
Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XII-XXI
Roberto González Echevarría continues his Yale course on Cervantes with a lecture on Part Two of Don Quixote, chapters XII through XXI. He opens by reviewing the Spanish baroque idea of desengaño, arguing that the novel's plot moves from engaño, or deceit, toward disillusionment. He then works through Erich Auerbach's essay Enchanted Dulcinea and Leo Spitzer's Linguistic Perspectivism, using both to define what he calls the Cervantean, the traits distinctive to Cervantes' style and mind. The lecture turns to specific episodes assigned for the week, tracing how they echo scenes from Part One, and examines the theme of doubling and self-recognition that runs through Part Two. It closes with a discussion of Cervantes' short story The Glass Graduate from his Exemplary Stories. Recorded at Yale in Fall 2009 as part of the Cervantes' Don Quixote course.