Warm-up #12
• What was unique about the Northern
Renaissance?
• Which painting stood out the most from
your picture analysis and why?
Don Quixote (don kee-hoh-tay)
(1605-1615)
A novel by Miguel de Cervantes
The hero, Don Quixote (don is a Spanish
title of honor), loses his wits from reading too
many romances and comes to believe that he
is a knight destined to revive the golden age of
chivalry.
A tall, skinny man in armor, he has many
comical adventures with his fat squire, Sancho
Panza.
Pair-share
• What is ironic about this story?
• Why is Don Quixote considered to be
“harmless”?
• What message about chivalry does this
story portray?
Miguel de Cervantes
• Son of a poor doctor; did not
have a humanist education
• Cervantes’ adventurous life:
– Fought in religious wars
– Captured by pirates
– Spent 5 years as a slave
– Held government jobs
• 1604: Don Quixote Part 1
published
• 1615: published DQ II
Don Quixote
Author: Miguel de
Cervantes
Culture: Spanish
Date: early 17th c.
Genre: satirical (parody)
novel
Names/terms to know: Don
Quixote, Sancho Panza,
Dulcinea, Sansón
Carrasco, Marcela, &
chivalry.
Don Quixote
• Cervantes combines
several genres into one.
• His initial purpose: to
satirize (make fun of a
specific topic) the
romances of chivalry, and
to create a parody of a
literary type characterized
by mystical acts of valor,
unlikely and complicated
adventures, duels, and
enchantments.
• The novel was popular
immediately.
•
The literature that had expressed the
medieval spirit of chivalry and romance
had degenerated by Cervantes’ time.
•
Don Quixote lives in a world created in
his imagination, which was fueled by
his obsession with chivalric tales.
•
He longs to resurrect this world of
which he has read: chivalry, battles
with giants and evil knights, and the
rescue of virtuous maidens.
Reality
• Don Quixote is not a knight, but an impoverished
country landowner.
• His ideals: love as ‘service,’ adventurousness,
loyalty to valor and generosity. Tries to seek out
wrongs and right them, to help those in need, to
be full of valor in honor of his Lady (courtly love).
• Like the Greek heroes, he wants his great deeds
to be sung.
• Don Quixote is characterized as a wandering
hero.
• His insanity is caused by reading too many
books about chivalry (literature corrupts).
Lasting Legacy
• Cervantes not only created one of the
greatest comic figures of world literature, but
with his realist and humanist techniques,
some critics argue that he originated the
modern novel.
• Don Quixote – the Man of La Mancha –
is 400 years old.
• Miguel de Cervantes' classic novel first went
on sale in January, 1605.
• It remains the most published and translated
book, after the Bible.
This Spanish coin commemorates the
400th anniversary of Don Quixote
Don Quixote statue outside of Chihuahua, Mexico
Movie Poster
Hollywood decides it wants to
remake the classic story of Don
Quixote into a blockbuster
summer movie!
The director of the film has
asked your advertising agency
to create an iconic poster that
will capture the audience’s eye.
You must:
• Draw and color a poster that
depicts one scene from Don
Quixote.
• It must include the title.
• Include current actor/actress
that will star in your film.
• A paragraph describing the
story and author.
Other Poster Ideas