The Delusion of Enchantment in Miguel Cervantes’s Don Quixote and William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream

Krisztina Kodó

doi:10.1515/culture-2017-0049

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the present article is to investigate the conceptual framework of magic and enchantment in the works of Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra and William Shakespeare. The works chosen for this comparative study are Don Quixote and Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare and Cervantes portray an ironic vision that may seem comic and grotesque on the surface, but in fact shows a violent and malign world. The portrayal of fantasy and realism parallel with the delusionary aspects of enchantment create an interplay between the ironic mockery and reality as seen through the experiences of the characters themselves. The delusions of enchantment experienced by the protagonists present a flawed world where jealousy, greed and corruption prevail.

Highlights

The aim of the present article is to investigate the conceptual framework of magic and enchantment in the works of Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra and William Shakespeare
The portrayal of fantasy and realism parallel with the delusionary aspects of enchantment create an interplay between the ironic mockery and reality as seen through the experiences of the characters themselves
Within the present essay I aim to investigate the conceptual framework on the usage of magic and enchantment in two of the world’s most noteworthy writers, Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra (1547-1616) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Summary

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The Delusion of Enchantment in Miguel Cervantes’s Don Quixote and ... 523 for his great poetry and dramatic oeuvre, while in the case of Cervantes there is a source that refers to a Miguel de Cervantes as a “beloved pupil” of an Erasmus intellectual named Juan López de Hoyos in 1569 at a municipal school in Madrid (“Cervantes Britannica.com”). The mountains, like the forest, are an endless labyrinth and only the shepherds and goat herders ( the fairies in Shakespeare’s play) know the way out This is a world of its own where the borders between seeming and reality cease to exist. These books, on the one hand, offer images of another convention, which the priest considers harmful and dangerous, though he admits that he reads chivalric literature, as well In his portrayal of Spanish society Cervantes shows that the readership of chivalric literature is divided by those who believe in it, like Don Quixote and the goat herders, and those who merely read it for pleasure (as the Innkeeper, Cardenio, Don Fernando, the priest, etc.), and consider it an enjoyable fairy tale. The only person who comes to believe and admire Don Quixote, though with added scepticism, is Sancho Panza, who provides a balance between the enchanting world of chivalry and the harsh realities of contemporary life. The bodily outward features of the two main protagonists, thereby, enhance this duality, which is reflected in the double sidedness of life that allows for magical enchantment, and deception and trickery

Conclusion

Works Cited