Essay: René Girard – triangular desire – Don Quixote

The first contention of René Girard’s seminal paper is that of triangular desire. Girard’s theory of triangular desire claims that the traditional cognizance of human desire, constituting of a subject and an object, is erroneous, stating that, instead, the veracity of desire depends on the interaction of three parties – the subject, object and a ‘mediator’, with the mediator of desire representing a figure which an individual imitates. Girard asserts that desire does not originate spontaneously, but that, rather, one desires an entity due to the imitation of a mediator who desires said object.
Girard delineates triangular desire through stating its manifestation in the literary works of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. For Girard, Cervantes’ protagonist exemplifies triangular desire in the character’s emulation of the chivalric hero Amadís de Gaula. Girard begins his paper with an epigraph which portrays Don Quixote’s mission to imitate Amadís; Cervantes writing: ‘I (Don Quixote) reckon that whoever imitates him (Amadís) best will come closest to perfect chivalry.’ The use of the long extract is typical of Girard’s methodology of literary criticism, the theorist using lengthy quotations at points throughout the essay, not centring on textual analysis of the quotation, instead enabling the passages to stand as autonomous agents which illustrate Girard’s ideology as they are. Moreover, Girard uses the Cervantian passage as a means of introducing his thesis of triangular desire, with the quotation illuminating Don Quixote’s imitation of Amadís, and hence, Amadís’ control over Don Quixote’s desires. Girard writes how Don Quixote ‘no longer chooses the objects of his own desire – Amadís must choose for him.’
Girard recognises a further example of triangular desire in Don Quixote with Cervantes’ Sancho Panza. Girard contends that the desires of Don Quixote’s squire to govern an ínsula and to have his daughter become a noblewoman, ‘do not come spontaneously to a simple man’ such as Sancho, who, before his quest with his master, was illiterate and uneducated. Furthermore, for Sancho, Don Quixote must form and inspire these desires, acting as the squire’s mediator within the model of triangular desire. As Girard writes, these desires ‘form a triangle of which the imaginary island, Don Quixote, and Sancho occupy the angles.’ It can be argued that Sancho’s leaving of his family and life in La Mancha, his aforementioned noble aspirations, as well as the apparentness of his admiration of Don Quixote, whom he ‘believed everything [he] said was true’ , all adhere to the triangular model of desire, with the mediator, Don Quixote, determining his subordinate’s desires. A further example of the mimetic nature of Sancho’s desire can be seen in his rhetorical imitation of his master. Sancho at points in the novel encourages, even augments, his master’s chivalric delusion; Sancho depicts the illusory yet beloved Dulcinea to Don Quixote, describing how the ‘princess’ and her damsels are ‘one flame of gold… covered with pearls, diamonds, rubies and Brocard… their hair flowing loose about their shoulders, like sunbeams in the wind.’ Sancho’s realization of beautiful imagery, as well as his use of the elevating simile, are all markedly incongruous with his customary idiomatic tone and low style. Further to this, Sancho adheres to Don Quixote’s perception of Dulcinea, using a regal or opulent semantic field and referring to her as a ‘princess’ as Don Quixote does (‘her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady’ )- and using natural metaphor as again his master does (‘her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral.’ ); The asyndetic description Sancho executes is an allusion to Don Quixote’s impassioned depiction of Dulcinea earlier in the novel . Sancho’s adherence to Don Quixote’s worldview, as well as his adoption (or attempt) of his master’s high rhetorical style, serve to exemplify the squire’s behavioural and psychological imitation of Don Quixote. It can be seen, therefore, that the Girardian concept of triangular desire is exemplified both in Don Quixote’s emulation of Amadís, and with Sancho’s imitation of his master.
Following his analysis of triangular desire in relation to Don Quixote, Girard supports his theory with a further example of imitative desire, with Emma Bovary ‘desir(ing) through the romantic heroines who fill her imagination.’ After corroborating the triangular desire of Cervantes’ and Flaubert’s works Girard introduces the structure again in Stendhal’s The Red and the Black. Through his engagement with this novel, Girard asserts his second contention of his paper, this being the distinction between external and internal mediation. Girard presents a differentiation in the metaphorical gestalt of triangular desire, contingent on the distance between the mediator of desire and the subject; Girard categorises this into external mediation- ‘when the distance is sufficient to eliminate any contact’ between the mediator and subject- and internal mediation- ‘when this same distance is sufficiently reduced to allow these two spheres to penetrate.’ Girard argues that with internal mediation, the proximity of the subject and his mediator is such that they act in competition with one another, hence ‘the mediator can no longer act his role of model without also acting or appearing to act the role of obstacle.’ Internal mediation is, for Girard, the foundation of hatred, jealousy and envy. Girard comments on psychological self-poisoning and self-hatred, reflecting on the cognitive dissonance of the subject’s destructive ambivalence towards the mediator, who the subject observes with both ‘submissive reverence and the most intense malice.’ As compared with the discordance of internal mediation both introspectively, and between the subject and mediator, Girard asserts that in external mediation the relationship between the mediator and subject is harmonious, as they are never bought into competition. He also notes that the subject of external desire tends to actively venerate his mediator- ‘worship(ping) his model openly and declar(ing) himself his disciple.’
