Don Quixote: In Defense of Judaism

Abstract

It seems that one of the episodes in Don Quixote includes a veiled defense of Judaism, in particular an argument that Jews are not guilty of deicide, have the right to be left unmolested, and that forced conversions are wrong. In Book I, chapter 12-14, Cervantes relates the story of the death of Grisostomo, a shepherd apparently about thirty years old who fell in love with Marcela, a shepherdess who was so beautiful that all who looked at her instantly fell in love with her. Grisostomo wrote plays for Christmas eve and allegorical dramas for the feast of Corpus Christi. Marcela rejected Grisostomo, who either died of love or killed himself. Don Quixote is told how Marcela caused Grisostomo death and travels to see his funeral. Some writers have focused on what the story tells us about the relative virtues of marriage and celibacy, the pastoral ideal of freedom, and the desire for literature to achieve a measure of immortality. I would like to suggest another dimension — the defense of Judaism from attacks based on Christian antisemitism. Just as Grisostomo was a writer of allegorical plays about the body and blood of Christ, the story of Grisostomo and Marcela can be read in part as an allegory about Jesus, the Church, and the Jews. While it seems that Cervantes may have wanted to disguise the allegory because of the controversial nature of its message, there are too many to clues as to meaning to be ignored.