Study Questions & Essay Topics
Study Questions
1. How does Don
Quixote's perception of reality affect other characters' perceptions
of the world? Does his disregard for social convention change the
rules of conduct for the other characters?
2. What attitude
does the novel take toward social class? How is social class a factor
in relationships between characters?
3. Like Hamlet's
madness, Don Quixote's insanity is the subject of much controversy
among literary critics. Is Don Quixote really insane, or is his
behavior a conscious choice? What might account for the change in his
behavior over the course of the novel?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. Throughout Don Quixote, Cervantes
claims that his novel is a true history about real people and based
on documented evidence. Why does he make this claim? How do his
games with history and authorship advance the themes of the novel?
2. Many characters in Don
Quixote serve as foils, or opposites, of other characters.
What role do these opposed pairs play in developing the novel's
themes?
3. What is the role of parody
in Don Quixote? How does the novel mock books of
chivalry, and how does it defend them? Do the characters who mock
and try to humiliate Don Quixote come across in a positive or a
negative light?
4. Don Quixote highly
values genuine romantic love, yet many of the love stories embedded
in Don Quixote are resolved only through trickery.
What is Cervantes implying if true love in the novel can be realized
only by deceit?
5. How would you characterize
each of Don Quixote's three expeditions? What is the significance
of having three expeditions rather than one long expedition? How
do the two parts of the novel differ?
