Don Quixote

Is this a thinly veiled critique of certain monkey-faced world leaders? :lol:

.. and his loving public who thinks of the idiot as a hero?

 

Cool. "How does a destructive, delusional idiot become a univeral hero?"

Good question indeed!

 

Where did you get the idea that Don Quixote was ever a "great hero" to anyone? While people often compare their opponents to Don Quixote, no one would ever identify themselves with that character.

 

My first instinct would be to ask George. That proves it can be done.

 

Don Quixote was a romantic idealist and had all the faults that come with that role!!

I actually have to disagree with people not identifying with some aspect of Don Quixote - everyone is frustrated at the wrongs that occur in the complex world we live in today and also at what might be viewed as our individual inability to correct or deal with those wrongs. Don Quixote acted out out his desire to correct all wrongs and you can see what he experienced. There is a message here somewhere and when we figure it out the world will be headed in the right direction.

Actually here is an extract from a web site that makes a comment on the meaning of Don QUixote - "...Different ages have tended to read different things into the novel. When it first came out, it was usually interpreted as a comic novel. After the French Revolution it was popular in part due to its central ethic that individuals can be right while society is quite wrong and disenchanting—not comic at all. In the 19th century it was seen as a social commentary, but no one could easily tell "whose side Cervantes was on". By the 20th century it became clear that it was simply a unique and great work, the first true modern novel...". Here is the link to that web site - http://www.answers.com/topic/don-quixote

 

The curent mantra of many people today is that "as long as it is for the right reason...do anything you want". Many failed policies (both liberal and conservative) suffer from the "feel good" reasoning rather than the "does it really work" reasoning.

I didn't know he was a hero. People who consider him a hero probably look to other leaders based on what they "say" not what they "do".

 

Universally regarded as a hero by whom???? The intellectuals, the teachers, the literally critics, the corrida fighters, whom?
I don't regard him as a hero, but you might. I will agree that in Spain he is regarded as a hero but universally all over the world? Not really.
Maybe you think he was regarded as a "hero" because a "hero" in a novel is just a principal male character?

 

In addition, since when is referring to a person, his/her attributes, or goals as "quixotic" or "quixotical" considered to be complimentary? I've always sort of been left with the opposite impression.

 

This reminds me of the George C. Scott movie They Might Be Giants. In that movie George C. Scott played a judge who thought he was Sherlock Holmes. He said that Don Quixote was crazy because he thought windmills were giants. If he had said they might be giants he wouldn't be crazy.

 

Yes, he was a romantic idealist, but he was also singularly out of touch with reality. I'm not saying the character is without admirable qualities--far from it. He possessed the most admirable qualities we normally associate with the medieval nobility, including a marked "greatness of spirit" or magnanimity. Ultimately, however, the character is quite out of his mind, and no one in his right mind would choose emulate him. Come to think of it, however, I can see how a prisoner might find a special attraction for Don Quixote.

 

does one mean many?

 

Daniel

At first I resented being "forced" to take Alternative and Liberal Ed credit classes in college (20 credit hours I'd rather have spent taking Chem or Math or computer science), but I now am generally thankful for those clases - including Classic Lit - for enriching me with broader horizons.

After reading Don Quixote a few times in college, I had come to the conclusion that the story was a warning to us for not taking social circumstances, politics, etc, at face value without questioning the underlying meaning or "real" issue. By not taking the warning to heart, we run the very real risk of becoming that which we fear or try to prevent.

Eg: "tough on immigration" and we become as brutal and repressive as other countries we routinely chastise.

Or maybe I'm just getting sentimental and romantic about my early college days.

jay

 

Literary license allows an author to create symbolic scenes which can take many forms and they should not be confused with reality. The spirit of the idealisms should rise above the literal interpretation of the author's fictional events. I only wish that deep inside all of us there lies the slightest desire to do the right thing regardless of the potential minor or significant impact on me physically, mentally or spiritually.

Sorry for waxing philosophic!!

Daniel, thanks for raising the subject.