While the exact reason for this tonal shift is still debated by literary critics, one possible

explanation involves a copyright dispute between Miguel Cervantes, and an author who went by

the pseudonym Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda: “Cervantes, it would appear, has just had his

first real look at Avellaneda's work and is truly appalled and hurt. His protagonist has not only

been plagiarized, but transformed and distorted, and his own person besmirched in an insulting

Nathan Schultz Nathan Schultz4/29/15 7ENGL 2007-62957and vulgar manner.” (Lo Re 28) Indeed, Cervantes was so infuriated by this plagiarization of his

character that he included an aside at the end of his novel expressly denouncing all possibility of

a sequel: “perceiving that their friend was no more, the curate asked the notary to be a witness

to the fact that Alonso Quijano the Good, commonly known as Don Quixote, was truly dead, this

being necessary in order that some author might not have the opportunity of falsely resurrecting

him and writing endless histories of his exploits.” (Cervantes 1800)

But while Cervantes’s desire to refute the false Don Quixote sequel may have been the

primary motivation behind the protagonist’s sudden death, it does not completely explain Don

Quixote’s deathbed denouncement of chivalry, nor does it explain why Cervantes would want to

undermine all the events of the story that led up to this point. However, a possible explanation

for this tonal shift can be gleamed from studying the novel as a part of the humanist movement.

“Definitions of the Renaissance must take into account of the period’s preoccupation with this

life rather than with the life beyond…human behavior is judged not in terms of right and wrong,

but in terms of its present concrete validity and effectiveness.”(Puchner 1615)

When Don Quixote is bedridden by his illness, he is deprived of the ability to act, which,

in the eyes of Cervantes, serves as a fate worse than death. This is why the persona of Don

Quixote ceases to exist, instead being replaced by the pitiable and repentant Alonso Quijano,

who apologizes on his behalf. “Quixote's final display of grief stems, we have seen, from his

defeat and his failure to achieve his ideal...Alonso Quixano grieves too…for having wanted

knights errant to exist and then learning that they do not and have not ever existed. As one they

die, indeed, for the same reasons.” (Lo Re 42) In doing this, Cervantes is attempting to bridge the

gap between his desire to prevent future sequels, and his desire to provide a satisfying ending to

Don Quixote’s story. (Lo Re 35)


In writing this novel, Cervantes created a work which satirizes the traditional standards of

epic poetry through the subversion of a number of tropes which are common to the genre. In

doing this, Cervantes exposes himself as being torn between two contrasting world views. On

the one hand, the character of Don Quixote serves as a spokesman for traditional civic ideals,

albeit exaggerated to the point of parody. By contrast, the story that Don Quixote finds himself

in, and the harsh treatment he receives from other characters, imply a very cynical worldview on

the part of the author. (Cervantes 1673-1676)

In this sense, it’s not hard to imagine Cervantes in the role of the embittered idealist, who

wishes that the world functioned based on civic ideals, but also possesses the self-awareness

necessary to recognize the unfortunate, pessimistic nature of the world around him. By

contrasting traditional epic themes, Cervantes creates a debate between two contrasting world

views: The idealized heroism of the classic epic, and the satirical nature of the mock-epic.

(Cervantes 1673-1676)


Works Cited:

“Poetic Form: Epic” Poets 2014. Web. 29 April 2015

“Beowulf” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner, 3rd ed. Vol.

F. New York: Norton, 2012. Print.

Bammesberger, Alfred. "Beowulf's Death." Notes And Queries 49 (247).3 (2002): 314-315.

MLA International Bibliography. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Dryden, John. A Discourse On Epic Poetry. n.p.: ICON Group International, Inc, 2008.

Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Fuchs, B. "Dismantling Heroism: The Exhaustion Of War In Don Quijote." Pmla-Publications

Of The Modern Language Association Of America 124.5 (n.d.): 1842-1846. Arts & Humanities Citation

Index. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Gaylord, Mary Malcolm. “Don Quixote’s New World of Language” Cervantes: Bulletin of the

Cervantes Society of America. Spring 2007. Web

Homer, “The Iliad”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner

3rd ed. Vol. F. New York: Norton, 2012. Print.

Lo Ré, A. G. “The Three Deaths of Don Quixote: Comments in Favor of the Romantic Critical

Approach” Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America. Spring 1989: 21-42. Web.

Puchner, Martin, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. F.

New York: Norton, 2012. Print.

Renaissance Classical Humanism. n.p.: Wadsworth, 2014. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web.

29 Apr. 2015.

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Honors english term paper