The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

SOME QUICK BACKGROUND

Don Quixote, generally regarded as the first modern novel, was written by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616). It tells the story of the quests of the mad Quixote, who views the world through the lens of tales of chivalry. It is often compared in its genius, depth, and continued timeliness to the works of Shakespeare.

METAFICTIONAL ASPECTS of DON QUIXOTE

Don Quixote contains numerous elements of metafiction.

Frame Narrative: The frame narrative is a close sibling of the story within a story. In the framed narrative one plot serves as a structure to tell other smaller stories.

In Don Quixote, many chapters contain storytelling. In Book 1, Chapter XX, of Don Quixote, Sancho Panza tells a story to distract Don Quixote in order to prevent him from beginning a new "adventure" in the night-time. As part of this decidedly comic chapter, Sancho's story-telling is extremely verbose and repetitive (to take up more time). He begins his tale:

"Well, I'll tell you," Sancho continued, "that somewhere in Extramadura there was a goatherd, I mean to say the man tended goats, and the goatherd I was telling you about in my story was named..." (p. 145).*

The style of Sancho's story-telling furthers the plot. In addition, in a novel so much about story-telling, in which Quixote is frequently regaling Sancho with tales of chivalry, this story demonstrates the cleverness of Sancho in his attempt to emulate Quixote, as well. It flatters Quixote for his squire to imitate him. Though the idea to use a story to distract the "knight" is clever and grabs Quixote's attention, Sancho's style does not particularly appeal to him. The verbosity in addition to helping to delay Quixote's taking action might also hint at the way Sancho hears Quixote's stories, told as they are in an old-fashioned, formal style.

Historiographic Metafiction: Historiographic metafiction plays with the concepts of both metafiction and historiography, commenting on both the conventions of fiction and history. Works that are historiographic metafiction can often pose as found documents. This element is at the heart of Quixote. The Don's mad adventures as knight-errant are satirical renderings of the tales of chivalry with which that he has been obsessed. Throughout the novel, specific works are referenced, creating a sense of Intertextuality throughout.

Meta-reference: A meta-reference is any moment in a work that directly references the work's own status as a book. It often means the narrator acknowledging the presence of the audience, commenting on the narrative techniques used in the work, or breaking away from the narrative altogether to directly address the reader. Commonly in theater it is called "breaking the fourth wall" because of the invisible fourth wall that is meant to exist between the stage and the audience.

An example in Quixote occurs (again in Chapter XX). Sancho Panza weeps for his "sorrowful" knight, feeling especially grateful because the Don has been reminding Sancho of the rewards that await him if he stays by his knight's side.

Sancho began to cry again when he heard the sorrowful words of his good master, and he resolved not to leave him until the final conclusion and end of that affair.

These tears and Sancho Panza's honorable decision lead the author of this history to conclude that he must have been wellborn and, at the very least, an Old Christian; (p. 149).*

Occurring as they do throughout the narrative, these breaks make the reader consider the commentary of the narrator, in this case the theme of identity ("Old Christian" referring to someone with no Jewish or Muslim ancestors). The reader may choose to agree with the narrator in his views (in this case, whether or not Sancho is "honorable"), or to consider the motives of the narrator for calling him that. These comments provide a space for the reader to step back and think. They contribute to the complexity of the novel, which famously allows for so many readings; with some readers finding it possible to empathize with the ridiculous protagonist, while others especially delight in the satire or enjoy the relationship between Sancho and Quixote.

*

Cervantes, Miguel de. Don Quixote. Translated by Edith Grossman. NY: HarperCollins, 2005.

Written by Valerie Fox and Melissa Rodier