Don Quixote by Cervantes Is a Novel

Don Quixote by Cervantes is a novel that delves deeply into the themes of mental illness and the expectations of society. Ultimately, the protagonist's delusional life as Don Quixote is fueled by Spanish society's expectations that a man should be chivalrous, brave and macho. It is these expectations of society that lead the bookish, middle-aged Alonso Quixano to embark on a life as the great, noble adventurer Don Quixote.

This flight into a delusional life, and Quixote's myriad of delusional adventures clearly resembles the actions of schizophrenic. Nonetheless, it is important examine Quixote's behavior in the context of societies' malleable understanding of the norms of acceptable behavior. In other words, it is important to consider carefully whether Don Quixote was simply an eccentric and unusual man, rather than mentally ill with schizophrenia. However, a close examination of Quixote's behavior, even in light of a flexible understanding of the norms of behavior, clearly reveals his actions to be those of a man deeply immersed in the throes of schizophrenia.

Don Quixote is a book about a man so obsessed with chivalrous ideas that he transforms his life in search of these ideals and a more chivalrous life. Alonso Quixano, a middle-aged man form La Mancha in central Spain becomes obsessed with the chivalrous ideas in the books that he reads. He takes up his sword in a quest to destroy the wicked and defend the helpless. Quixano convinces himself that he is the brave knight, Don Quixote. He persuades the laborer Sancho Panza to follow him on his adventures. He searches for grand adventure on his worn-out horse, Rochinate. He falls in love with the peasant woman, Dulcinea del Toboso, believing that she is a princess.

Quixote goes on a great many adventures, often doing more harm than good, with Sancho following behind and cleans up the inevitable harm and chaos that he leaves behind. He eventually meets a Duke and Duchess who play with his delusions for their amusements. They make him the governor or a fictitious isle, and send him on many adventures. Ultimately, Quixote leaves the Duke and Duchess, only to come to a quick end, and is vanquished by an old friend in disguise as the Knight of the White Moon. In the end, Don Quixote's story clearly defines the demise of chivalry.

Don Quixote and Societal Expectations

Alonso Quixano foray into life as the noble and errant knight Don Quixote was clearly fueled by the ideas of chivalry, adventure and romance in the many books that Quixano read. A middle-aged man, Quixano had led a relatively dull life, and his experiences clearly did not live up to those of the adventurous and capable heroes in the myriad of books that he eagerly and obsessively read. Notes Cervantes "he (Alonso Quixano) so immersed himself in those romances that he spent whole days and nights over his books; and thus with little sleeping and much reading his brains dried up to such a degree that he lost the use of his reason" (Book I, Part I).

Quixano is basically kind-hearted by foolish enough to become deluded into thinking that his is a brave knight who will fix all of the world's wrongs. He is so obsessed with the ideals of chivalry in the books that he has read that his foolishness allows him to delude himself into believing his existence as Don Quixote.

While it is easy to blame Alonso Quixano's foray into the delusional belief that he is Don Quixote on Quixano's foolishness, societies' expectations also clearly play a role in the development of this delusion. All of the books that he reads convince Quixano that a real man adheres to the principles of chivalry and embarks on great and daring adventures in the names of true love. These books clearly represent societies' expectations of a man: that he is chivalrous and brave and macho.

Certainly, an understanding of male identity as adventurous and macho is pervasive throughout a great many cultures, including modern American culture. We have only to look at the popularity of American on-screen heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Vin Diesel and Pierce Brosnan to se the pervasiveness of the macho adventurer in our modern culture.

Similarly, the books of Alonso Quixano's time likely provided the same sort of an understanding of male identity that today's movie heroes provide. Thus, Quixano's obsession with the ideal of chivalry and adventure represented a Spanish ideal of the male identity. Quixano's obsession with chivalry represents his desire to break out of the boring confines of his middle-aged life, and become what his society believed was the ultimate man: chivalrous, daring and adventurous.

Was Don Quixote Schizophrenic?

Certainly, Don Quixote has very real delusions. The bookish middle-aged gentleman Alonso Quixano comes to believe his is the brave and noble knight errant Don Quixote. This conviction is no mere whim or flight of fancy: Alonso truly believes in his delusion, and embarks on a wide number of adventures that are based deeply on a variety of far-fetched and delusional beliefs.

Nonetheless, before delving too deeply into the actions and delusions of Alonso Quixano it may be helpful to understand a little about the psychopathology and symptoms of schizophrenia. The word schizophrenia is commonly used to mean a double life, and brings up images of people suffering disturbing and grandiose delusions. However, to the psychologist, schizophrenia is made up of a specific set of symptoms.

Schizophrena is a psychotic disorder that can severely impair mental function and results in a loss of contact with reality. Commonly, schizophrenia appears in late adolescence or early adulthood, and affects both men and women in similar numbers. Sufferers may require hospitalization in severe cases, or schizophrenia may mild enough that it does not significantly interfere with a person's normal life.