Don Quixote Chivalry

Don Quixote Writing Assignment

Part A- Question One

In the novel Don Quixote written by Miguel de Cervantes, there are many themes and ideas that are repeated throughout the duration of the literature. One of the major themes that can be seen since the very beginning of the novel is the main character’s, Alonso Quixano, obsession with chivalry. Chivalry is an idea that refers to the moral code and lifestyle that is was lived by medieval knights during the Medieval time period. There are certain values that surround the overall idea of chivalry, such as valor, honor, courtesy and purity. According to Merriam-Webster, chivalry is defined as, “gallant or distinguished gentlemen,” (“chivalry”). Over time, this code of chivalry became a moral system

When he arrived at the inn. Cervantes states that nothing worth mentioning happened to Don Quixote during his first full day of travel, because all he wanted was to have an interaction with someone to, “test the worth of his mighty arm,” (Cervantes 1006). When he reached the inn, he saw that there were two young women there. These women were described as “women of easy virtue” meaning that they were prostitutes (Cervantes 1007). Yet, because of the books that Don Quixote read, he did not treat them as the prostitutes that they were. Instead, he took the inn and thought of it as a castle, and the prostitutes became princesses. Even when he addressed them as maidens, they began to laugh at him, because of the line of work that they were in, it was not a term that was used to identify them. This was such an essential part of Don Quixote’s chivalry, because the moral code of chivalry is heavily based on respect. Don Quixote respected the prostitutes even more than they respected themselves, not only because they were prostitutes, but because they were women, or damsels. They themselves acted as if they had never been addressed in such as respectful manner before, prompting Don Quixote to speak to the innkeeper, and even he was addressed using terms that he did not personally identify with. Because chivalry is so heavily based on respect for oneself and others, these two are the first examples of

Although it does not fully discredit all that happened in the first part of the novel and the second part up until the 52nd chapter, it does make it hard to understand his intentions at the end. It prompts the idea that he was under some sort of spell or impression that his livelihood would have turned out differently, and because it did not it seemed as though he abandoned all thoughts and ideas of chivalry. Being that Cervantes decided to end the novel with a shift in perspective of the main character, Don Quixote, I think that this is because he is trying to show the changes that one goes through during life. Just as one’s perspective about life shifts over time, Don Quixote’s perspective did just that. Although he did not have these ideologies of knighthood and chivalry for his entire life, because he adopted this lifestyle so late in his life, the text says that he was in his late forties to his early fifties by the time he died, he had returned somewhat to the person that he was