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Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Part 1, Prologue
Explanation and Analysis—So Many St. Thomases:
In the Prologue, Cervantes makes multiple allusions to key figures in philosophy and theology in order to satirize the authors of his own day. Noting that his own book, Don Quixote, has no “marginalia or endnotes,” he writes:
I’m coming out with a book as dry as esparto grass, [...] without any marginalia or endnotes, unlike other books I see that, even though they are fictional and not about religious subjects, are so crammed with maxims from Aristotle, Plato and the whole herd of philosophers that they amaze their readers, who consider the authors to be well-read, erudite and eloquent men? And when they quote the Holy Scriptures! Anyone would take them for no less than so many St Thomases and other doctors of the Church.
Here, Cervantes compares his novel to other examples of popular literature that are “so crammed with maxims form Aristotle, Plato and the whole herd of philosophers” despite being “fictional and not about religious subjects.” Readers, he concludes, regard the authors of these works as “well-read, erudite and eloquent men” just because they quote so extensively from philosophy and the Bible. Alluding to Thomas Aquinas, a major figure in medieval Christian theology, Cervantes jokes that these popular authors present themselves as “so many St. Thomases and other doctors of the Church.” Here, Cervantes satirizes what he regards as the pretension of other popular authors who dress up their fiction with quotations from venerated thinkers in order to appear more intelligent than they are.
Related Themes:
Part 1, Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Incurable Disease:
After the priest recommends that they spare Don Quixote’s poetry books, noting that they are far more intellectual and therefore less damaging than his books of chivalric literature, Don Quixote’s niece uses a metaphor that compares interest in poetry to an “incurable disease” in her argument to add the poetry books to the bonfire:
‘Oh sir,’ cried the niece, ‘please have them burned like the rest, because it could well happen that once my uncle gets over his chivalry illness he starts reading all these other books and takes it into his head to become a shepherd and wander about the forests and meadows singing and playing music and, what would be even worse than that, turn into a poet, which they say is a catching and incurable disease.’
‘The girl’s right,’ said the priest, ‘and it’ll be a good idea to remove this dangerous stumbling-block from our friend’s way.'
Though the primary target of Cervantes’s satire throughout Don Quixote is chivalric literature, he also occasionally satirizes other forms and genres of literature. Here, Don Quixote’s niece imagines that, once her uncle “gets over this chivalry illness,” he will begin to read poetry and attempt to “become a shepherd and wander about the forests and meadows singing and playing music.” She offers a mocking description of pastoral poetry, which often features rustic settings and shepherds. Further, she adds, he might become a poet himself, which she describes metaphorically as “a catching and incurable disease.” In this passage, then, Cervantes satirizes poetry and suggests that Don Quixote, as a result of his obsessive nature, might fixate upon some other form of literature after his tales of knights and heroes are burned.
Related Themes:
Part 2, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Lycurgus and Solon:
In a heavily satirical scene in which Don Quixote, the priest, and the barber debate about politics, Cervantes alludes to historical and mythological figures associated with statecraft and governance:
And as the conversation developed they came to the subject that is sometimes called reason of state and methods of government, and they all corrected this abuse and condemned that one, and reformed one custom and forbad another, and each of the three men turned into a new legislator, a present-day Lycurgus or a modern Solon; and they subjected society to such radical reforms that anyone would have thought they’d taken it to a forge and brought away a different one [...]
At first, the barber and doctor believe that Quixote is still mad. As they chat about “reason of state and method of government,” however, they each suggest major reforms and prohibitions. Somewhat sarcastically, the narrator describes each of them as being “turned into a new legislator, a present-day Lycurgus or modern Solon.” Lycurgus was a legendary lawmaker in Ancient Sparta, known for sweeping political and social reforms that shaped Spartan society. Similarly, Solon was a statesman and political philosopher in ancient Athens, known for his contributions to their democratic system. Ultimately, these allusions are ironic, as the villagers have no experience leading a large state or empire. In this passage, then, Cervantes gently satirizes those everyday people living in a small town with no political experience who, he feels, nevertheless feel confident to prescribe “radical reforms” to their state.
