Week 2: 5/12 - Pt 1, Ch VII-XIV

[Kristi]

What do you think of Sancho Panza? What are your thoughts on his relationship with Don Quixote?


I'd also like to keep thinking about last week's question, since it seems to still be applicable: How does Don Quixote’s perception of reality affect other characters’ perceptions of the world? Does his disregard for social convention change the rules of conduct for the other characters?

[John]

This book continues to surprise me, particularly with the almost "meta" aspect of the narrator talking about how he had an incomplete manuscript and found the rest of the story later...basically just to create a cliffhanger in the fight sequence :)

For me the fight kind of destroyed any possibility that DQ could be viewed as a harmless romantic -- it was an unprovoked attack on law abiding citizens! It will be interesting to see if and when DQ is forced to face the consequences of his actions and illusions.

I like Sancho. He seems like maybe he'll manage to keep DQ out of trouble at least a little bit...the one thing I can't figure out is: does he really think DQ is going to be able to give him land and a title? I know he was described as not being the brightest bulb, but still...

I enjoyed Marcela's character - she seems kind of like a proto-feminist :) ...I was feeling defensive of her when the Funeral-goers were blaming her for not returning love, and was happy that she showed up to rebuke them so effectively.

[Hilary]

Even after Quixote's battle attempt and on procuring his deserved injury, Sancho ministers to him. He bandages his ear with rosemary and salt which seems to do the trick. So far, I believe that he does expect his master to bestow great honours upon him, though I believe that his care for Quixote is from a genuine heart and not merely to curry favour.

I feel for Marcella; her only crime not to return her

[Hilary]

...not to return her admirer's love.
The cruel epitaph underlines her treachery:

Here of a wretched swain
The frozen body's laid,
Kill'd by the cold disdain
Of an ungrateful maid.

Regarding how DQ is perceived by others, we encounter a
little interchange between the goatherd Peter and Quixote which I find amusing. Peter proudly demonstrates the great intelligence of the deceased and his great knowledge while Quixote constantly corrects him.
'We call it an eclipse...and not a clip,'
'You would say "sterile"'
'That science...is called Astrology.'
All Quixote's great learning fails to impress Peter. Perhaps this gives some indication how DQ is perceived by others. Many seem convinced that he is mad and play along or, at least, pay little attention to him.

[[deleted user]]

Sancho Panzo is a likeable sidekick but obviously isn't the brightest person in the world. However, I imagine poverty would make him more willing to leave his wife and children in hopes of gaining a better position in life (supposedly) with Quixote's help. Panzo does seem to have more common sense than Quixote, at least attempting to warn his master that he is planning on attacking windmills!!

The goat herders tolerate Quixote's weird speech about being a protector of Maidens and respond back with silence. Perhaps they are just being polite and playing along with the whole concept of him being a knight, even though they realize he isn't--

[Esther]

This a bit of side-point but I was beginning to wonder about the book's treatment of women until Marcella showed up. It provides an interesting insight into DQ's view of the world. He has this reverential awe of women and conflates their beauty and their goodness. I like how Marcella refuted this, and also how DQ both simultaneously defends what she wants but also fundamentally misunderstands her.

[Lyndi (mibookobsession)]

I think Sancho must also be slightly mad for continuing to stay with DQ even after the windmill incident and being badly beaten himself after DQ attacked the friars! Everyone else can tell that DQ is mad but Sancho. "Only Sancho, knowing who he was and having known him since he was born, thought that everything his master said was true..." Wouldn't that be all the more reason to suspect he was mad? That he took a new name, started to wear armor, and dubbed himself a knight after being an ordinary villager didn't seem a little strange to him?!
I love that Marcela doesn't feel obligated to fall in love with, or marry, every idiot that falls in love with her beauty. I hope there's more about this character later.

[[deleted user]]

Yes, I agree that Sancho must be mad as well to believe all that his master says.

Considering the author's point of view, I just accept that he needed to include a secondary character to follow Quixote around during the weird escapades. Otherwise the story would have been far more boring with much less verbal communication between characters, unless he had Quixote talk to himself. :-)

[HeyT]

I know I'm a little behind but I just finished this section today and I think it is great that something women struggle with today can be found way back when. I mean it's sad that women today still have to tell men that just because you think you are infatuated with me it doesn't mean I'm obligated to reciprocate. I just really liked Marcela and think she would fit in today just fine.

[Linda]

The change in narration was definitely funny, and if I had not known it was coming (for having read a bit about the book beforehand), I would have been puzzled by what the heck was going on! I liked it, though. Pretty inventive.

Like Hilary, I found Don Quixote constantly correcting Peter pretty funny. And Peter couldn't care less.

Lyndi and Lisa bring up a good point about Sancho having to be at least a little bit mad to believe that he will be governor of an island someday simply by being Don Quixote's squire - I had not thought of that.

And speaking of Sancho moving up in the world, I found it humorous, though sad, that he thinks so little of his wife that she would not be able to take on the task of being a countess, let alone a Queen. "Look here sir, she wouldn't be worth two brass farthings as a queen - countess would suit her better, and even that'd be hard going for her." Yet Sancho is more than willing to be king or governor and thinks he would be suitable for such a job?

My favorite bit this section was the dialogue between DQ and Sancho regarding their rations. Sancho sadly states that he only has an onion, hunk of cheese, and bread to offer Don Quixote, yet DQ is perfectly fine with it and then launches into what knights errant normally eat, how they are used to this type of "country fare". And Sancho's response is:

"I'm sorry I'm sure," said Sancho. "Not knowing how to read or write, as I said before, I haven't been able to find out about all these rules of knighthood. From now on I'll put all sorts of nuts and raisins into the saddle-bags for you, being as you are a knight, and for me, not being one, I'll put in feathered provisions of greater substance."

Ha ha! So great. Sancho, for whatever adventures DQ leads him to, still has his total comfort in the forefront of his mind.

[Hilary]

So true, Lynda. Good ol' Sancho is not so slow after all!

[Hilary]

Sorry @Linda! Excuse my misspelling...

[Renee]

Marcella us my favorite character so far. I love that Cervantes included her, and I agree with whoever said she seems quite modern to be found in this old classic tale. As a character, she presents the perfect opportunity for Cervantes to address the way women are objectified in the literature he lampoons. Not valued or seen for themselves with all their faults and strengths, but merely as beautiful objects to be acquired or used to represent ideals that may have nothing to do with their reality. I love that Cervantes has Marcella show up to repudiate everything done and said about her, both by the gormless Gristomo and those who accepted his unfounded accusations.

I'm surprised that she didn't turn out to be DQ's Dulcinea. Although, the fact that he just seems to have chosen someone randomly to rename and objectify does fit more with the theme.