Heroes of the work Don Quixote by Cervantes

Main characters of the book:

Don Quixote. In fact, he is a brave man, a nobleman of quite respectable years, who has read too many stories about brave and noble knights. Following their example, and also imagining himself as one of the respected knights, Don Quixote tries to break stereotypes. He looks at the world with his own eyes. His old and flabby horse, miraculously, is transformed into a strong horse. And an ordinary village girl becomes a noble maiden with whom he is in love. At the end of his “battles” with windmills, the noble hero dies.

Sancho Panza. A simple peasant who believed in the crazy stories of a nobleman. And based on the imaginary scenario, this is Don Quixote’s devoted squire. At first, he appears to the reader as a cunning and thoughtful person who helps the “knight” for his own benefit. But later Sancho Panza becomes a truly fair, kind and honest assistant.

Characteristics and qualities of heroes

With the help of the description and characterization of Don Quixote and other characters, the writer wanted to show their opinion about life and replace the fantastic idea of the world with a true picture. He laid the foundations for another vision of realism, which was developed in the literature of bourgeois society. The genre of his book is an adventure novel.

Knight and his squire

Don Quixote is an elderly, whimsical nobleman and a visionary. He is believed to be the same age as the author. The hero imagined himself as a knight after reading fairy tales. This led to the fact that he began to live in an illusory world, where he wanted to do good in the name of his beloved and make the world a better place. Of course, these intentions were excellent. But he couldn’t bring them to life, because the character didn’t know how it could be done in the real world, how it could be applied in reality.

The hero was called the Knight of the Sad Countenance, Lions. He had the nickname Kind. The character found himself in different situations and alterations. His dreams were shattered by reality, but despite this, the hero showed readers wonderful life lessons.

Outwardly he is thin and pale. His skinny horse, named Rocinante, wears old armor.

The knight's strange behavior and actions bring him the reputation of a madman, an eccentric and a madman. In short, he believes that the world has been bewitched by evil wizards, so his calling is to fight them. The hero sees danger and enemies where there are none.

In the work he discusses:

literature;
education;
rulers;
freedom;
war;
world.

The image of Don Quixote changes throughout the work. In the second volume, this character seems to see the light, wake up and realize that reality is not at all what it is.

Before his death, the main character renounces his knightly deeds and admits that he was wrong and insane. His image is complex and multifaceted. Sometimes it seems that he is only pretending to be a madman, but in fact he is deceiving everyone. This character imitates the language of chivalric novels, acts as a humanist, and denounces social vices.

Sancho Panza is a good and faithful friend of the knight, as well as his squire.

He belongs to the peasant class and has the following characteristic features:

naivety;
gullibility;
unselfishness;
wit;
cunning;
wisdom.

Sancho believed his friend in his crazy ideas. He was seduced by the hidalgo's promises to receive the governor's post on the conquered island, where he went with him.

His main difference from Don Quixote is that Sancho lives in reality, in a reasonable life. But the adventure did him good, as this character turned into an honest and just person. He became pragmatic and practical.

Minor characters:

Dulcinea Toboso. The same “peasant woman of noble blood” who was extolled by Don Quixote. For her, he allegedly performed his exploits, conventionally throwing his achievements at her feet. Love for this pretty girl is what drives the protagonist to such crazy ideas.

Antonia. The loving niece of a nobleman who holds her uncle in high esteem. When Don Quixote sets out on a journey, he bequeaths all his property to the girl. But she will receive it if she marries a man who has nothing to do with knighthood. Antonia is waiting for the return of her crazy uncle and is very worried when she learns of his death.

Don Quixote's housekeeper. The main character's maid, who is also loyal to her master. Don Quixote also valued his housekeeper very much. Being in a dying state, he orders the servant to be paid the full amount for the duration of her work. And also leaves some money so that she can buy herself a dress.

Nicholas. The barber, friend of the main character. Being of sound mind, he tries with all his might to dissuade his comrade from the nonsense that he invented for himself. But he is not going to listen to him.

Samson Carrasco. Just like Nicholas, he is very worried about his good friend. Realizes that Don Quixote is not himself. Is nearby when a noble knight passes away.

Innkeeper. Having met the nobleman, I decided that the man had gone slightly crazy. When the hero asks the innkeeper to knight him, he plays along in bewilderment. Then the owner of the inn has no idea how this dedication will turn out for the brave knight.

