Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths

King Lear of Britain and Don Quijote de la Mancha, both old and frail, are dwellers of two very different worlds and eras. The ways they were devised and shaped by William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes generate nonetheless diverse similarities that emphatically expose crucial traits of the hu...

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Main Author: Maria de Jesus Crespo Relvas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad de Jaén 2019-10-01
Series:The Grove
Online Access:http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/4529
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author Maria de Jesus Crespo Relvas
author_facet Maria de Jesus Crespo Relvas
author_sort Maria de Jesus Crespo Relvas
collection DOAJ
description King Lear of Britain and Don Quijote de la Mancha, both old and frail, are dwellers of two very different worlds and eras. The ways they were devised and shaped by William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes generate nonetheless diverse similarities that emphatically expose crucial traits of the human nature.      The meaningful, more obvious dichotomies in the texts – such as Reality/Fantasy, Sight/Blindness, Truth/Falsehood, Loyalty/Treachery – frame the complexity of the protagonists and are metaphors of their antithetical features. On the other hand, their alienation, misapprehension and distortion of the surrounding realities turn them into wanderers on uneven, problematic paths, while their frail physical condition discloses a surface layer that encapsulates assertive individuals. This essay approaches Shakespeare’s and Cervantes’ texts by focusing on such aspects, as well as on the respective contextualisation. Each work constitutes a challenging exemplum of a unique, proficuous broad age that wisely amalgamated the old and the new: amidst a multitude of cultural traditions, King Lear primarily embodies the expansion of Tragedy, while Don Quijote de la Mancha primarily materialises the transition to a new stage of Modernity. Keywords: Lear; Quijote; dichotomies; alienation; tradition; innovation  
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spelling doaj.art-1e75d3d69c634e12bc7df9c220abafb82022-12-22T04:27:06ZengUniversidad de JaénThe Grove1137-005X2386-54312019-10-01261Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven pathsMaria de Jesus Crespo Relvas0Universidade Aberta, Portugal; CEAUL/ULICES King Lear of Britain and Don Quijote de la Mancha, both old and frail, are dwellers of two very different worlds and eras. The ways they were devised and shaped by William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes generate nonetheless diverse similarities that emphatically expose crucial traits of the human nature.      The meaningful, more obvious dichotomies in the texts – such as Reality/Fantasy, Sight/Blindness, Truth/Falsehood, Loyalty/Treachery – frame the complexity of the protagonists and are metaphors of their antithetical features. On the other hand, their alienation, misapprehension and distortion of the surrounding realities turn them into wanderers on uneven, problematic paths, while their frail physical condition discloses a surface layer that encapsulates assertive individuals. This essay approaches Shakespeare’s and Cervantes’ texts by focusing on such aspects, as well as on the respective contextualisation. Each work constitutes a challenging exemplum of a unique, proficuous broad age that wisely amalgamated the old and the new: amidst a multitude of cultural traditions, King Lear primarily embodies the expansion of Tragedy, while Don Quijote de la Mancha primarily materialises the transition to a new stage of Modernity. Keywords: Lear; Quijote; dichotomies; alienation; tradition; innovation   http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/4529
spellingShingle Maria de Jesus Crespo Relvas
Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
The Grove
title Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
title_full Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
title_fullStr Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
title_full_unstemmed Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
title_short Lear and Quijote, two wanderers on uneven paths
title_sort lear and quijote two wanderers on uneven paths
url http://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/grove/article/view/4529
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