Mirror, Mirror

1
Mirror, Mirror

• HUM 2052 Civilization II
• Summer 2010
• Dr. Perdigao
• May 25, 2010

2
Jose Manuel Merellos Don Quixotes Melancholy
and Don Quixote
http//www.spanishpaintersfromspain.com/
3
Octavio Ocampos Visions of Quixote (1989)

http//www.visionsfineart.com/ocampo/visions_of_qu
ixote.html
4
Octavio Ocampos Friendship of Don Quixote (1999)

http//www.visionsfineart.com/ocampo/friendship_of
_don_quixote.html
5
Don Quixote in Images

• http//www.donquijote.org/vmuseum/paintings/variou
  s/index.asp?pag8
• http//beinart.org/artists/octavio-ocampo/

6
Background

• Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
• Enlisted in Spanish fleet, captured by pirates,
  prisoners at Algiersheld as slave for ransom
• Freed in 1580, then began writing plays, pastoral
  romance Galatea
• Story behind Don Quixote that it was conceived
  while he was in prison in Seville
• Part I (1605), Part II (1615)became popular
  success but only later recognized as an
  important work of literature (2218)
• Forms at time epic, tragedy, pastoral romance
• As parody, caricature of a literary type (2218)
  to satirize the romances of chivalry (2218)
• Text presents an individual deciding to live by
  the standards of that world in a modern and
  realistic context (2218)

7
Cervantes World

• Ferdinand and Isabella (1479-1516), strengthen
  monarchy, reformation of the church, crusade
  against Muslims
• By 16th century, purity of blood and orthodoxy
  of faith became necessary for, and synonymous
  with, Spanish identity (Perry 375) persecution
  of Muslims and Jews, church tribunal, the
  Inquisition Columbus voyage in New World, North
  and South America, 1519 with Cortés in Mexico
• Charles V (1516-1556), 1519 elected Holy Roman
  Emperor, but weaknesses, due in part to Lutheran
  Reformation in Germany, struggle between Catholic
  Spain and Protestant Europe (Perry 376)
• Philip II (1556-1598), being truly Spanish meant
  being Christian in faith and blood (Perry 376),
  exclusive class of Old Christians
• Spanish Armada sent from Lisbon in 1588, in holy
  crusade against Queen Elizabeth, met crushing
  defeat, strengthens Protestant cause, golden
  age of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603)

8
Contextualizing Quixote

• Epic, tragedy, pastoral romance as conventional
  genres DQ crosses boundaries as modern text,
  satirizing conventions of chivalric romance
• All epics as questsDQ as new form of the epic
• Deciding to live by the standards of that world
  in modern and realistic context,
• revitalizing the chivalric code in modern times
• Appearance and reality reality and illusion
  reason and imagination reason and madness
  (2219-2220)
• Who am I?

9
Mirroring Ourselves

• Chivalry as an ideal, searching in life is
  defining spiritual
• Theological and spiritual quest of DQ
• Picaresque novel corrupt society, hero from
  lower class
• Earthiness
• Idealism
• Nobleness, higher notion of chivalry
• Objective vs. subjective
• Identification with DQbest and worst in human
  nature

10
Madness or Creativity?

• Stagnancy of his existence
• Age 50midlife crisis
• Question of generation and regeneration
• Genesis, Adamic creation, with naming of self,
  horse, love
• Is he crazy from reading novels or does he read
  to prevent going crazy?
• Creates another reality to place himself within
• Windmill jousts his inner need to impose
  concerns on external reality

11
Perspectives

• Madness compels him to lifenot out
• New life is richer than his present existence
• Ways in which reality changes to beholder
• The books existencepreceding this text, as
  original text (in romance tradition)
• Part IIcomment on the existence of the self
• Hall of mirrors within the text, like Velasquezs
  painting
• Psychology of DQ places you in and out of self

12
Precursor to Postmodernism?

• Alienation within textreminder it is only a
  textnot trapped in illusionsaesthetic,
  emotional, rhetorical distances vital to reading
• Prologue about not writing a prologue
• Self-referential world, story about storytelling,
  fiction within fiction, as metafiction
• Through madness, he goes sane
• All the worlds a stage and we are merely
  players

13
Merely Players?

• Illusion
• conjuring image
• Allusion
• referring to something
• Elusion
• escaping
• All is play-acting
• Enchantmentdisenchantment
• Illusiondisillusion
• How does one reach realitythrough illusion?
• What is real?

