Don Quixote and Sancho Panza were riding and talking (Chapter 8 of the first part) when they saw thirty or forty windmills. Don Quixote, once again, distorts reality to make it fit his fantasy world.
To Sancho’s astonishment, the knight exclaims that he sees “thirty or more enormous giants,” [1] with whom he intends to do battle and kill them because “it is a great service to God to remove so evil a breed from the face of the earth” (I, 8; 58). As he charged the sail of the first mill with his lance, the wind moved it with such force that it broke the lance into pieces, picked up the horse and the knight and dropped them to the ground.
In the episode of the shepherd Andrés, the distortion of reality was only partial because a true injustice was being committed; this time, everything is only delusion.
Episode of the Benedictine Friars and Battle with a Basque Squire
Again in Chapter 8, Don Quixote and Sancho were having a friendly conversation when they saw two Benedictine friars mounted on mules. Behind them came four or five men on horseback, two mule drivers on foot, and a carriage, in which a Basque lady was traveling to Sevilla to meet her husband who was sailing to the Indies to take up an important post.
Don Quixote, as in the episode of the windmills and ignoring Sancho’s warning, interprets reality in a delusional way. He thinks that the friars “no doubt are, enchanters who have captured some princess in the carriage, and I needs must do everything in my power to right this wrong.” (I, 8; 62) Therefore, he attacks the friars and they ran away. He introduces himself to the lady in the carriage, informing her that she is now ‘free’. He requests that she show her gratitude by visiting Doña Dulcinea of Toboso and recounting what Don Quixote has done.
Nevertheless, a Basque squire who was accompanying the lady, seeing that the knight would not allow the carriage to move forward, challenges him to a duel. The episode ends with the knight victorious, although with a wounded shoulder, and the Basque squire lying on the ground, bleeding. Don Quixote, sword in hand, promises the lady in the carriage to let the squire live if she would promise to visit Dulcinea and inform her of the heroic and liberating deed performed by the knight.
At the end of the episode, Don Quixote thinks that he has accomplished a just deed. Nevertheless, the reader knows that no injustice had been committed because there was no kidnapping. Everything was the product of a delusional mind.
The Story of Grisóstomo and Marcela
Don Quixote and Sancho were in a pastoral setting among goatherds and shepherds (Chapter 12 to 14 of the first part). Pedro, a goatherd, arrived and narrated the story of Marcela and Grisóstomo.
Marcela was an orphaned and beautiful young woman. Her mother died during childbirth and her father, Guillermo, a rich farmer, died soon after, due to grief for the death of his wife. Marcela was raised by her uncle, a priest who refused to marry her without her consent and who also died. Marcela decided to become a shepherdess. Many young men also decided to become shepherds in order to conquer her love. One of them, Grisóstomo, a rich, well-educated gentleman, who studied in Salamanca, appeared, dressed as a shepherd in the company of his friend Ambrosio, hoping to conquer Marcela’s love. Nevertheless, he failed, and disillusioned, died of sadness. He left precise instructions to be buried at the foot of a mountain where he had seen the beautiful Marcela for the first time.
Grisóstomo’s friends blame Marcela for his death. Marcela appears at the burial and delivers an eloquent speech in which she defends her beauty, her freedom and her innocence: “I know, with the natural understanding that God has given me, that everything beautiful is lovable, but I cannot grasp why, simply because it is loved, the thing loved for its beauty is obliged to love the one who loves it.” (I, 14; 99) Then, she adds: “for beauty in the chaste woman is like a distant fire or sharp-edged sword: they do not burn or cut the person who does not approach them.” (I, 14; 99) Marcela leaves but some of those present want to follow her. Don Quixote does not allow this and raising his sword, threatens them. At this point, the narrator makes the comment: “Whether it was because of Don Quixote’s warnings, or because Ambrosio said they should conclude what they owed to their good friend, none of the shepherds left or moved away from the place until, when the grave was dug and Grisóstomo’s papers had been burned, they placed his body in the ground, not without those present shedding many tears.” (I, 14; 101, the bold is mine)
In this passage, Marcela, in her speech, displays admirable eloquence and ability to defend herself. In addition, Ambrosio, Grisóstomo’s friend, assesses the situation correctly and acts with prudence. Credit is due to Don Quixote who this time makes an accurate interpretation of reality and shows prudence. Justice wins the day!
Egberto Bermúdez
[1] Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote. Edith Grossman Trans. New York: Harper Collins, 2005. (I, 8; 58)
