Cervantes\' Don Quixote Don Quixote:

Cervantes' Don Quixote

Don Quixote: Significance for Spanish and European Literature

Don Quixote is a very important piece of literature for both Spanish and European consideration. It shows a relationship between life and art, and also indicates that much of this belongs to European Renaissance thought. Don Quixote is the story of a crusading knight, a Christian, but is told by a narrator that is Muslim. It is seen by many critics to be the purest and best example of a novel, and has been utilized in literature classrooms throughout the country and the world. Many of the ideas regarding madness and what makes someone 'mad' or insane came originally from Don Quixote and his windmills. In addition to this, Don Quixote inspired paintings and other works of art, and it is believed that these graphic representations of the man and the story can be just as informative and inspiring as the text that was written by Cervantes so long ago. There have been both satirical and sentimental interpretations of Don Quixote, and he has been seen as a great romantic as well as an example of how too much of this romantic attitude and a lack of reality could cause insanity.

The main reason that Don Quixote is still significant for literature, both in the Spanish and European sense, is that much of what it has to say is universal. The story embodies the clash between what people hope for and wish to be so, and what is actually reality for them and for so many others. This hopeful dreaming, when not taken to the point of madness as it was in the story, is a vital part of human life. All humans dream of what they want and try to reconcile it with what they actually, have, which is all that Don Quixote was doing. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to reconcile the differences between what he thought should be and what really was. Even though it was published in 1605, much of it remains relevant today as a life lesson for many people, and this is much of the reason that it is still seen as important and valuable for those that read it in modern society.