The Theme in the Work
In Don Quixote honor has three sources, and the book puts them in dispute. The first is blood: lineage, the family estate, the "don" in the name. The second is deeds: what each man does, which Don Quixote sums up in the saying that each is the son of his works. The third is fame, the opinion of others, which can be printed and discussed and which, in Part Two, has a whole book in its favor and another, the apocryphal one, against it. The honor of women is treated separately, in terms of modesty and given word, and it is the kind that most often ends in death: Anselmo, who wanted to test it, Leandra, who loses it without being dishonored, the daughter of Doña Rodríguez, who loses it through a promise. What the book does is give the gentleman an honor of office, that of the knight, which depends neither on blood nor on fame but on doing more than another, and then confront it with someone who measures it by another standard.
In chapter XVIII of Part One, after the shepherds' stone-throwing, the gentleman consoles Sancho with a rule of merit: a man is no more than another if he does no more than another.
Sábete, Sancho, que no es un hombre más que otro si no hace más que otro, know, Sancho, that a man is no more than another if he does no more than another.
In chapter XXXIV of Part One, in the novella of the Curious Impertinent, Anselmo watches in hiding as the death of his honor is staged, and the characters perform it so well that they seem to have become the very truth of what they pretend.
Atentísimo había estado Anselmo a escuchar y a ver representar la tragedia de la muerte de su honra; la cual con tan estraños y eficaces afectos la representaron los personajes della, que pareció que se habían transformado en la misma verdad de lo que fingían, Anselmo had listened and watched, most attentively, the tragedy of the death of his honor being performed; and the characters performed it with such strange and effective feeling that it seemed they had been transformed into the very truth of what they were pretending.
In chapter XXXV of Part One, in the letter he leaves on dying, he forgives Camilla, who was not obliged to perform miracles, and acknowledges that he was the maker of his own dishonor.
Un necio e impertinente deseo me quitó la vida. Si las nuevas de mi muerte llegaren a los oídos de Camila, sepa que yo la perdono, porque no estaba ella obligada a hacer milagros, ni yo tenía necesidad de querer que ella los hiciese; y, pues yo fui el fabricador de mi deshonra, no hay para qué..., a foolish and impertinent desire took my life. If news of my death should reach the ears of Camilla, let her know that I forgive her, for she was not obliged to perform miracles, nor did I have any need to want her to; and since I was the maker of my own dishonor, there is no reason why...
In chapter XLVII of Part One, when the barber says the insula has gone to Sancho's head, Sancho returns the gentleman's maxim.
cada uno es hijo de sus obras; y, debajo de ser hombre, puedo venir a ser papa, cuanto más gobernador de una ínsula, y más pudiendo ganar tantas mi señor que le falte a quien dallas, each man is the son of his works; and, so long as I am a man, I may come to be pope, let alone governor of an insula, and especially since my master could win so many that there would be no one left to give them to.
In chapter LI of Part One, the goatherd Eugenio tells the story of Leandra, whose fame reached the halls of kings, and begins by saying what guards a maiden.
no hay candados, guardas ni cerraduras que mejor guarden a una doncella que las del recato proprio, there are no locks, guards, or bolts that guard a maiden better than her own modesty.
The soldier Vicente de la Roca, who carries her off, has another honor: he calls his equals "vos," says his father is his arm, his lineage, and his deeds, and that, being a soldier, he owes nothing even to the king.
con una no vista arrogancia, llamaba de vos a sus iguales y a los mismos que le conocían, y decía que su padre era su brazo, su linaje, sus obras, y que debajo de ser soldado, al mismo rey no debía nada, with an arrogance never seen before, he addressed his equals and even those who knew him as "vos," and said that his father was his arm, his lineage, his deeds, and that, being a soldier, he owed nothing even to the king.
In the pit where he leaves her, the text takes care to say that he robbed her of everything, but without taking her honor.
Contó también como el soldado, sin quitalle su honor, le robó cuanto tenía, y la dejó en aquella cueva y se fue: suceso que de nuevo puso en admiración a todos, it was also told how the soldier, without taking her honor, robbed her of all she had, left her in that cave, and went away: an event that once again filled everyone with wonder.
In chapter II of Part Two, when the gentleman asks his squire what is said of him in the village, Sancho gives him the opinions going around: mad, but amusing; brave, but unlucky; courteous, but impertinent.
unos dicen: "loco, pero gracioso"; otros, "valiente, pero desgraciado"; otros, "cortés, pero impertinente"; y por aquí van discurriendo en tantas cosas, que ni a vuestra merced ni a mí nos dejan hueso sano, some say: "mad, but amusing"; others, "brave, but unlucky"; others, "courteous, but impertinent"; and they go on discussing so many things that they leave neither your grace nor me a whole bone.
In chapter VI of Part Two, the niece and the housekeeper argue with their uncle about the paths to honor, and he distinguishes the lineages: only those that show themselves in virtue, in the wealth and generosity of their owners seem great and illustrious.
solos aquéllos parecen grandes y ilustres que lo muestran en la virtud, y en la riqueza y liberalidad de sus dueños, only those seem great and illustrious that show it in the virtue, the wealth, and the generosity of their owners.
