Class And Morality In Don Quixote By Miguel De Cervantes

AI: To illustrate the true nature of perspective and distinguish between class and honor. Don Quixote, a novel by Miguel de Cervantes, tells the story of a man who attempts to purge society of wrongdoing by reinstating an extinct moral code. As time progresses, this moral code clashes with those of others, and it becomes apparent that different people have different definitions of honor and morality. Cervantes also challenges the common belief of his time that one’s social class determines their honor, stating that laborers can be just as honorable as kings. Through reading the book, the reader learns that concepts of morality depend purely on perspective and vary from person to person. Alonso Quixano, a rich, middle-aged man, loves to read …show more content…
In Don Quixote, the laborer Sancho Panza seems infinitely wiser and more honorable than the vile Duke and Duchess, proving that honor does not always come with power. Furthermore, the shepherds and goatherds Don Quixote encounters on his journeys philosophize, while the aristocrats always try to manipulate others. Sancho originally confuses honor with class, and desires governance of an isle. But after the Duke gives him an isle to govern, Sancho deems himself more honorable as a laborer than as a governor. Sancho also realizes that all classes have equal honor, and says “[If] my government happens to last four days to an end, it shall go hard but I will clear the island of those swarms of Dons that must be as troublesome as so many flesh-flies.” Cervantes also awards those of other races equal honor, creating a fictional Moorish narrator, Cid Hamet Benengeli, for the second part. When introducing Benengeli to the reader, Cervantes attacks racial stereotypes by saying “I must only acquaint the reader, that if any objection is to be made as to the veracity of this, it is only that the author is an Arabian, and those of that country are not a little addicted to lying.” Benengeli also enters the narrative as the scribe of Quixote’s history, to prove that one’s honor stands independent from race, class, wealth, and …show more content…
The Spanish soon expel or tax all other foreigners, viewing them as inferior. This influenced the creation of Cid Hamet Benengeli, a fictional Moorish historian, to narrate the second part of the novel. In 1575, pirates kidnapped Cervantes and sold him to the Moors of Algiers. He tried three times to escape and finally returned to Spain in 1580. This gave rise to the Algerian pirates, the exile of the Moors, the fruitless displays of Spanish courage, and the ruthless king of Algiers in Don Quixote. A general mistrust of foreigners also becomes apparent in the