Throughout Cervantes' Don Quixote, there is a fear for Don Quixote's imagination. He desires to live his life out as a knight, much like those in his chivalric romances. However the society around him wishes for him to stay and conform to living in the reality shared by the majority. At first his imagination is viewed as a threat to others and himself and there are multiple attempts to diminish the threat of it, yet as his name and his reputation spreads so does the welcoming of his imagination because there is amusement and curiosity for his imagination. Ultimately his imagination has the power to shift the perspective of others, even if he was not able to live in his made up world for too long. .
When Don Quixote first emerges as a knight seeking adventures he is viewed as a threat to society. In his first encounter as a knight he comes across an innkeeper who at first glance was "intimidated" (33), but not because he Don Quixote appeared as strong, authoritative knight but because he was perceived as "ungainly" (33). The inn keeper based his his interaction on the fact that Don Quixote appeared to be unstable mentally and physically. Because of this the innkeeper took even more precaution when it came to his guest and warned them that his guest was a madman (38). Clearly there is a mistrust in the actions of Don Quixote who believes he is a knight and that belief is not shared but the innkeeper and the others. There is also precaution in the form that those who are familiar to Don Quixote consider his state of mind. As the priest, the barber, the housemaid, and Don Quixote's niece are burning his books they carefully consider which ones to burn. AtT first the priest is allowing of poetry books to remain but the niece convinces him otherwise because they could make Don Quixote "make him believe he is a shepherd" (?). They truly believe his mind is incapable of conforming to their set norms and expectations.
Chapter 52 tells of the quarrel between Don Quixote and the goatherd . ... Don Quixote believes that they are a group of criminals . ... Sancho throws himself upon Don Quixote's body . ... He sees people and objects realistically but continues to follow Don Quixote whom he knows sees only through his imagination. ... But in Don Quixote's world, all of these things are true. ...
Don Quixote TIME: In the spring of 1580 in Spain. ... She asks Don Quixote to slay the giant so that she may regain her kingdom. ... Friendships and love relationships Sancho Panza He is Don Quixote's squire and companion throughout most of Don Quixote's expeditions. ... The Priest Along with the barber, the priest is Don Quixote's friend and neighbor who try to protect Don Quixote from himself. ... The barber, like the priest, is Don Quixote's friend and neighbor who plot to keep Don Quixote at home. ...
Don Quixote would never think along those lines. Don Quixote was a very moral man and idealistic man. ... Idealists dream, and then turn their dreams into a reality, which is what Don Quixada did when he transformed himself into Don Quixote. ... Don Quixote associates everything in his surrounding with medieval comparisons and morals He sees what his mind and imagination create. On the first night of his journey, Don Quixote reaches a roadside inn. ...
Choosing to abandon reality and live in an idealistic, but illusionary world like that of Don Quixote, a character from Dale Wasserman's Man of La Mancha, may seem at first like a choice that few would make. ... Few could ever allow themselves to believe as much Don Quixote did, but many use this escape mechanism in smaller ways during daily life. ... Escaping his painful reality within his own imagination, and through his various artistic works, gave him hope in a situation where very few possess it. Like Don Quixote, he was able to keep himself going by living a fanasy. Also like Do...
Rushdie has painted a picture of social agenda utilizing the literary tools of fiction, fantasy, allegory, and a dash of imagination to bring us an example of modern-day metafiction. ... Don Quixote, and even Shakespeare's Hamlet, have been labeled as containing elements of metafiction; and in this regard some critics claim that the definitions for metafiction, and their application, are too broad to be used with much precision. ...
