I am Don Quixote

If Dr. Sexon is right, that the world is divided into pragmatic Sancho Panzas and idealistic Don Quixotes, I must confess that I am a Don Quixote. Every book that I love, I wish I could jump into like Mary Poppins into a chalk painting. Every time I read Gone with the Wind, I get the urge to wear corsets and hoop skirts, to waltz and flirt. I get so emersed in the books that I love, that I wish my emersion was literal. If I could, I would become a part of my favorite books. I would attentd Gatsby's parties, walk the halls of Hogwarts, interview Grace of Margaret Attwood's Alias Grace, watch the bull fights with Jake, from The Sun Also Rises. That's what I consider moving literature, when I am so involved with the pages that I would give anything to live them. I'm sure this is how Don Quixote felt, it's just that he believed that he could live them!

Don Quixote

First Part, Chapter XIV, pg. 99

"Moreover, you must consider that I did not choose the beauty I have, and, such as it is, heaven gave it to me freely, without my requesting or choosing it. And just as the viper does not deserve to be blamed for its venom, although it kills, since it was gven the venom by nature, I do not deserve to be reproved for being beautiful, for beauty in the chaste woman is like a distant fire or sharp-edged sword: they do not burn or cut the person who does not approach them."

I love this entire page, and only relayed a small part of Marcela's self-defense. But, for it's early publication, this is a profoundly feminist argument that doesn't seem to be mocked or satirized by Cervantes or the other characters. This is another example of the low-mimetic in Don Quixote: the chaste virgins, the beautiful damsels, they can be victims, but they can also be criminizlied just as Marcela is because of their beauty. Beauty was considered a curse, a test, in the more strict Christian sects, and it was a woman's fault to be beautiful. In the low-mimetic, life-like version of the story, men are held accountable for their lusts. Even Don Quixote...

Don Quixote and the Low Mimetic

Maybe it's just taken me the entire semester for this to click, but I had a light-bulb moment about 200 pages into Don Q: the novel, while it contains all four seasons, is basically a low-mimetic account of a romantic knight's journey.
I knew that Don Quixote lived in the low-mimetic phase and that he dreamed of the Romantic...but I think this goes beyond what was said in class...or my idea is exactly what Dr. Sexon said, I just didn't put it together until Sancho and Don Q spen 1 paragraph getting their butts kicked and the next page and a half lying in the field discussing how badly they are hurt and whether to seek revenge against their assailants for the damage done.
The novel spends as much time or more talking about how much wine Sancho drinks, whether or not Don Q sleeps, and how hungry they are as it does about their adventures and conflicts. It's humorous because Don Quixote doesn't know if knights errant are allowed to sleep because he's never read an account of it: by definition Romance does not concern it's self with the mundane events of life like the Low-mimetic does.
so, my appologies if this is simply a repetition of a point that has been made all semester long, but I gained a new perspective reading instead of simply listening to the genius insights of Dr. Sexson.

Don Q Cartoon

You know you are contributing part of culture when you have your own cartoon and theme song, several hundred years after you star in a big-ass book.
check it out for a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4tFzD13hmc&feature=related

Don Quixote

First Part, Chapter VI, pg. 52
"'I would shed [tears] myself,' said the priest when he heard the name, 'if I had sent sucha book to be burned, because its author was one of the famous poets on only of Spain but of the world, and he had great success in translating some fables by Ovid."

I guess I touched upon this in my last passage, but who the author is seems to be of great importance to the priest. Authors are often made into something marketable, whether they fit it or not. Authors who have had success are expected to maintain it: Steven King, anyone? I can only recall a few things he's written, but I would expect certain things of his novels. What about Dan Brown...anything besides a history/thriller would throw me off, and maybe I wouldn't like it because it conflicted with what I wanted. But to stay on track. The Author's name alone, whether any information is known or not, influences readers.

Don Quixote

First Part, Chapter VI, pg 51
"'By the orders I recieved,' said the priest, 'since Apollo was Apollo, and the muses muses, and the poets poets, no book as amusing or nonsensical has ever been written, and since, in its way, it is the best and most unusual book of its kind that has seen the light of day, anyone who has not read it can assume that he has never read anything entertaining. Giv it to me, friend, for I value finding it more than if I were given a cassock of rich Florentine cloth.'"

This passage gives credit to the classical myths and authors...which is still done today. (Anyone read Homer's Odyssey lately?) This is part of the European tradition of literature, and adorns the hightest spot on our chart as Myth. But in this passage the priest/critic is also praising entertaintment, which he seemed to discourage earlier in the chapter. Is it a different case because he finds it entertaining? It seems that this chapter is painting the critic as being influenced chiefly by his or her personal taste...and I wonder if it is possible to escape opinion when reviewing any piece.

Don Quixote

First Part, Chapter VI, pg. 47
"'The author of that book,' said the priest, 'was the same one who composed Garden of Flowers, and the truth is I can't decide which of the two is more true, or should I say, less false; all I can say is that this one goes to the corral, because it is silly and arrogant.'"

I know we've talked about chapter six in reference to censorship, but I wanted to look at it again. I found the scene very comical, whereas censorship usually irks me to no end. But it is also declaring a larger Truth about literature, that it should be more true, less silly and arrogant. But the priest is imposing a value on Don Quixote's books. It is a tragedy that many fine books get lost in the mean time.