Miguel De Cervantes\' \'Hero\' Concept in Don

Miguel de Cervantes' 'Hero' Concept in Don Quixote

The novel Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605 (Volume 1) and 1615 (Volume 2), chronicles the life of Alonzo Quixano, popularly known in his village as Don Quixote. Quixano is a Spanish nobleman who assumes the role of the idealistic and chivalrous Don Quixote to help people who are 'in distress,' or dire need of help. In the novel, Quixano chooses his sidekick in the person of his servant Sancho Panza, labeled as the squire of Don Quixote.

Cervantes' depiction of Don Quixote/Quixano in the novel illustrates how he deviates from the usual characteristics, stereotypes, and image of a hero or a knight, which was a popular image of males during Spain's period of chivalry as a form of 'holy war.' In Don Quixote, the protagonist is portrayed not as a hero that is morally and physically courageous, but is illustrated as an old man with comic-like antics in rescuing and helping out people from their problems. Don Quixote is the anti-thesis of the usual literary hero, and just because of his desire to be a knight, he goes beyond reality, where he imagines enemies in the person of his friends and good people, while befriending and helping people who are offenders and conduct illegal activities.

Cervantes, in effect, illustrates Don Quixote as a man with two personalities, i.e., the nobleman Quixano of the real world, and the brave and ambitious Don Quixote of his (Quixano) fantasies. Don Quixote's comic-like heroism and double personality is the most distinct element that makes the story interesting, especially since Don Quixote draws his courage and strength from his "fantasies" of helping out people in 'distress' as their 'knight.'

In line with this, Cervantes' Don Quixote can be studied using a character analysis of Don Quixote, where the protagonist is used to analyze Cervantes purpose in portraying Don Quixote's dual character in the novel. Indeed, Don Quixote's fantasies, often identified as madness or insanities by scholars criticizing Cervantes' work, serves as his 'drive' to do good deeds to other people, and commit his life doing chivalrous things to other people. In fact, Don Quixote's madness is often interpreted as his own way of expressing courage in the novel, which he won't be able to achieve if he is just an 'ordinary' individual in the character of Quixano: "... his change of consciousness, articulated as his "madness"... may appear as a dream or psychic possession which carries the hero off to a fairyland where he must confront the powers of the Otherworld... Such heroes are bound to overcome their adversaries in battle... takes the form of supreme bravery and self-confidence in situations which would dismay a mere human" (Dudley, 1997:159,161).