Miguel de Cervantes was kind of a genius. Of course, this means that he died a bitter and lonely old man, but that doesn't discount the fact that his best-known work is just brilliant and completely ahead of its time.
If there is one thing to know about Don Quijote, it is that he read so many books (specifically libros de caballería or knights' tales) that he went a little crazy. He sets off on a misadventure through La Mancha, and in the process, takes the reader on a nice little tour of QuijoteLand--that wonderful place in his mind where his adventures really happen.
The true genius of Don Quijote, though, is revealed at the very beginning of the book: in the prologue. Prologues in this time period had a very specific pattern: the author adopted a false modesty and begged the reader not to judge him too harshly, he claimed that he wrote the book in a pleasant place, he gave thanks to the person who had financed the book's printing and told the reader his intentions in writing the book (since fiction was still a little suspect).
But of course, Cervantes, being so avant-guarde, didn't follow this script at all in his prologue. He starts off: "Desocupado lector" (Unoccupied/Idle reader). That's kind of an insult...doesn't really make me want to hold his book in high regard. He tells us that he wrote the book in prison, which, knowing Cervantes, was probably quite likely. He spent quite a lot of time in prisons, apparently.
And of course, he added something to his prologue that was so revolutionary that I am still marveling at it. He formulated (and answered) his own version of the tree-in-the-forest riddle: If a story has no readers, is it still a story? For Cervantes, the answer was, "No."
I am not sure I understand why the prologue was revolutionary, but I will go with you on it!
ReplyDeleteIt was revolutionary because it breaks with the traditional prologue entirely. He does exactly the opposite of what he was supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, everyone remembers Cervantes and Don Quijote, but very few people (outside of those who actually study this period, and maybe some Spaniards) know who Lope de Vega was and remember what he wrote.
Lope de Vega was a contemporary of Cervantes. And I can't even tell you something that he wrote off the top of my head.