Don Quixote is a sad story about a knight who, due to his madness, fell into a deadly trap, never realizing that he was not a real knight.

"Don Quixote" history of creation

"The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha"

- a novel by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra about the adventures of the hero of the same name.

"Don Quixote" - the story of the creation of the novel

Was published in two volumes. The first came out in 1605, the second in 1615. The novel was conceived as a parody of chivalric romances. Subsequently translated into all European languages, this novel is still one of the most popular books, and in 2002 it was recognized as the best novel in world literature.

The inspiration for the book was the novel Interludes of Romances, which satirizes a farmer who has gone mad after reading many romances of chivalry. The poor farmer left his wife and began to wander around the world - which, in turn, did the hero of Cervantes's novel (except that Don Quixote was not married). This plot had a subtext: Lope de Vega did exactly the same thing, after writing his numerous autobiographical love works, he left his family and went to the fleet of the Invincible Armada.

Cervantes's interest in ballads is well known. And he clearly had reasons to mock his literary competitor: the plays of Lope de Vega were more popular than the works of Cervantes himself. To bring out your enemy under the mask of a literary character and make fun of him is a well-known technique. One of the arguments in favor of this hypothesis is that Don Quixote, although he seems to be an ardent admirer of chivalric romances, in the first edition talked about his love affairs. Many literary scholars are also inclined towards this version, citing, in particular, the works of Joannot Martorell “Tirant the White”, Luigi Pulci “Morgante” and Ludovico Ariosto “Furious Roland”.

The novel consists of two parts: the first, “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha,” published in 1605; and the second, “The second part of the brilliant knight Don Quixote of La Mancha,” published in 1615 to restore the good name of the writer. The fact is that in 1614 the second part of Don Quixote was published, written by a certain Avellaneda (this was the pseudonym of the impostor. His real identity has not yet been established).

Avellaneda's novel was of a parody nature and sharp attacks against Cervantes. In the second, real part, Cervantes gives Avellaneda a rebuff. At the beginning of the second part, Cervantes, in his “Dedication to Count Lemosky,” mentions the fake Don Quixote. Also, at the end of the novel, he called Avellaneda “a lying Torsedillas scribbler” and wrote that Avellaneda “has no right to drag his bones (that is, the bones of Don Quixote) to Old Castile” (at the end of the fake “Don Quixote” it was promised to tell about the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Old Castile).

Essay 2

Don Quixote

The main character of the work is a brave nobleman of venerable age who passionately loves novels about knights and their adventures. He comes up with a name for himself - Don Quixote and, imagining himself as a noble knight errant, dreams of glorifying him. In the eyes of this character, everything is seen differently, for example, his old horse seems to him to be a brave horse, and a simple village girl seems to him to be a noble lady. At the end of his futile efforts to fight windmills, the hero dies.

Sancho Panza

An ordinary village peasant who believed in the stories and ideas of Don Quixote and became his squire, imbued with the spirit of adventurism. Initially, this hero pursued only his own selfish goals and is shown as a cunning rogue. But gradually, as events develop, as he stays next to the Knight, he changes. The reader sees how Sancho Panza acquires better character traits, he becomes a noble man who knows how to approach decisions fairly and honestly. In this case, his common sense and pragmatism give way to folk wisdom.

Dulcinea Toboso

Main characters

Don Quixote

In Don Quixote, the hero who wanted to reorganize the world is a brave old nobleman who has read about the adventures of noble knights. He has his own vision of the world, he sees everything in his own way. For him, an old nag becomes a fighting, strong horse, a simple girl from the village becomes a lady of noble blood. Don Quixote sees the world as it was created by the imagination of a noble and generous hero. At the end of his epic, Don Quixote realizes what a thankless job it is - war with windmills, and he dies.

Sancho Panza

Don Quixote's faithful friend and comrade-in-arms, selfless squire. A naive and gullible peasant who believed in the crazy ideas of Don Quixote. At first, he is a cunning and rogue scoundrel, but, constantly being next to the Knight of the Sad Image, he evolves and turns into an honest, fair and noble person. It contains folk wisdom, practicality and pragmatism, and next to his ally, he is imbued with the spirit of adventurism.