Girard sees Don Quixote’s mimetic desire as an example of external mediation, with the mediator of the desire (Amadís) ‘enthralled in an inaccessible heaven.’ Noting the overtness of Don Quixote’s veneration and self-declared imitation of Amadís, Girard comments how this verifies the mode of external mediation in this relationship. With Don Quixote and Amadís, the ‘spiritual gap’ between the corners of triangular desire is fostered by the obvious issue of verisimilitude; Amadís is fictional, therefore Don Quixote and his mediator can never come into contact and fall to internal mediation. Girard observes this physical distance between the mediator and subject, but argues it is not necessary, presenting the external mediation of Don Quixote and Sancho’s relationship to justify this. The theorist states that although these men are ‘always close physically… the social and intellectual distance which separates them remains insuperable.’ Don Quixote and his squire are never in competition for the same object of desire, and therefore there exists a harmony between the socially and intellectually estranged companions. Girard therefore understands external mediation as being present in Don Quixote, in the relationships between Don Quixote and Amadís, and Don Quixote and Sancho.
After introducing his theory of external and internal mediation, Girard endeavours to present his final contention of the treatise, this being the distinction between the novelistic and romantic narrative. This hypothesis is nascent in the tactically homophonic title of the essay; the phonetically harmonic ‘romantique’ and ‘romanesque’, masterfully translating to the antithetical ‘Romantic deceit and novelistic truth.’ Girard discloses that, whilst desire is always tripartite, many novels fail to recognise this, therefore falling to the romantic lie of linear desire. The theorist argues that for a text to be novelistic, it must recognise the mimetic nature of desire. Extolling the literature of Proust, Flaubert, Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, Girard encapsulates his endorsement by stating that ‘great novelists reveal the imitative nature of desire.’ Furthermore, the final contention of Girard’s essay is this absolutist classification of what makes a novel significant being the recognition and presentation of the mimetic phenomenology of human desire.
For Girard, Don Quixote is the paragon of the novelistic model. To reason this, he reflects on the seemingly incongruous nature of the novella The Curious Impertinent, concluding that it is a masterful presentation of internal mediation, hence writing that ‘The Curious Impertinent is Cervantes’ Eternal Husband,’ directly relating the piece with the paradigm of Dostoevskian internal mediation. Girard postulates that with Cervantes’ work, ‘the novelist’s genius has grasped the extreme forms of imitative desire’ , contending that this literary superiority stems from the ‘simultaneous presence of external and internal mediation in the novel.’ Therefore, Girard dialogizes his concepts of the distinctions of the novelistic and romantic narrative with Don Quixote from this concluding that Don Quixote is the highest form of the novelistic endeavour.
Regarding the Girardian tenets this essay has presented, it is essential to observe and critique the possible objectives and implications of said theses. Girard’s first contention, that of triangular desire, is significant in its dismissal of individualism, Girard writing that ‘novelistic genius begins with the collapse of the “autonomous” self.’ With this in mind, his second contention- that of internal/external mediation- seems to celebrate social stagnancy, implying that with class adherence- staying in one’s social strata- one will not come in to conflict; Girard praises the harmony between Don Quixote and Sancho which he postulates arises due to the impossibility of Sancho ever ascending the hierarchy of the socially rigid and conservative 17th century Spain. Deceit Desire & the Novel’s denunciation of individualism as well as its positive appraisal of social stagnancy both suggest this paper’s function as a charge against the burgeoning liberalism Girard witnessed in the western consciousness, particularly in the aftermath of the second world war and progression of the Cold War, and perhaps most vividly during his years in America. The third contention of the novel, that of the definition of what makes a text novelistic, is problematic in that it is unfalsifiable. The structuralist approach Girard takes in the novel, despite being brilliant in its ability to compartmentalise and present his complex theses cogently, is somewhat troublesome in its obstinacy against other interpretations of text. Girard, for example, is resistant against prevalent queer readings of The Eternal Husband. Girard’s fixation on the white, heterosexual, male oriented approach to the literary canon, and his negation of anything but, implies the somewhat anti-progressionary nature of the academic, something that is supported by his aforementioned charge against liberal ideals. Despite this, Girard’s recognition of the complexity of the human psyche, behaviour and desire, his bold, unconventional style, as well as his innovative conviction as to the role of literature in edifying and demystifying the human condition, all demonstrate elements of the work which are defendable. Girard’s understanding of Don Quixote is effective due to its successful identification of triangular desire in the novel. However, Girard’s praise of Don Quixote is perhaps only indicative of his reactionary worldview, with the theorist sympathising with the reminiscence deeply rooted in the chivalric novel. In other words, Girard, like Cervantes’ hero, reminisces of a halcyon past- for Don Quixote this being the olden days of chivalry, and for Girard, this reminiscence is of a world without such prevalent liberalism, which exhibits itself in internal mediation due to liberal social mobility reducing distance between any mediator and subject.