And he names the two roads by which men come to be rich and honored.
Dos caminos hay, hijas, por donde pueden ir los hombres a llegar a ser ricos y honrados: el uno es el de las letras; otro, el de las armas, there are two roads, daughters, by which men may go on to become rich and honored: one is that of letters; the other, that of arms.
In chapter XVII of Part Two, after the adventure of the lions, the keeper of the lions gives him the rule of the challenge: whoever waits and the other does not come, wins.
El león tiene abierta la puerta: en su mano está salir, o no salir; pero, pues no ha salido hasta ahora, no saldrá en todo el día. La grandeza del corazón de vuesa merced ya está bien declarada: ningún bravo peleante, según a mí se me alcanza, está obligado a más que a desafiar a su enemigo y esperarle en campaña; y si el contrario no acude, en él se queda la infamia, y el esperante gana la corona del vencimiento, the lion has its door open: it is in its hands to come out or not; but since it has not come out until now, it will not come out all day. Your grace's greatness of heart is already well shown: no brave combatant, as far as I understand, is obliged to do more than challenge his enemy and wait for him on the field; and if the other does not come, the infamy stays with him, and the one who waited wins the crown of victory.
In chapter XXXII of Part Two, answering the ecclesiastic at the dukes' table, the gentleman distinguishes agravo from afronta.
entre el agravio y la afrenta hay esta diferencia, como mejor Vuestra Excelencia sabe: la afrenta viene de parte de quien la puede hacer, y la hace y la sustenta; el agravio puede venir de cualquier parte, sin que afrente, between agravio and afrenta there is this difference, as Your Excellency knows better than I: the afrenta comes from one who can inflict it, and inflicts it and sustains it; the agravio can come from anywhere, without being an insult.
And he says, about Dulcinea, that he did not beget or bear his lady, and that what matters is to contemplate her as she ought to be.
Dios sabe si hay Dulcinea o no en el mundo, o si es fantástica o no es fantástica; y éstas no son de las cosas cuya averiguación se ha de llevar hasta el cabo. Ni yo engendré ni parí a mi señora, puesto que la contemplo como conviene que sea una dama que contenga en sí las partes que puedan hacerla famosa en todas las del mundo, God knows whether there is a Dulcinea in the world or not, or whether she is fantastic or not fantastic; and these are not things whose investigation must be carried to the end. I neither begot nor bore my lady, though I contemplate her as a lady ought to be, one who contains within herself the qualities that can make her famous in all parts of the world.
In chapter XLII of Part Two, in the advice to Sancho as governor, he says that blood is inherited and virtue is acquired.
Mira, Sancho: si tomas por medio a la virtud, y te precias de hacer hechos virtuosos, no hay para qué tener envidia a los que los tienen de príncipes y señores, porque la sangre se hereda y la virtud se aquista, y la virtud vale por sí sola lo que la sangre no vale, look, Sancho: if you take virtue as your means and pride yourself on doing virtuous deeds, there is no reason to envy those who have them as princes and lords, because blood is inherited and virtue is acquired, and virtue alone is worth what blood is not worth.
In chapter XLIX of Part Two, during the night patrol, Sancho draws on a proverb about the honored maiden, the broken leg, and staying at home, and about the one who wants to see also wanting to be seen.
que la doncella honrada, la pierna quebrada, y en casa; y la mujer y la gallina, por andar se pierden aína; y la que es deseosa de ver, también tiene deseo de ser vista, that the honored maiden, the broken leg, and staying at home; and the woman and the hen, by wandering, are soon lost; and she who is eager to see also has a desire to be seen.
In chapter LII of Part Two, when Doña Rodríguez asks him to challenge the seducer of her daughter, the gentleman declares that for this once he renounces his gentility, so as to be able to fight with a commoner.
desde aquí digo que por esta vez renuncio a mi hidalguía, y me allano y ajusto con la llaneza del dañador, y me hago igual con él, habilitándole para poder combatir conmigo; y así, aunque ausente, le desafío y repto, from here I say that for this once I renounce my gentility, and I level and adjust myself to the plainness of the wrongdoer, and make myself his equal, enabling him to fight with me; and so, though absent, I challenge him and call him out.
In chapter LXXII of Part Two, before Don Álvaro Tarfe, he asks for a declaration that he is not the Don Quixote printed in the other Part Two.
yo soy don Quijote de la Mancha, el mismo que dice la fama, y no ese desventurado que ha querido usurpar mi nombre y honrarse con mis pensamientos. A vuestra merced suplico, por lo que debe a ser caballero, sea servido de hacer una declaración ante el alcalde deste lugar, de que vuestra merced no me ha visto en todos los días de su vida hasta agora, y de que yo no soy el don Quijote impreso en la segunda parte, ni este Sancho Panza mi escudero es aquél que vuestra merced conoció, I am Don Quixote de la Mancha, the very one that fame speaks of, and not that wretch who has tried to usurp my name and honor himself with my thoughts. I beg your grace, for what you owe to being a knight, to be pleased to make a declaration before the magistrate of this place, that your grace has never seen me in all the days of your life until now, and that I am not the Don Quixote printed in the second part, nor is this Sancho Panza, my squire, the one your grace knew.
And in chapter LXXIV of Part Two, on his deathbed, he asks that death not confirm the reputation of madness.
Yo me siento, sobrina, a punto de muerte; querría hacerla de tal modo, que diese a entender que no había sido mi vida tan mala que dejase renombre de loco, que, puesto que lo he sido, no querría confirmar esta verdad en mi muerte, I feel, niece, that I am at the point of death; I would like to make it in such a way as to show that my life had not been so bad as to leave a reputation for madness, which, though I have been mad, I would not want to confirm in my death.
The book chooses works, but it does not escape fame. The gentleman says a man is worth what he does; the squire repeats that each is the son of his works; the truth of honor, however, reaches everyone through what is said: what is said of Leandra and Camilla, what is said of Dulcinea, what is printed of Don Quixote. The passage that shows this tension most is that of chapter LXXIV of Part Two, in which the gentleman, who spent the book defending the worth of what one does, asks at the end that his reputation not belie him, and the will takes care of his name as it takes care of his money. Two readings: the honor of deeds is the only one the book defends, and the final request is only the modesty of a man; or the book acknowledges that no one lives on deeds without fame, and that old age gives the gentleman the awareness that fame is what remains.
Who Embodies It
Don Quixote is the honor of the office. His rule is to do more than another, and it is with that rule that he measures Sancho, the carriers, the dukes. Sancho Panza embodies the honor of one who recognizes himself as low and makes it count: in the governorship, he gives back the "don" and is called plain Sancho. The Duke and Duchess are those who have blood, and their honor is theatrical: their gentility gives them the power to stage a hoax and to have people to serve it. Sansón Carrasco is the honor of the bachelor who wants to cure his friend and returns battered the first time, and wins the second. And Dulcinea del Toboso is honor without a body: a fame that the gentleman defends before dukes, ecclesiastics, and young women who court him.
Where It Appears
- Part One, chapter XVIII: The gentleman tells Sancho that a man is no more than another if he does no more than another.
- Part One, chapter XXXIV: Anselmo watches the tragedy of the death of his honor, staged by Camilla and Lothario.
- Part One, chapter XXXV: In the letter, Anselmo forgives Camilla and recognizes himself as the maker of his dishonor.
- Part One, chapter XLVII: Sancho says each is the son of his works and that he could become pope.
- Part One, chapter LI: The goatherd tells the story of Leandra, carried off by a soldier without being dishonored.
- Part Two, chapter II: Sancho recounts the opinions going around the village about the gentleman, always with a "but."
- Part Two, chapter VI: The gentleman distinguishes the lineages that show themselves in virtue, wealth, and generosity.
- Part Two, chapter XVII: The keeper of the lions gives him the rule of the challenge, by which the winner is the one who waits.
- Part Two, chapter XXXII: At the dukes' table, Don Quixote answers the ecclesiastic that his attack is agravo and not afrenta, because churchmen neither insult nor are insulted under the laws of the duel.
- Part Two, chapter XLII: In the advice to Sancho, he says blood is inherited and virtue is acquired.
- Part Two, chapter XLV: Sancho takes possession of the insula and gives back the "don" that is put on his name.
- Part Two, chapter XLIX: On patrol, Sancho quotes the proverb of the honored maiden, the broken leg, and staying at home.
- Part Two, chapter LII: The gentleman renounces his gentility for this once, to challenge the seducer of Doña Rodríguez's daughter.
- Part Two, chapter LXXII: He asks Don Álvaro Tarfe to declare that he is not the Don Quixote printed by Avellaneda.
- Part Two, chapter LXXIV: He asks that death not confirm the reputation of madness, and the bachelor writes his epitaph.
Where the Readings Diverge
Erich Auerbach reads the knight-errant's departure from courtliness as the point at which the feudal ethos, which no longer serves any political function, became absolute and came to have as its only end its own self-realization.
Auerbach contrasts the knights of Charlemagne, whose warlike ethos served the defense and conversion of a royal realm, with Calogrenant, who has no political task at all.The feudal ethos no longer serves any political function, nor, in general, any practical reality. It has become absolute. It has no other end apart from its own self-realization
If Auerbach is right, the gentleman's honor is the last stage of that ethos: the knight needs neither king nor realm, only the personal trial. That is why the rule of chapter XVII of Part Two serves him: waiting for the lion and being excused from the fight is, for him, winning. But the book records, in two places, what this honor costs: in chapter LII of Part Two, the gentleman must renounce his gentility in order to challenge a commoner, and in chapter LXXIV of Part Two, he must ask that death not confirm the reputation of madness. Two readings: the absolute honor of the knight is a form of freedom, and the two concessions are only a reminder that the world does not recognize it; or it is a form of solitude, and they show that the gentleman needs others for it to have worth.