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Don Quixote Mid Term Exam

A) 1.

I think the question about whether or not Don Quixote (from here on referred to as DQ) is a piece of great literature is interesting because it allows one to examine the fundamental aspects of the novel that make it appealing to a number of generations and cultures. The definition of great literature is a debatable one, and one that is nebulous and daunting in characterization. In search for the aspects which make a literary work great I have applied the rules of universality, depth, and innovation.

Any great work must, in my opinion, first be new and original. The amount of innovation in a given work, whether it is in terms of theme, plot or characterization, must be notable. Innovation progresses a literary piece into new dimensions, which challenges the reader and future writers. It sets the work apart from other novels of the day, and it helps elevate the craft past boundaries and limitations of yesterday. Innovation is the cornerstone of invention, and the craft of writing a great masterpiece necessarily births inventive and innovative approaches to the art of literature. The next criteria is that of depth. Depth is both the quality and complexity that a given novel portrays, both for the writer's attempt, and the reader's point of view. A masterpiece of depth looks at complex thematic issues, challenging psychological characterizations, and plot structure which is more than a chronological rendering. A writer and a work of depth is necessary for a great masterpiece to be created--it serves as the foundation for any analysis and appreciation of the piece. Finally, there is the criteria of universality. This applies not only to thematic universality across time and culture, but universality in terms of characterization and philosophical issues. A great book is universal in appeal and its wisdom. All three criteria, in turn, forms a basis for a great masterpiece. It allows it to be imitated, analyzed and enjoyed across cultures and centuries. However, these three criteria, which DQ clearly lives up to, is a vast generalization about what makes this particular book a masterpiece. There are probably countless specific aspects about DQ which makes it great, however, I decided to limit it to ten.

Top Ten reasons that Don Quixote is a great masterpiece

1. Archetypes are deftly presented in the characterization, with each character rooted in universality that truly is original. New archetypes are created, played upon, and old archetypes are woven so that the characters are unique and revelatory, while still being recognizable and reliable.

2. Layers of various issues such as reality, fiction, tragedy, justice, and love, bring thematic complexity to the book in a way never before seen and in a way that leaves almost every page full of questions and intellectual questing.

3. Various moods, styles, literary approaches, are deftly interwoven through out the novel such that the reader goes quickly from laughter, to tears, to horror, to appreciation, without being lost in the layers of change and storytelling.

4. The work has proven to be culturally and historically significant. Additionally, the work was significant during its time, and has proven only to increase in relevance and interest.

5. The work, the characters, and the story have all persevered in other forms, such as plays, musicals, and other novels. It has become a catch-phrase (quixotic) and cultural frame of reference in the modern day.

6. It has gone on to influence countless literary works, and other forms of entertainment.

7. It presents typical, recognizable, and understandable human characteristics.

8. It allows itself to be viewed in different ways depending on context of the reader and culture.

9. It presents a modern and unique view of madness and the relationship to knowledge, emotion, and other humans.

10. It incorporates a vast landscape of characters, values and cultures as seen only in this book.

In conclusion, DQ proves to be a masterpiece for very clear reasons. Each of the ten reasons suggest depth, universality and innovation to such an extent it is hard to classify the different aspects. The "top ten" simplifies the immense scope of the novel, but hopefully also posits some starting points for appreciation.

B) 2.

Often in literary works, the reader becomes immersed in the world of the author. In many ways, the reader suspends disbelief and accepts the world as is. It is the very unique aspect of reading which allows one to enter into the world of the novel, often on page one. We accept the guidance of the author through the fictional world whose rules might be different from our own. In fact, the normal world, the world of reality, often becomes challenged in literature. It provides a mirror that the writer can alter or break. From the Wizard of Oz to Alice in Wonderland, the world that we know and understand has been shattered. The world of the sane is constantly challenged.

In fact, the mentally ill characters (the outcasts, the strange, the deviants) of literature have been very popular. In the Renaissance, especially with Shakespeare and various characters in his plays, the mad individual presents a stark contrast to the changing and oppressive environment of "reality." Again, and again, during a cultural and historical period when religious and philosophical values are being forged out of past traditions and new ideas, the marginal and abnormal character can help define reality and challenge notions of sanity, and our interaction with reality.

However, the madness in DQ that we end up being forced to emulate, or at least warily encounter, is not tentative--it is all consuming for DQ and everyone he comes into contact with (including us). It is like being in a dream world where you have to accept (it doesn't occur to you to question it) the strange and confusing world you have entered as is. This dream world gives greater freedom because the boundaries are not as strict. You accept and in fact welcome the dream world because the limits don't have to be accepted on conventional face value. The dream world proves to be the epistemological playground for the person asleep. The alternative universe of the novel, just as in a dream, can be described as a playground for your mind--with no boundaries.

Don Quixote, who is noble, diverse, highly spiritual by nature, takes an avid, obsessive interest in living his life as he sees it. Although he is mad, DQ is as self-assured as a person can be about his mission--and when his confidence falters, he has his madness to escape into. DQ escapes our normal epistemological doubt by relying on the assurance that his dream world is reality. When that limits of reality are stretched, tested, or shattered, he has the survival skill of being able to construct new layers of unreality. However, this layering does have its limits, for reader and DQ. At the end, without the shield of fantasy to protect him from his emotions and his thoughts, he dies a lonely death from melancholy. We are now left alone, pulling ourselves from the reality that DQ has asked us to accept, and now must somehow reject.

In many ways, the death of DQ is threefold, and does not occur all at once. DQ, in his altering and shattering of the mirror of reality eliminates one by one the pillars of existence. Reality, perception, imagination are the three foundations for our relationship with the world and over time DQ decides to reject one by one. Normally people try to reject imagination, embrace perception, and strive for reality. However, DQ abandons reality, moves through perception, lives with imagination, and when that fails, is faced with a void of nothingness. DQ, in his madness, becomes an early nihilist.

The world of sanity and insanity, which are thrusted into, and we accept throughout the novel, at the end, becomes the world that we must pull ourselves away from when DQ finally shuts us out. He makes the choice to go outside of reality, and finally to go outside of existence. In a final acceptance we must also make a choice, and decide how much of DQ we want to take on, or forgive.