During the life of Cervantes, Spain was a place of confusion, disparity and change. On the one hand, it was at the height of its European domination due to the huge influx of wealth provided by its American colonies, but on the other, it was suffering some of it’s most crippling defeats in its history such as the annihilation of its seemingly invincible Spanish armada in 1588. Therefore, during this somewhat chaotic time, popular literature was usually fanciful and used as a form of escapism from reality; predominantly chivalric romances about knights in shining armour, damsels in distress and practicing the code of knighthood (despite the Renaissance encouraging a new humanism in literature). Cervantes himself stated that he wrote Don Quixote in order to “undermine the influence of those vain and empty books of chivalry” whilst providing jocular material for his reader’s entertainment. He succeeded, as Don Quixote marked the end of publications of chivalric romances in the way they had existed before . What makes this so amazing is that he wasn’t the first, as Professor Edwin Williamson puts it: "There had been numerous burlesques and parodies of romance before Cervantes, but what made the crucial difference was Cervantes' brilliant idea of making a country gentleman go mad from too much reading” . This novel introduced a new style of writing, motivated by the vision of a new Spain destined to emancipate itself from the traditions of the old, whilst using metaphor and an amusing fictional storyline in order to comment on extremely important social occurrences such as slavery, subordination, politics and the morality of the human race. Don Quixote is symbolic of the desire for change in Spain: from the outdated norms of society to new and ‘Avant Garde’ ideas and ways of living.
In order to make his novel far more than a story about a delusional man jousting with windmills, Cervantes cleverly riddles Don Quixote with metaphors and symbols in order to comment on events happening as he wrote in an almost satirical way. A regularly bypassed symbol in the novel is the character of Don Quixote himself. Throughout the first 8 chapters, he is portrayed as patronising and arrogant with an inflated ego and as a man who sees himself as superior to others, especially Sancho. Some critics have interpreted this as a reflection of authorities such as the government and the monarchy at the time of Cervantes who preached, ordered and spoke out to the nation with confidence in their words, yet really knew very little (particularly concerning the Spanish Armada). In Chapter 8, Don Quixote’s dismissal of Sancho’s proposition that the figures in the distance are not giants but “molinos de viento […con] las aspas” shows his ignorance as a character as both Sancho and the reader know that he is wrong. We also learn that Quixote “no se dejó reir de la simplicidad de su escuerdo” which is extremely ironic as “su escuerdo” is actually the intellectual one of the two. Many readers and critics of the extract claim that this line alludes to the ignorance of Phillip II of Spain when he was adamant that the Armada was ‘invincible’ and ‘undefeatable’, despite being questioned by his subjects, yet was proven to be very wrong.
Cervantes also uses smaller and more improbable metaphors and symbols in order to comment on society at the time. Quixote, when wanting to become the great knight of La Mancha, chose to “impiar una armadura que había pertenecido a sus antepasados y que durante siglos había estado olvidada en un rincón, cubierta de óxido y moho". This image of old and rusty armour that had been used by his ancestors represents the physical reality of knights in 17th century Spain which is a complete contrast with their so-called chivalric, heroic and romantic culture. Spanish “caballeros” had become obsolete by 1605 as a result of the Spanish Armada, just like how Quixote’s armour was now rusty, old and virtually useless. Spaniards and the character of Don Quixote were often infatuated by the chivalric legends and the romanticised view of knights despite the reality of their waning stature and existence, so this metaphor has the joint power of making a parody of Spanish literature and of knighthood at the same time.
The allusion to the idea of ‘reality’ is prominent theme throughout the first 8 chapters of Don Quixote and is very important in relaying viewpoints on society. In the text, the “imagined realities” of the chivalric attributes that make every run-down inn a castle and every prostitute a fair damsel worth fighting for, starkly contrasts to the brutal reality of 17th century Spain. Anthony Close, a Cervantes specialist and professor at Cambridge University, says this conflict "opened up a rich psychological field and a sector of reality – the everyday – that had remained virtually untouched by literature before Cervantes” which emphasises the significance of Cervantes’ unique writing style in order to make comments on real life. One cannot breach the subject of illusion and reality within the first 8 chapters of the novel without discussing the windmill scenario of Chapter 8. Quixote is so caught up in his imaginary fantastical world that the line between fiction and reality which is so carefully moulded by Cervantes throughout the novel is completely blurred. He is so certain that his imagination is reality that he even claims that “es gran servicio de Dios quitar tan mala simiente de sobre la faz de la tierra”- a rather melodramatic statement in which Quixote believes it to be his God-given duty to fight the giants. Here, Don Quixote acts in the role of a madman, whilst Sancho adopts the character of ‘the voice of reason’. This idea of imagination versus reality is symbolic of Cervantes’ attempt to parody popular literature of his time in the way that they depicted a very romanticised view of life which couldn’t be further away from reality.
Cervantes’ writing style enables him to question and make parodies of society at the time in a far more discreet way. Cervantes uses a satirical tone which makes the reader begin to question reality and reflect more deeply on the world around them- between imagination and reality . Through parody of the chivalric romances of the time, Cervantes uses irony and sarcasm in order to cleverly weave serious arguments into the humorous storyline. This is clear from the beginning of the first eight chapters, in which Cervantes clearly labels Quixote’s efforts to become a knight as foolish, saying that he is “desafortunadamente tropezó con la más extraña fantasía que jamás haya entrado en el cerebro de un loco, "que es convertirse en un caballero errante". However, he later refers to him as a ‘valiente caballero”, juxtaposing to his prior allusion to the mind of a madman and hinting a sarcastic tone. Cervantes regularly uses this literary technique in order to create humour, but only for those who are willing to look closely into the text and notice these small ironic details as some people believe that this technique is ‘simply storytelling and does not conceal any hints of social commentary nor philosophical musings’ .
Written by a writer who was so ahead of his time in terms of literary style and idea, it is no wonder that Don Quixote is still so resonant today, 400 years later. Often compared to Shakespeare’s plays, it has been absorbed into culture and even created new vocabulary- the term ‘quixotic’ to name just one. The way in which Cervantes uses such an amusing and enticing storyline to conceal such profound comments on life and society at the time is something which is extremely hard to replicate. Chapters 1 to 7 and of course the most famous Chapter 8 are pivotal in introducing the arrogant and arguably buffoonish character of Don Quixote and building the foundations of a story full of metaphor and hidden meaning. Using metaphor, parody and blurring the line between fact and fiction, the first eight chapters of Don Quixote are a vehicle for views and comments on society, and tell us so much about Spain at the time.