¶ … Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, better known as Miguel de Cervantes. The first section will be a brief biography of his life and times. Following will be an examination of his works, including Don Quixote, La Galatea, and Entremeses. Focus will be on how different classes of people appear in his works with examples of characters of lower, middle and upper class standing in Cervantes' world. The paper will conclude with ideas of class in general.
Miguel de Cervantes Saaverdra
Miguel de Cervantes Saaverdra's reputation rests almost entirely on the most famous figure in Spanish literature, Don Quixote. Known by most as Miguel de Cervantes, his production of novels, plays and poems was considerable. According to Jean Canavaggio, author of "Cervantes," a contemporary of Cervantes, William Shakespeare, had read Don Quixote. (1990) In spite of his fame throughout Europe, Cervantes spent his life as a poor man. Cervantes life was unsettled from an early age.
Cervantes was born in 1547 in a small town near Madrid called Alcala de Henares. Of minor nobility, he was the fourth of seven children. His mother was Leonor de Cortinas and his father was Rodrigo de Cervantes an apothecary-surgeon. His father moved the family frequently from town to town in search of stable work. Cervantes was educated in Madrid by Juan L. pez de Hoyos in 1568-69 and in 1569, went to Rome in the service of Guilio Acquavita, (who later...
A year later, Cervantes joined a Spanish regiment headquartered in Naples. In 1571 Cervantes took part in a sea battle against the Turks at Lepanto in which he received a wound in his left hand that left it permanently maimed. Proud of his role in the battle and in the nickname he earned from it, el manco de Lepanto, (the cripple of Lepanto), he continured his military career after a period of recuperation in Messina, Sicily.
In 1575 while on a return trip to Spain with his brother, Rodrigo, he was captured by pirates, taken to Algiers and enslaved. His brother Rodrigo was ransomed in 1577, but Miguel was considered by the Moors to be a more important person because he carried letters from important people back in Italy. As a result he spent 5 years as a slave until his family back in Spain could raise enough money to secure his release. His family along with the help of the Trinitarian order paid the Moors 500 escudos for his freedom.
While holding several poorly paid administrative posts in Madrid Cervantes published his first play, "Los Tratos De Argel," (1580) which was based on his experiences as a captive of the Moors. In 1584, he married Catalina de Salazar y Palacios, who was 18 years younger then Cervantes. His marriage was childless and he left his wife in the late 1580s. Following the separation from his wife Cervantes led a nomadic life for the next 20 odd…
