Don Quixote CH 46-52

1) Discuss the closing episodes of Part 1 of the novel that concern Don Quixote. Describe his character in the final chapters. Has he become "un-quixodicized?" Why or why not? Why do you think Cervantes presents us with this evolution in Quixote's character? Use quotes for support to your analysis.
2) How might the sections read for today reflect on part 1 as a novel as a whole? What recurrent themes do you find here that reinforce or possibly change your reading of the novel? Use quotes.
3) Choose a quote to analyze.

The sections read for today reflect on part 1 because there are recurrent themes and I do not think that Don Quixote has become "un-quixodicized." He is still obsessed and fascinated with all of the same things that he was in the beginning. Don Quixote stayed true to what he believed in, even when everyone else did not believe in him and thought he was a madman. In chapter XLVII, there is mention of chivalry books again and I thought that this was important because it has been mentioned several times already in the novel. The canon says, 'The truth is, my dear sir, that I myself consider these so-called books of chivalry to be prejudicial to the public good...In my opinion this kind of writing comes under the heading of Milesian tales which are absurd stories, concerned only to amuse and not to instruct, unlike apologues which amuse and instrust at the same time. And even though the main aim of such books is to amuse, I don't know how they can succeed when they're too full of so many monstrous absdurdities...What mind that isn't totally barbarous or uneducated can derive any pleasure from reading that. Apart from this, their style is harsh, their adventures are incredible, their loves are licdentious, their civilities are uncouth...there's no ingenious artifice about them, so they deserve to be thrown out of a Christian society as useless wastrels" (440-1). The canon is basically saying that he thinks that chilvalry books do no good for anybody and they should all be destroyed. The priest, for the most part, agrees with the canon but there is one difference. The priest is able to appreciate the chivalry books and he has found one good quality in them. It is interesting that the canon is religious and Christian and so is the priest, yet they are so different. The priest is able to see the good in anything. He believes in Don Quixote and he even is able to see the good in the chivalry books. The priest acknowledges the fact that in these chivalry stories the author and the reader can escape from their own lives and become something different. The books allow you to expand your imagination and show your creativity, something we all need in life.

In chapter XLIX, Don Quixote finally sticks up for himself and disagrees with the canon
about what he has been saying about chivalry. I am glad this conversation happens because this is what I thought about Don Quixote the whole time- that he is not mad and that other people are under some "spell" of being boring and being committed to a traditional lifestyle and Christian faith. Don Quixote says, "It seems to me, my dear hidalgo, that your speech was intended to give me to understand that there never have been any knights errant in the world, and that all books of chivalry are false, full of lies, harmful and or no use to society, and that I have done wrong in reading them, and worse in believing them, and worse still in imitating them and setting out to follow the rigorous profession of knight-errantry that they teach...Well, for my part, I consider that it is you who are out of your senses and under some spell, for you have taken it upon yourself to utter such blasphemies against what has been so well received in the world and so widely accepted as the truth that anyone who denies it, as you do, deserves the same punishment that you say you inflict on books that annoy you when you read them" (453). Don Quixote then goes on a rant about people in history, such as Tristan and Iseult Achilles, and King Arthur, saying that is everything in chivalry is false, then who is to say that all of these people existed? The canon was amazed that Don Quixote actually knew about real events and fictional ones and that his mind wasn't solely fixed on fiction, and he is indeed smart. The last paragraph in this chapter struck me because, after the canon had insulted him all along, he sort of compliments him. The canon says, "Nor is it right for a man like you, honorable and talented and intelligent, to give any credit to the extravagant nonsense that is written in those ridiculous books of chivalry" (455). To me, this kind of shows that the canon has been defeated and outsmarted by Don Quixote and he realizes that Don Quixote is smart, but he does not change his feelings about chivalry.