14
Merely Players?

• I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose
  (2244)
• La Mancha
• Alonso Quejana
• Rocinante
• Dulcinea del Toboso
• Episodes
• Innkeeper
• Andres/Juan Haldudo
• Housekeeper, niece, curate, barber problem with
  books
• Sancho Panza, promise
• Windmills (2247)
• Friars, Biscayan
• Chapters 8-9 loses historical account, missing
  pieces

15
Metatexts

• The Ballad that Antonio Sang (2263-2264) as
  metafictional text
• Shattered his illusions (2273)tale told by
  Ambrosioend the tragedy
• Grisóstomos story as parallel Grisóstomos
  Song (2275-2277)
• As pastoral in Part Iwith songs telling DQs
  story in another context
• The Life of Ginés de Pasamonteunfinished textas
  life (2290)that it will cast into the shade
  Lazarillo de Tormes and all others of that sort
  that have been or will be written (2289), 15th
  century picaresque novel
• God as judge, disavows laws of state (2290-91),
  frees prisoners and renames himself Knight of the
  Mournful Countenance (2291)impossible so instead
  says Credos and Hail Marys, robbed
• Goatherd hears DQ and recognizes stories from
  books (2293)
• Turns against Catholic faith (2295)
• Homecoming story by the end of Part I

16
The Book Within

• Put into a BookCarrasco telling them of the
  success of part I makes no sense to them because
  of timeframe of the story (the blood of the
  enemies he had slain was not yet dry on the blade
  of his sword and here they were trying to tell
  him that his high deeds of chivalry were already
  circulating in printed form (2301))
• If it was true that such a history existed,
  being about a knight-errant, then it must be
  eloquent and lofty in tone, a splendid and
  distinguished piece of work and veracious in its
  details (2301) reference to Cid Hamete
  Benengeli
• Tells of important adventureswindmills, fulling
  mill, sheep, burial, freeing of slaves,
  Benedictine giants and Biscayan (2302-3)
• You may be sure that Aeneas was not as pious as
  Vergil would have us believe, nor was Ulysses as
  wise as Homer depicts him (2303)
• That is true enough . . . But it is one thing to
  write as a poet and another as a historian. The
  former may narrate or sing of things not as they
  were but as they should have been the latter
  must describe them not as they should have been
  but as they were, without adding to or detracting
  from the truth in any degree whatsoever (2303)

17
Shattering the Illusion

• Knight of the Wood (2307 Pt. II, Chapter
  12)then Chapter 15, Knight of the
  Mirrorsintroduces Casildea de Vandalia (his
  version of Dulcinea), squire (2310), says he
  defeated Don Quixote (2317)
• Play with self-referentiality, the text within
  the text as characters discuss their stories with
  their mirrors
• Don Quixote says to Sancho holding up a mirror
  for us at each step that we take, wherein we may
  observe, vividly depicted, all the varied aspects
  of human life and I may add that there is
  nothing that shows us more clearly, by
  similitude, what we are and what we ought to be
  than do plays and players (2307).
• Transform the Knight of the Mirrors to Sansón
  Carrascolike windmill adversary, under
  enchantment but really Tomé Cecial (Sanchos
  neighbor) with him
• In response to Tomé, Sansón says, the one who
  cannot help being crazy will be so always, while
  the one who is a madman by choice can leave off
  being one whenever he so desires (2324). Story
  of plot to bring Don Quixote back revealed (2324)
• Sir Knight of the Mournful Countenance Knight of
  the Lions Knight of the Green-colored Greatcoat
• Break in the story (2335) mirror wherein all
  the valiant of the world may behold
• themselvesrelating the story of his death,
  then return to action

18
Denouement

• Knight of the White Moon Sancho brokenhearted
  because all this was something that was
  happening in a dream and that everything was the
  result of magic (2341) own hopes whirled away
• Now Knight of the White MoonSansón Carrasco,
  seeking return of DQ whose
• madness and absurdities inspire pity in all of
  us (2341)after defeat, DQ must return home for
  a year
• Don Antonio most charming madman Do you not
  see that the benefit accomplished by restoring
  Don Quixote to his senses can never equal the
  pleasure which others derive from his vagaries?
  (2342)
• Sansón composing pastoral or courtly verses or
  whatever may come to mind, by way of a diversion
  for us (2344)
• Finally, presence of Godhis sins (2347), returns
  to self like Sansón but Sansón
• encourages illusion
• he is a sane man (2348)
• I was Don Quixote de la Mancha, and now I am, as
  I have said, Alonso Quijano the Good (2348)
• Apology to Cervantes with disavowal of the story,
  to author of false sequel

19
The Sense of an Ending

• Denouement as spiritual conversion, from
  knight-errantry to Christianity (Perceval?)
• Happy ending in spiritual sense
• No reason for his death except his melancholy
• DQ ultimately realizes who he is and denies all
  doings on deathbed as illusions,
• dies a Christian death
• Quixote is not mad but sane and artistically
  cruel, enjoying the madness he
• creates, play-acts for power
• Is conversion play-acting? (connection to
  Hamlet)
• Quixote to be loved or shunned?

20
Last Act(s)

• Is society or the individual insane?
• Is quixotic quest inherent to human condition,
  thus showing us the flaws in
• ourselves?
• Dulcinea in center of piece like Velasquezs king
  and queen, but never seen
• play with inside and outside
• For Montaigne, illusion finally breaks
  downquestion of Who am I?
• remains the greatest madness man can be guilty
  of in his life is to die without
• good reason (2348).
• Sancho and Quixote in process of education, to
  teach each other
• Denounces books but returns with one last heroic
  tale in final verses
• Last reference to Cid Hamete Benengeli as
  original author