Editing Don Quixote (section)

==Style and interpretations==
===Use of language===
The novel's farcical elements make use of punning and similar verbal playfulness. Character-naming in ''Don Quixote'' makes ample figural use of contradiction, inversion, and irony, such as the names ''[[Rocinante]]''<ref>{{lang|es|rocinante}}: deriv. of ''rocín'', work horse; colloq., brusque labourer; rough, unkempt man. Real Academia Española.</ref> (a reversal) and ''[[Dulcinea]]'' (an allusion to illusion), and the word {{lang|es|quixote}} itself, possibly a pun on {{lang|es|quijada}} (jaw) but certainly<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=P. E. |date=1969 |title="Don Quixote" as a Funny Book |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3723440 |journal=The Modern Language Review |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=312–326 |doi=10.2307/3723440 |jstor=3723440 |issn=0026-7937}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dulcinea {{!}} Don Quixote, Aldonza, Love Interest {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dulcinea |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> {{lang|es|cuixot}} (Catalan: thighs), a reference to a horse's [[rump (animal)|rump]].<ref>quijote<sup>'''1.2'''</sup>: rump or haunch. Real Academia Española.</ref>

As a military term, the word ''quijote'' refers to ''[[cuisses]]'', part of a full suit of [[plate armour]] protecting the thighs. The Spanish suffix ''-ote'' denotes the augmentative—for example, ''grande'' means large, but ''grandote'' means extra large, with grotesque connotations. Following this example, ''Quixote'' would suggest 'The Great Quijano', an oxymoronic play on words that makes much sense in light of the character's delusions of grandeur.<ref>{{Cite book|last=González Echevarría|first=Roberto|title=Cervantes' Don Quixote|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2015|isbn=9780300213317|location=New Haven|chapter=1. Introduction: Why Read the Quixote?}}</ref>

Cervantes wrote his work in [[Early Modern Spanish]], heavily borrowing from [[Old Spanish]], the medieval form of the language. The language of ''Don Quixote'', although still containing [[archaisms]], is far more understandable to modern Spanish readers than is, for instance, the completely medieval Spanish of the ''[[Poema de mio Cid]]'', a kind of Spanish that is as different from Cervantes' language as [[Middle English]] is from [[Modern English]]. The Old Castilian language was also used to show the higher class that came with being a knight errant.

In ''Don Quixote'', there are basically two different types of Castilian: Old Castilian is spoken only by Don Quixote, while the rest of the roles speak a contemporary (late 16th century) version of Spanish. The Old Castilian of Don Quixote is a humoristic resource—he copies the language spoken in the chivalric books that drove him to madness; and many times when he talks nobody is able to understand him because his language is too old. This humorous effect is more difficult to see nowadays because the reader must be able to distinguish the two old versions of the language, but when the book was published it was much celebrated. (English translations can get some sense of the effect by having Don Quixote use [[King James Version|King James Bible]] or Shakespearean English, or even [[Middle English]].)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quixote, Spanish Literature, Novelist {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miguel-de-Cervantes/Publication-of-Don-Quixote |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Don Quixote: Translation from Castilian Spanish to Mandarin and back again {{!}} The UNESCO Courier |url=https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/don-quixote-castilian-spanish-mandarin-and-back-again |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=courier.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref>

In Old Castilian, the letter ''x'' represented the sound written ''sh'' in modern English, so the name was originally pronounced {{IPA|osp|kiˈʃote|}}. However, as Old Castilian evolved towards modern Spanish, a [[sound change]] caused it to be pronounced with a [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPAblink|x}} sound (like the [[Scots language|Scots]] or [[German language|German]] ''ch''), and today the Spanish pronunciation of "Quixote" is {{IPA|es|kiˈxote|}}. The original pronunciation is reflected in languages such as [[Asturian language|Asturian]], [[Leonese dialect|Leonese]], [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[French language|French]], where it is pronounced with a "sh" or "ch" sound; the French opera ''[[Don Quichotte]]'' is one of the best-known modern examples of this pronunciation.

Today, English speakers generally attempt something close to the modern Spanish pronunciation of ''Quixote'' (''Quijote''), as {{IPAc-en|k|iː|ˈ|h|oʊ|t|i|}},<ref name="oed"/> although the traditional English [[spelling pronunciation|spelling-based pronunciation]] with the value of the letter x in modern English is still sometimes used, resulting in {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|k|s|ə|t|}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|k|s|oʊ|t|}}. In [[Australian English]], the preferred pronunciation amongst members of the educated classes was {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|w|ɪ|k|s|ə|t|}} until well into the 1970s, as part of a tendency for the upper class to "anglicise its borrowing ruthlessly".<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=P. H.|editor1-last=Peters|title=Style in Australia: current practices in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, capitalisation, etc.|year=1986|publisher=Dictionary Research Centre, [[Macquarie University]]|location=[[Macquarie Park, New South Wales]]|isbn=978-0858375888|pages=48–49}}</ref> The traditional English rendering is preserved in the pronunciation of the adjectival form ''[[quixotism|quixotic]]'', i.e., {{IPAc-en|k|w|ɪ|k|ˈ|s|ɒ|t|ɪ|k}},{{refn|{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|access-date=26 January 2016|quixotic}}}}{{refn|{{Dictionary.com|access-date=26 January 2016|quixotic}}}} defined by ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'' as the foolishly impractical pursuit of ideals, typically marked by rash and lofty romanticism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quixotic |title=Quixotic |publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |access-date=17 May 2010}}</ref>

