Previous
Satire
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Part 1, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis:
The novel is set in Spain during the early 17th century. While Don Quixote’s journeys take him to various major cities in Spain, including Toledo and Barcelona, many parts of the novel are set in and around La Mancha, a region in the center of Spain. The opening lines of the first chapter of the novel establish this setting:
In a village in La Mancha, the name of which I cannot quite recall, there lived not long ago one of those country gentlemen or hidalgos who keep a lance in a rack, an ancient leather shield, a scrawny hack and a greyhound for coursing. A midday stew with rather more shin of beef than leg of lamb, the leftovers for supper most nights, lardy eggs on Saturdays, lentil broth on Fridays and an occasional pigeon as a Sunday treat ate up three-quarters of his income.
Here, the narrator claims that he “cannot quite recall” the name of the village where Don Quixote lived, but notes that the village is in La Mancha, a relatively flat and dry region known, then and now, for its many windmills. In this passage, Cervantes describes Don Quixote, prior to his state of madness, as a more or less typical “hidalgo” or gentleman of La Mancha, who owns some property but is not very rich and therefore eats more “shin of beef” than expensive “leg of lamb.” Throughout the novel, Cervantes will present La Mancha as a rural area primarily inhabited by humble and hard-working people.
Related Themes:
