.The Fantasies of Don Quixote A Literary Critical Analysis Don Quixote lived in a fantasy world of chivalry. Chivalry had negative and positive effects on the lives of the people. Don Quixote emphasizes a cross-section of Spanish life, thought, and feeling at the end of chivalry. Don Quixote has been calledthe best novel in the world, and it cannot be compared to any other novel. Don Quixote has been described as “that genial and just judge of imposture, folly, vanity, affectation, and insincerity; that tragic picture of the brave man born out of his time, too proud and too just to be of use in his age” (Putnam, 15).The novel has been translated by different people, but it has been said that Shelton’s translation has a charm that no modern translation has because hebelonged to the same generation as Cervantes the author of Don Quixote. He could see things as Cervantes saw them. Cervantes’ life had influence on Don Quixote. Hecould look back on his ancestry of genuine knights-errant. He had a strong feelingon the subject of the sham or false chivalry of the romances. Cervantes says, “anypoint of view affords only partial insights, even a man’s judgment of his own qualities” (Ortega, 101).John Ormsby, in his translation, states that to speak of Don Quixote as it were just a humorous book would be a misdeception. Cervantes at times makes ita kind of commonplace book for observations and reflections and gathered wisdomof a long and stirring life. According to Ormsby, it is a mine of shrewd observations 2on mankind and human nature. “Perhaps,” Cervantes said, “more people would bebetter people if they were able to recognize the knights within them” (Church, 6). It has be...
