A regularly bypassed symbol in the novel is the character of Don Quixote himself. Throughout the first 8 chapters, he is portrayed as patronising and arrogant with an inflated ego and as a man who sees himself as superior to others, especially Sancho. Some critics have interpreted this as a reflection of authorities such as the government and the monarchy at the time of Cervantes who preached, ordered and spoke out to the nation with confidence in their words, yet really knew very little (particularly concerning the Spanish Armada). In Chapter 8, Don Quixote’s dismissal of Sancho’s proposition that the figures in the distance are not giants but “molinos de viento […con] las aspas” shows his ignorance as a character as both Sancho and the reader know that he is wrong. We also learn that Quixote “no se dejó reir de la simplicidad de su escuerdo” which is extremely ironic as “su escuerdo” is actually the intellectual one of the two. Many readers and critics of the extract claim that this line alludes to the ignorance of Phillip II of Spain when he was adamant that the Armada was ‘invincible’ and ‘undefeatable’, despite being questioned by his subjects, yet was proven to be very
A regularly bypassed symbol in the novel is the character of Don Quixote himself. Throughout the first 8 chapters, he is portrayed as patronising and arrogant with an inflated ego and as a man who sees himself as superior to others, especially Sancho. Some critics have interpreted this as a reflection of authorities such as the government and the monarchy at the time of Cervantes who preached, ordered and spoke out to the nation with confidence in their words, yet really knew very little (particularly concerning the Spanish Armada). In Chapter 8, Don Quixote’s dismissal of Sancho’s proposition that the figures in the distance are not giants but “molinos de viento […con] las aspas” shows his ignorance as a character as both Sancho and the reader know that he is wrong. We also learn that Quixote “no se dejó reir de la simplicidad de su escuerdo” which is extremely ironic as “su escuerdo” is actually the intellectual one of the two. Many readers and critics of the extract claim that this line alludes to the ignorance of Phillip II of Spain when he was adamant that the Armada was ‘invincible’ and ‘undefeatable’, despite being questioned by his subjects, yet was proven to be very