===Meaning===
[[Harold Bloom]] says ''Don Quixote'' is the first modern novel, and that the protagonist is at war with [[Freud]]'s [[reality principle]], which accepts the necessity of dying. Bloom says that the novel has an endless range of meanings, but that a recurring theme is the human need to withstand suffering.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/dec/13/classics.miguelcervantes The Knight in the Mirror] a 2003 book report in ''[[The Guardian]]'' about [[Harold Bloom]]'s book.</ref>

[[Edith Grossman]], who wrote and published a highly acclaimed<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lathrop |first1=Tom |title=Edith Grossman's Translation of Don Quixote |journal=Bulletin of the Cervantes Society |date=2006-03-22 |volume=26 |issue=1–2 |pages=237–255 |doi=10.3138/cervantes.26.1.237 |s2cid=161041486 |url=https://www.h-net.org/~cervantes/csa/artics-f06/lathrop2sf06.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829204055/http://www.h-net.org/~cervantes/csa/artics-f06/lathrop2sf06.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-29 |url-status=live |access-date=2021-01-17}}</ref> English translation of the novel in 2003, says that the book is mostly meant to move people into emotion using a systematic change of course, on the verge of both tragedy and comedy at the same time. Grossman has stated:<blockquote>The question is that Quixote has multiple interpretations [...] and how do I deal with that in my translation. I'm going to answer your question by avoiding it [...] so when I first started reading the Quixote I thought it was the most tragic book in the world, and I would read it and weep [...] As I grew older [...] my skin grew thicker [...] and so when I was working on the translation I was actually sitting at my computer and laughing out loud. This is done [...] as Cervantes did it [...] by never letting the reader rest. You are never certain that you truly got it. Because as soon as you think you understand something, Cervantes introduces something that contradicts your premise.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muOZ6WdAg3o Edith Grossman about Don Quixote as tragedy and comedy] a discussion held in New York City on 5 February 2009 by [[Words Without Borders]] (YouTube)</ref></blockquote>

===Themes===
[[File:Don Quichotte Honoré Daumier.jpg|thumb|right|''Don Quixote'' by [[Honoré Daumier]] (1868)]]
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2023}}

The novel's structure is [[episode|episodic]] in form. The full title is indicative of the tale's object, as {{Lang|es|ingenioso}} (Spanish) means "quick with inventiveness",<ref>{{lang|es|ingenio <sup>'''1'''</sup>}}, ''Real Academia Española''</ref> marking the transition of modern literature from [[Classical unities|dramatic]] to thematic unity. The novel takes place over a long period of time, including many adventures united by common themes of the nature of reality, reading, and dialogue in general.

Although [[burlesque]] on the surface, the novel, especially in its second half, has served as an important thematic source not only in literature but also in much of art and music, inspiring works by [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Richard Strauss]]. The contrasts between the tall, thin, fancy-struck and idealistic Quixote and the fat diddy, world-weary Panza is a motif echoed ever since the book's publication, and Don Quixote's imaginings are the butt of outrageous and cruel practical jokes in the novel.

Even faithful and simple Sancho is forced to deceive him at certain points. The novel is considered a satire of [[orthodoxy]], veracity and even nationalism.{{Citation needed|reason=Appeal to authority and none given|date=August 2024}} In exploring the individualism of his characters, Cervantes helped lead literary practice beyond the narrow convention of the [[chivalric romance]]. He [[Parody|spoofs]] the chivalric romance<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milton |first=Joyce |title=Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote |publisher=Barron's Educational Series, Inc. |year=1985 |isbn=0-8120-3512-7 |series=Barron's Book Notes |location=New York, USA |pages=23}}</ref> through a straightforward retelling of a series of acts that redound to the [[Chivalry|knightly virtues]] of the hero. The character of Don Quixote became so well known in its time that the word ''[[Quixotism|quixotic]]'' was quickly adopted by many languages. Characters such as Sancho Panza and Don Quixote's steed, [[Rocinante]], are emblems of Western literary culture. The phrase "[[tilting at windmills]]" to describe an act of attacking imaginary enemies (or an act of extreme idealism), derives from an iconic scene in the book.

It stands in a unique position between medieval [[Romance (heroic literature)|romance]] and the modern novel. The former consists of disconnected stories featuring the same characters and settings with little exploration of the inner life of even the main character. The latter are usually focused on the psychological evolution of their characters. In Part I, Quixote imposes himself on his environment. By Part II, people know about him through "having read his adventures", and so, he needs to do less to maintain his image. By his deathbed, he has regained his sanity, and is once more "Alonso Quixano the Good".