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Definition of Parody
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can take many forms, including fiction... read full definition
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually for comic effect. Parodies can... read full definition
A parody is a work that mimics the style of another work, artist, or genre in an exaggerated way, usually... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Feliciano de Silva:
Cervantes parodies numerous other authors, such as Feliciano de Silva, who wrote within the chivalric literary tradition that is satirized extensively throughout Don Quixote. When describing Don Quixote’s tastes in literature, for example, the narrator states that:
[He] liked none of them so much as those by the famous Feliciano de Silva, because the brilliance of the prose and all that intricate language seemed a treasure to him, never more so than when he was reading those amorous compliments and challenges delivered by letter, in which he often found: ‘The reason for the unreason to which my reason is subjected, so weakens my reason that I have reason to complain of your beauty.’
Here, Cervantes alludes to “the famous Feliciano de Silva,” a real author from Spain who was active in the 16th century. Like other writers of chivalric literature, de Silva’s stories generally followed knights and other heroes in their various adventures. Don Quixote, Cervantes writes, values de Silva’s stories above all others due to the “brilliance of the prose” and “intricate language.” Rather than using a quotation from one of de Silva’s stories, however, Cervantes parodies de Silva’s writing, stating that Don Quixote enjoyed such lines as “The reason for the unreason to which my reason is subjected, so weakens my reason that I have reason to complain of your beauty.” Through this parody, Cervantes suggests that de Silva’s writing was overly ornate but ultimately meaningless, focusing much more on rhetorical complexity than making sense.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 2
Explanation and Analysis—Chivalric Literature :
In one of many instances in which Cervantes parodies chivalric literature, Don Quixote imagines how future authors will describe his exploits using extremely florid language:
As our fledgling adventurer rode along, he said to himself: ‘Who can doubt but that in future times, when the true history of my famous deeds sees the light, the sage who chronicles them will, when he recounts this my first sally, so early in the morning, write in this manner: “Scarce had ruddy Apollo spread over the face of the wide and spacious earth the golden tresses of his beauteous hair, and scarce had the speckled little birds with their harmonious tongues hailed in musical and mellifluous melody the approach of rosy Aurora [...]"
Don Quixote has just set out on his journey in hopes of finding adventure, fame, and glory. Optimistic about his prospects, he wonders how “the sage who chronicles” his exploits will write about his “first sally” into the unknown and mimics the extravagant tone of the chivalric literature that he venerates. Here, Cervantes parodies the conventions and cliches of chivalric literature, writing in an overwrought style that stands in stark contrast to his own. He alludes, with classical flourish, to the god Apollo to describe the sun and uses alliteration in such phrases as “musical and mellifluous melody.” Through this parody, Cervantes suggests that Don Quixote interprets the world around him through the highly idealized lens of chivalric literature.
Related Themes:
