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Literature
The Renaissance
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
ABOUT THE READING Many scholars consider Don Quixote the first modern novel. The book gives a view of seventeenth-century Spanish society. Miguel de Cervantes originally intended this story to be a slapstick spoof of romantic chivalry. Now the novel is interpreted as a warm, human tale about a conflict between idealism and practicality.
VOCABULARY hack an old horse ardor enthusiasm avidity eagerness conceits witty expressions folderol nonsense
As you read the passage below, pay attention to the author’s subtle humor as he describes Don Quixote. In a village of La Mancha, which I prefer to leave un-named, there lived not long ago one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old shield, a lean hack, and a greyhound for hunting. A stew of rather more beef than mutton, hash on most nights, bacon and eggs on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sunday consumed three quarters of his income. The rest went for a coat of fine cloth and velvet breeches and shoes to match for holidays, while on weekdays he cut a fine figure in his best homespun. He had in his house a housekeeper past forty, a niece under twenty, and a lad for the field and marketplace, who saddled the hack as well as handled the pruning knife. The age of this gentleman of ours was bordering on fifty. He was of a hardy constitution, spare, gaunt-featured, a very early riser, and fond of hunting . . . You must know that the above-named gentleman devoted his leisure (which was mostly all the Source: From Don Quixote: Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. John Ormsby, trans. Joseph R. Jones and Kenneth Douglas, eds. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981.
Mutton is meat from an older sheep, usually 2 years or older. It was a cheap food source that was often tough and dry.
What description in this paragraph is an example of the conflict between practicality and idealism?
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Don Quixote, continued
Literature
year round) to reading books of chivalry—with such ardor and avidity that he almost entirely abandoned the chase and even the management of his property. To such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillage land to buy books of chivalry to read, and bringing home all he could find. But there were none he liked so well as those written by the famous Feliciano de Silva, for their lucidity of style and complicated conceits were as pearls in his sight, particularly when in his reading he came upon outpourings of adulation and courtly challenges. There he often found passages like “the reason of the unreason with which my reason is afflicted so weakens my reason that with reason I complain of your beauty . . .” Over this sort of folderol the poor gentleman lost his wits, and he used to lie awake striving to understand it and worm out its meaning; though Aristotle himself could have made out or extracted nothing had he come back to life for that special purpose.
Underline the example of a simile.
ANALYZING LITERATURE 1. Main Idea What type of person do you think Don Quixote is? Why?
2. Critical Thinking: Drawing Inferences What can you tell about life in Spain in the
seventeenth century from this description?
3. Activity Imagine you are writing a biographical dictionary. Create a half-page
entry about Cervantes. You can research the information on the Web or at the media center at your school.
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2. Love is portrayed as a real presence that has
the power to grant wishes, in this case, the speaker’s desire to see the one he loves again.
3. Letters will vary.
Biography Jan van Eyck, Raphael, and Titian
WHAT DID YOU LEARN? Madrigal 2 1. The speaker considers himself or herself
WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
to be beautiful.
1. Possible answers: Jan van Eyck, Raphael,
2. Possible answer: Beauty is a gift, but one
and Titian were all painters.
that is short-lived.
2. Possible answers: Jan van Eyck, Raphael,
and Titian each contributed his own innovative painting techniques and styles. They served as examples of the humanist tendency in art during the Renaissance. They were great influences on fellow artists of the time and later.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN? The Passionate Man’s Song by John Fletcher 1. The person goes walking around at night
with his or her head down and arms crossed, staring at the ground, unspeaking, but sighing heavily. The writer suggests that even though the melancholy person suffers, there is a sweetness to the suffering that is enjoyable. 2. Answers will vary. Examples: The writer believes that melancholy people are also passionate people. The “passionate man” of the title enjoys being melancholy and wants to sing about it.
ACTIVITY 3. Pamphlets will vary.
Literature CALL-OUT BOXES: 1. Don Quixote sells useful land to buy books. 2. “complicated conceits were as pearls in his
sight”
ANALYZING LITERATURE
MAKE A COMPARISON
1. He is an educated man because he reads
1. They all involve passion and emotions,
novels. He is also somewhat impractical because he sells good land to buy novels. He also doesn’t work very hard. Most of his time is spent on leisure activities. 2. The people ate hash, lentils, bacon, eggs, beef, mutton, and pigeons. They dressed up on holidays. Some of them enjoyed hunting and had housekeepers and helpers. 3. Answers will vary.
such as love, vanity, or despair. 2. Answers will vary. Examples: The
Renaissance was a time in which people liked singing about feelings, such as love and sadness. They used songs as a way to tell other how they were feeling and explore their emotions.
Primary Source Songs of the Renaissance WHAT DID YOU LEARN? Madrigal 1 1. The person the speaker compares to the
sun is the person the speaker loves. In line 4, the speaker mentions his heart, the organ connected with love. In line 7, the speaker mentions love. Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
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