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How did Miguel de Cervantes parody chivalric romances in Don Quixote?
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Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes, engraving by E. Mackenzie after Gregorio Ferro and Fernando Selma; from The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography (1863).
Miguel de Cervantes parodied the popular but outdated chivalric romances of his time by creating a protagonist, Alonso Quixano, whose obsession with these tales leads him to adopt the persona of a knight-errant named Don Quixote.1
Cervantes uses this premise to contrast the knight's delusional, idealized worldview with the mundane reality of 17th-century Spain. The parody is primarily achieved through:23
- Comedic Misadventures: Don Quixote frequently misinterprets his surroundings, such as attacking windmills he believes to be giants, which highlights the absurdity of applying medieval knightly tropes to the real world.13
- Dual Perspectives: By pairing the knight with his squire, Sancho Panza, Cervantes presents two conflicting views of reality. While Quixote sees heroic quests, Sancho perceives the practical, often disappointing truth, creating a dynamic interplay that moves beyond simple satire into psychological realism.3
- Meta-fictional Commentary: In the second part of the novel, Cervantes addresses the cultural impact of literature by having characters discuss the published accounts of Don Quixoteâs own adventures, further blurring the lines between fiction and reality.2
Through these techniques, Cervantes effectively signaled the end of the chivalric romance fashion while establishing the prototype for the modern novel.34