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Richard Kiley
- Richard Kiley won a Tony Award for his performance as Cervantes/Quixote in the original production, and it made Kiley a bona fides Broadway star.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_of_La_Mancha
Don Quixote/Cervantes was played by Josef Meinrad, Aldonza by Blanche Aubry and Sancho Panza by Fritz Muliar. The production was quite successful and subsequently shown in other German speaking theaters.
- Dale Wasserman
- 1964
Don Quixote, [a] [b] the full title being The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, [c] is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. Considered a founding work of Western literature, it is often said to be the first modern novel.
Main characters. Alonso Quijano (or Quesada, or Quijada), who calls himself Don Quixote (can be modernized as Quijote), a Spanish gentleman and hidalgo of La Mancha, who believes himself to be, and acts as befitting, a knight-errant as described in various medieval books of chivalry, which he reads avidly until he goes insane.
- Introduction
- Author Biography
- Plot Summary
- Characters
- Media Adaptations
- Themes
- Style
- Topics For Further Study
- Historical Context
- Compare & Contrast
In 1605 a novel appeared that has become one of the most beloved stories of European literature. It was the history of Don Quixote, the tall, gaunt knight-errant astride his fallible steed, with his potbellied, illiterate squire, Sancho Panza. These eccentric characters are as famous as Sinbad, Tarzan, Odysseus, Hamlet, or Superman. Don Quixote was...
Cervantes was born in Alcalé de Henares on September 19, 1547. Little is known about his early childhood, other than that it was an itinerant existence; his father, a barber-surgeon, was constantly moving his family from town to town to find work. It is assumed that Cervantes's education was minimal although he does seem to have received some educa...
Part I
Don Quixoteopens with a prologue. Much of the prologue, however, is devoted to a discussion of what a prologue should include, offering the reader some insight into what a seventeenth-century audience might expect. Don Quixoteis the story of Alonso Quijano, an aging gentleman of La Mancha. He reads so many chivalric romances that he loses his sanity. As the narrator reports: "With virtually no sleep and so much reading, he dried out his brain and lost his sanity." Don Quixote decides to becom...
Part II
Don Quixote's friends are unable to keep him at home for long. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza take off in search of adventure again, this time meeting with the Knight of the Wood (a village student in disguise who had promised to impede Don Quixote's adventures), joining a wedding party, and destroying a traveling puppet show. The second volume of the novel also includes a long section in which Don Quixote and Sancho Panza stay with a duke and a duchess who have read about the pair's famous adv...
Cardenio
Cardenio is in love with Luscinda, but Don Fernando tricks him into giving her up. After seeing them wed, he hides in a desolate region of mountains. Found by the Curate and Barber, they find the woman wronged by Don Fernando. Together they fetch Don Quixote and return to the Inn, where Cardenio and Luscinda are reunited.
Sanson Carrasco
Carrasco is a scholar and historian who informs Don Quixote and Sancho Panza about the book that had been written of their adventures. Carrasco seems to encourage Don Quixote to ride again, but then he becomes the Knight of the Mirrors to convince Don Quixote to return home. When Carrasco is vanquished instead, he tries again as the Knight of the White Moon. This time he is successful and commands Don Quixote to return home for one year. Carrasco, unlike the Barber and Curate, really respects...
Don Diego de Miranda
Don Diego is a wise gentleman from La Mancha. He is concerned by Don Quixote's madness and is witness to his conquest of the lion. As a man of sense, he represents what Don Quixote would be if he hadn't become obsessed with chivalric tales.
In 1984, Universal released a laser disc game called "Super Don Quixote." It was similar to Dragon's Lair, and the gamester was a knight named Don who had to rescue Isabella from a witch. Sancho Pa...Don Quixote has been adapted as a ballet many times. Famous dancers, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, have performed in various productions. Rudolf Nureyev choreographed a production in 1973. He also...Don Quixotewas made into a silent film a few times. Edward Dillon directed DeWolf Hopper Sr., Fay Tincher, and Max Davidson in 1915. Maurice Elvey filmed another silent version in 1923; his film st...Dramatic film adaptations have been produced in Russia. The first, which contained an amazing windmill scene, is known as Don Quichotte. Georg Wilhelm Pabst directed the story in three linguistic v...Love
Love is the major theme of the novel. It functions as the motivating force of knight-errantry. In the several real adventures (for example, Dorotea and Cardenio or Basilio and Quiteria), where there is a question of forced conjugation, love conquers all: "true love cannot be divided, but must be free and uninhibited." In each of these encounters, there are lessons about the nature of love. These lessons are spelled out in ABC fashion in "The Tale of Ill-Advised Curiosity." Love also allows fo...
"There are two roads … by which men can travel and reach wealth and honor: one is the way of letters, the other the way of arms." Don Quixote has chosen arms. In fact, he believes that fighting for what is right is as important as anything else. He is not a big believer in modern warfare; instead, he prefers the ancient, chivalric duels that pit one man against another. There is also a desire for peace. Don Quixote, by his words and actions, prefers the Arcadian life. He admirably defends the...
