Don Quixote [Day 2]

I thought that the 'play on authorship' seemed to appear the most in chapters 10-18. I also thought that the idea of reality vs. imagination was especially prominent in these chapters. I realise it was apparent in the first set of chapters, but the adventures Don Quixote undertakes in these next chapters really emphasize his confusion with what he sees in his mind and what is actually happening in front of him.

The play on authorship occurs in chapters 14, 15, and 16. On page 112, in chapter 14, Cervantes reminds us that this isn't his story, but in fact a history that he is copying down. "But events didn't turn out as he expected, according to what is related in the course of this true history...". A few pages later, Cervantes begins chapter 15 with the mention of the author of this history. "The wise Cide Hamete Benengeli says that as soon as Don Quixote had taken his leave of his hosts and of everyone else at Grisostomo's burial, he and his squire rode off into the forest where Marcela had disappeared" (115). Cervantes is continually reminding us that he did not write this story. This reminds me of medieval authors, such as Chaucer, who, when retelling stories by other authors, would point out that they themselves didn't write this story, so if the reader has a problem with it, it's not his fault. The third play on authorship occurs on page 125 in chapter 16. This time, Cervantes makes mention of the type of author Cide Hamete Benengeli was. "...according to the author of this history, who makes special mention of this man, because he knew him very well, some people even claiming that the two of them were related - quite apart from the fact that Cide Hamete Benengeli was a careful and meticulous historian, something that's obvious enough, for he refused to pass in silence over the happenings related so far, even though they're so petty and trivial, which should serve as an example to those grave historians who recount events so very succintly that we can hardly catch a taste them and, out of carelessness, malice or ignorance, the most substantial part is left in their inkwells". It is clear that Cervantes takes some issue with the way Cide has written this history, which makes sense because he is a Moor, and the Spaniards didn't particularly care for the Moors.

I think the reason for the plays on authorship is that Cervantes wants this book to actually seem like a historical text. In his prologue, he speaks to his friend, who tells him to add in Latin phrases and all these other things to make his story more credible.

Throughout the story so far, Don Quixote has had a hard time discerning reality from his imagination. He mistakes the windmills as giants, and the herds of sheep as advancing armies. However, the reason behind all his confusion is enchantments and his enemy, the enchanter Freston. Whenever he comes back to reality and realises things aren't what he imagines them to be, he blames it on the fact that the evil enchanter must have cast a spell and changed them. When Don Quixote and Sancho are beat up at the inn, the officer from the Holy Brotherhood isn't a man but in fact "the enchanted Moor". Later, when they have left the inn, Don Quixote is still going on about enchantments, and how the inn was enchanted, and how "they must have enchanted me; for I swear, by my body and bones, that, had I been able to either climb or to dismount, I should have exacted such revenge..." (137, chapter 18).

While it is comical that Don Quixote is living in his own imagination, it is also very dangerous. All the adventures he and Sancho undertake have ended in injury. He has really not been able to help any women or orphans, or conquer other knights. All the people he should be fighting against and defeating, those who are actually 'bad' people, like the Yanguas muleteers, end up hurting him and leaving him half-dead.