Cervantes’s prescriptives for the excesses of courtly love and inverisimilitude [thesis]

Description

As is well known, the Quijote is a parody of the chivalric romances. It is also generally accepted that the Persiles is a Christian rendition of the Aethiopica. While diverse in theme, both texts address courtly love. The Persiles continues the Quijote's thrust, offering an indictment of courtly love that surpasses parody and attempts to replace the excesses of courtly love, which can negatively influence society’s perspective on love, with a viable alternative: the ideals of Christian Caritas. It is unknown whether the project is premeditated as a whole, but it is alluded to in the Quijote, most pointedly near the end of Part I, during the canon of Toledo and Don Quijote’s dialogue. The Knight’s destructive madness (in the name of serving and suffering for a non-existent female) has been harnessed at this point, and the lunatic is taken home to recover. All who witness his humble return condemn books of chivalry. The condemnation is continued in the Persiles in a more serious and subtle manner. Nonsensical expectations perpetuated through the chivalric romance that assuredly wrought ill effects upon its reading public are redefined. One is apprised of modes of loving between the sexes that are diametrically opposed to the irrational beliefs imposed on Western civilization through the precepts of courtly love. The protagonists’ conduct, which is thoroughly steeped in Christian ideology, becomes the model to be imitated, even when one is confronted with seemingly impossible situations. The Persiles's subtext also addresses verisimilar writings, a concern for the foremost literary critics of Cervantes’s age. In a tertulia-like commentary’on the diegetic dimension of texts, Cervantes acknowledges a paradox, but he ultimately opts for creative freedom, placing the responsibility of perception— without sacrificing entertainment value—upon the reader, all the while leading the reader beyond innocence and vulnerability, asking her to evolve in step with literature’s maturing. An evaluation of the Persiles's ranking is inevitable, and I conclude that Cervantes’s self-proclaimed masterpiece will never usurp the Quijote's place in literature. Even so, Cervantes’s last endeavor must be held in high regard.