Fear
In the life of a knight-errant, fans, admirers, and squires often broach the topic of fear. Sancho is in constant fear for his own safety and for that of his master. However, as Sancho admits to his wife, such a life makes him happy. For whether he climbs an oak tree or runs away, Sancho is just happy to be a part of the action. And that adventure is the main thing; as both Don Quixote and Sancho believe, it is better to try and maybe fail than not to try at all. At the height of his powers,...
Structure
Cervantes switches between a style of narration that Boccacio employed in the Decamaron—a renowned collection of tales—to a more modern style. Like the Decamaron, Don Quixoteis a medieval work wherein characters incorporate novellas, old ballads, and legends. Cervantes combines this style with the chivalric genre. This hybrid style is considered innovative. Another result of Cervantes's unique style is that his characters have independent, interesting stories of their own. To offset this, Cer...
Satire
Don Quixoteis a satire on conditions in Spain at the time the novel was written. This is accomplished by rendering Spain's archetype—the knight-errant as formidable, honorable, and above reproach—into realistic terms. For example, at the end of the first section, Don Quixote answers the call of nature—bathroom breaks are not a part of chivalric tales.
Picaresque
Don Quixotetransforms the chivalric tale of adventure into the picaresque. This type of narrative chronicles the humorous adventures of a rogue, like Gines de Pasamonte (who has been working on a manuscript about his own adventures), while on the road, often traveling a long distance. The picaresque is often a satiric tale.
Discuss the importance of reading in the novel and in the lives of the characters. Be sure to examine negative, as well as positive, examples from the story.Don Diego believes that "if the laws and ordinances of knight-errantry had been lost, they would be found in your worship's heart, as in their right repository and archive." What does he mean by th...Find misrepresentations of the Don Quixote character in the media, on film, or in cartoons. Compare these versions with the original character in the book. How has the image of Don Quixote changed...Spain's tenure as a superpower was ruined by extravagant military spending and a lack of investment in business and industry. How does Spain's experience as a superpower contrast with that of the U...The First Global Empire: Philip II
The marriage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1469 unites the kingdom of Spain. After defeating the Moors in 1492, as well as financing the expedition of Christopher Columbus, Spain becomes a global empire. Spain also benefits from an early form of capitalism amongst its merchant classes—a force Spain weakens by deporting its Jewish citizens. The remaining Moors fill the void, however, and Spain flourishes. Using the influx of wealth from the New World, Spain remains a superpower for m...
Phillip III
Taking power in 1598, Philip III is weak and totally unable to manage even one-tenth of the empire left by his father. He appoints the Duke of Lerma to govern in his stead. The Duke of Lerma funnels more money into war supplies, in particular the Spanish Armada. Failure on all fronts prompts him to search for scapegoats. In 1609 the Moriscos are shipped to Africa (where many are killed as Christians and others die of starvation). The loss of the best members of the industrial, merchant, and b...
Religion
While the rest of Europe is undergoing a period known as the Renaissance, Spain clings to its medieval values. The Roman Catholic Churchis second only to the monarchy in terms of power. Spain is virtually ruled by Catholic laws and philosophies.
1600s: In 1615, 40,000 people demonstrate in favor of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin (which contended that the Virgin Mary was without Original Sin). Once approved, this do...1600s: As the most powerful nation on Earth, Spain ignores its industrial and agricultural sectors, leading to their eventual decay. Today: With one of the healthiest economies in the European Unio...1600s: Spain ruins its economy building armadas to win the naval war against England. Today:The United States and Russia, after spending trillions of dollars on an arms race, are still affected by...1600s: Moralists bemoan the corrupting influence of chivalric tales on the young. Today:Commentators blame television, video games, music, and absent parents for a youth culture viewed as irrespons...Don Quixote, novel published in two parts (part 1, 1605, and part 2, 1615) by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. It tells the story of an aging man who, his head bemused by reading chivalric romances, sets out with his squire, Sancho Panza, to seek adventure.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Don Quixote was originally written as a parody of the chivalric romances that were popular at the time of its publication, in the early 1600s. It r...
- Don Quixote’s sidekick is his squire Sancho Panza. Sancho Panza is a short, pot-bellied peasant whose appetite, common sense, and vulgar wit serve...
- Don Quixote dies at the end of Part 2 of the novel. After Don Quixote and Sancho Panza return home to their village of La Mancha, Spain, Don Quixot...
- Notable adaptations of Don Quixote include an 1869 ballet, the 1965 musical play Man of La Mancha, and a 1972 film version directed by Arthur Hille...
- Don Quixote is considered a prototype of the modern novel in part because its author, Miguel de Cervantes, gave voice to a vibrant assortment of ch...
Man of La Mancha, based on Cervantes’ epic 17th-century novel, Don Quixote, is a remarkable, poignant, moving musical that was one of the first shows to musicalize a piece of historical literature. Set in the context of the Spanish Inquisition, Man of La Mancha is presented as a play-within-a-play.
Oct 11, 2024 · Miguel de Cervantes, novelist, playwright, and poet, the creator of Don Quixote and the most important and celebrated figure in Spanish literature. His novel Don Quixote has been translated, in full or in part, into more than 60 languages. Learn more about Cervantes in this article.
