English Literature

A novel published in the 1600s, Don Quixote is written by Miguel de Cervantes, a Spanish author. Miguel de Cervantes created this fictional origin for the novel based on a manuscript written by Cide Hamete Benengeli, a Moorish historian. Two of the most known character in the story are Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
The two characters may be different in a lot of ways but they also share some characteristics. Don Quixote is a scrawny middle-aged man who read a lot of books about gallant knights hence making him gone mad. Hes strong-minded in restoring the chivalric code of the knights-errant. Hes determined to go on an adventure to gain respect and splendor in the name Dulcinea, his make-believe ladylove. Sancho Panza on the other hand has created his personal position in both Don Quixotes real and invented world. Similar to Don Quixote who has an invented world and reality, Sanchos character personifies both good and bad aspects of the modern times as well as the long-gone period of chivalry. However, Sancho does not believe in the exasperating faith of Don Quixote in gallant virtues, but at the same time he stays away from turning toward the other radical value that connects power with nobility or honor. Don Quixote yearns for a feeling of magnificence and reason, the two things that he deems the world lacks. However, even with his good intentions, he tended to harm those that he came across as he is mainly incapable of seeing the reality and is blinded by his invented world.
Sancho helps Don Quixote to slowly differentiate the reality and his make-believe world as the story continues. The other characters in the story made fun, played along, and took advantage of Don Quixotes insanity. Sancho, remained faithful and often times adored and get caught up in the foolishness completely. Don Quixote and Sancho truly complement one another in the story. As Don Quixote continued with his madness, Sancho often criticizes him for his confidence on these fantasies. Sancho has a quick sense of humor complementing Don Quixotes too seriousness for his own personal good. Don Quixote tended to have a way with women while Sancho remain truly faithful and loving to Teresa, his wife. The differences of the two characters made the story more interesting.
Don Quixote even at his ultimate sanity-inducing sickness, continued to be true to his chivalric notion of whats right and wrong. He was firm and never gave up on the idea that Dulcinea can truly save him from all the bad luck and hardships. Sancho, on the other hand, exhibits the shortcomings that majority of the rational characters in the story revealed, but still Sancho had a core admirable and gentle characteristic that the other characters in the novel greatly lack.
In the novel, Don Quixote is intensely smart and often times apparently sane. He lucidly speaks of soldiering, literature, leadership, and other subject matters. Sancho however is but a simple peasant who possessed the most varied outlooks and the most knowledge through his constant inquisitiveness allowing him to learn from the world that surrounds him. Sanchos curiosity allows people or the readers to evaluate Don Quixotes character, as the peasant observes and contemplates about Don Quixote. Sanchos character gives the sense of humanity in the novel, conveying self-respect and composure, as well as wit and kindness. On the other hand, Don Quixote remains to be a puzzle all through the novel with his insanity and sanity.