Knight of Another Era
The eponymous errant man in Don Quixote is often regarded as dim witted and, frankly, completely insane not only by others he meets in his adventures, but by the reader themselves. That’s not necessarily wrong, and even Miguel Cervantes writes Don Quixote with that madness in mind. Although Don Quixote often seems too mad to be allowed knighthood or even the freedom to prance around with normal people, his “madness” is more akin to idealist philosophies. Furthermore, the idealism is not being mocked by Cervantes, but accepted. While others in Señor Quijana’s nondescript town live out their lives one day at a time, working hard and working constantly, the old man reads for so long that he decides something new; the …show more content…
The Oxford English Dictionary defines idealism as “The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically” As Bono (yes, okay, its funny, ha ha) said, when accepting a prize for Technology from TED in 2005, “idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very exciting. It 's very real. It 's very strong...” Don Quixote is the epitome of idealism in a way, and in another, the antithesis. Before he calls himself Don and quests for glory, Quijana is nothing special, just a bookish uncle. Perhaps he would write a book someday (“often felt like taking up his pen and supplying it himself, exactly as promised, and someday he surely would have done it, and even done it well” [14]), not unlike Cervantes, but otherwise, he would be forgotten and have no impact on any future generations. That is a sad fate for such a clever man. He is very smart, as the housekeeper states, noticing his disappearance, “Just pack all those books off to Satan and Barrabas. They’ve ruined the sharpest mind we had in all La Mancha” (33). In his situation, Quijana had few outlets, unless he could emulate those famous knights, who could save the world. Thus, Cervantes is not wrong to call him “a madman”(pretty much always). Quijana knows he is not the hero that the world needs, because …show more content…
But madder men have convinced the masses of revolution. Quixote is more than that, he is a revolutionary and Quijana is still a force in the changed man that journeys for day after day on a horse in. Quixote is obviously stronger than “might makes right” of Lancelot in T.H. White’s Once and Future King. He is more akin to the idealist philosophe Imamanuel Kant, who coined the Enlightenment’s motto, “Sapere aude” or “dare to be wise.” Quijana takes the moniker of Quixote because he is on a quest for the world, to convince them to be clever people, even if they can’t spend their lives reading like him. They must dare to be wise, even though it takes more dexterity of will than speaking whatever comes to mind as necessary. In this way, Quixote is both a complete genius, and utterly insane, because he pursues high truth, he is good, but because he cannot fix everything, he is nothing but a societal critic; a rebel in a time and place where deviance was banned by inquisition and excommunication from
The eponymous errant man in Don Quixote is often regarded as dim witted and, frankly, completely insane not only by others he meets in his adventures, but by the reader themselves. That’s not necessarily wrong, and even Miguel Cervantes writes Don Quixote with that madness in mind. Although Don Quixote often seems too mad to be allowed knighthood or even the freedom to prance around with normal people, his “madness” is more akin to idealist philosophies. Furthermore, the idealism is not being mocked by Cervantes, but accepted. While others in Señor Quijana’s nondescript town live out their lives one day at a time, working hard and working constantly, the old man reads for so long that he decides something new; the …show more content…
The Oxford English Dictionary defines idealism as “The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, especially unrealistically” As Bono (yes, okay, its funny, ha ha) said, when accepting a prize for Technology from TED in 2005, “idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very exciting. It 's very real. It 's very strong...” Don Quixote is the epitome of idealism in a way, and in another, the antithesis. Before he calls himself Don and quests for glory, Quijana is nothing special, just a bookish uncle. Perhaps he would write a book someday (“often felt like taking up his pen and supplying it himself, exactly as promised, and someday he surely would have done it, and even done it well” [14]), not unlike Cervantes, but otherwise, he would be forgotten and have no impact on any future generations. That is a sad fate for such a clever man. He is very smart, as the housekeeper states, noticing his disappearance, “Just pack all those books off to Satan and Barrabas. They’ve ruined the sharpest mind we had in all La Mancha” (33). In his situation, Quijana had few outlets, unless he could emulate those famous knights, who could save the world. Thus, Cervantes is not wrong to call him “a madman”(pretty much always). Quijana knows he is not the hero that the world needs, because …show more content…
But madder men have convinced the masses of revolution. Quixote is more than that, he is a revolutionary and Quijana is still a force in the changed man that journeys for day after day on a horse in. Quixote is obviously stronger than “might makes right” of Lancelot in T.H. White’s Once and Future King. He is more akin to the idealist philosophe Imamanuel Kant, who coined the Enlightenment’s motto, “Sapere aude” or “dare to be wise.” Quijana takes the moniker of Quixote because he is on a quest for the world, to convince them to be clever people, even if they can’t spend their lives reading like him. They must dare to be wise, even though it takes more dexterity of will than speaking whatever comes to mind as necessary. In this way, Quixote is both a complete genius, and utterly insane, because he pursues high truth, he is good, but because he cannot fix everything, he is nothing but a societal critic; a rebel in a time and place where deviance was banned by inquisition and excommunication from