Day three

One episode that represents Don Quixote's ability to find good in everything and everyone is when he lets the prisoners free, after determining that all of them were unjustly being held captive over things that are not the business for any person to judge. "Let each answer for his sins in the other world...it is not right for honorable men to be the executioners of others, if they have no personal concern in the matter." (Pg. 184) Most of the crimes that were listed would have been a huge scandal at the time, especially since there was more of an opportunity for brown-nosing because of a lack of mobility. Yet Don Quixote takes these semi-fictional codes of chivalry to a new level by defending even these somewhat questionable characters and going so far as to say that the pimp didn't deserve to be there: "...for being a pimp alone he does not deserve to go to row in the galleys, but rather to be the admiral in charge of them. Because the pimp's trade is no ordinary trade; it must be carried out by intelligent people and it is absolutely essential to any well-ordered society..." (179)

Don Quixote 10-18

One of Don Quixote's acts of chivalry that stood out to me was when he tried to avenge his horse, Rocicante in the fifteenth chapter. As Rocicante was left to graze, he made the mistake of going to flirt with some mares that belonged to a nearby group of muleteers. As a result, the muleteers gave him a thrashing which caught Don Quixote's attention and impulse to come to his aid, even though their little group was severely outnumbered. But that didn't stop him: "'I am the equal of a hundred men,' retorted Don Quixote.

And without further thought he seized his sword and attacked the men from Yanguas, and so did Sancho Panza, encouraged by his master's example." (Pg.116)

In spite of their courageous, and somewhat stupid endeavor, further down the paragraph reveals that they failed and received a beating of their own. But their failure isn't the point--it is Don Quixote's care and sweetness towards his horse that stands out in a time when most animals would not have been given as much respect as that.

Another noteworthy scene takes place in the next chapter in the second inn that they stay at. As usual, Don Quixote goes off in another equally eloquent and windblown speech to thank the inn keeper's family for taking him in. But for once, his sentiments are taken seriously without the usual humoring that goes with it: "...and since they weren't used to such language they stared at him in amazement, and thought that he wasn't at all like normal men; and then thanking him for his offers in the most expressive innkeeperese, they left him..." (XVI, pg. 124)

Don Quixote 1-9

For this post, I'd like you to pick two scenes in which you see Don Quixote as a radical character within the novel thus far. What do you find radical about Don Quixote? Why? What do you think the text states about him as a character?

As always, I'm looking for your own ideas and analyses.

(On a related note, you may want to look up the term "quixotic" and see to which people it has been applied).

Don Quixote is radical because of his "madness". He mistakes common place objects for things that are far more grandeur. For example, he mistakes an inn for a castle after becoming weary of traveling in search chivalrous wrongs to right. "And since whatever our adventurer thought, saw or imagined seemed to him to be as it was in the books he'd read, as soon as he saw the inn he took it for a castle with its four towers and their spires of shining silver, complete with its drawbridge and its deep moat and all the other accessories that such castles commonly boast." (Pg. 32)

So, not only is his madness radical, but the imagination it expresses furthers how radical he is perceived to be by other characters, such as the prostitutes he mistakes for nobility near the same inn, who don't understand why a strange man in a cardboard visor is referring to them as maidens or how to address Don Quixote without laughing.

"The girls had been peering at him and trying to make out his face, hidden behind the ill-made visor; but when they heard themselves called maidens, a term so much at odds with their profession, they couldn't help but contain their laughter." (Pg. 32)

Final Canti

I think this quote summarizes one of the main concepts we have been discussing throughout the Inferno. As Dante and Virgil come across another character of myth, Virgil promises fame to the creature in order to pacify it: "...this man can give here what is desired; therefore bend down and do not twist your snout. / He can still repay you with fame in the world, for / he is alive and expects long life still, if grace does not call him before his time." (Canti 31, 124-129)

Although the Inferno is fiction, Dante is once again manipulating the plot to give his tale moral credibility. Since myth is a fiction in which truths can be found, Dante writes as if this journey was real in order to put the story on par with traditional mythology. By inserting himself into the story, he is able to actively engage the audience so that they feel as if they took the journey as well, leaving them more open to absorbing the lessons offered. And if the lessons are remembered, the Inferno does indeed become like myth because it has achieved something that is partially eternal since morals are inevitably passed down to each new generation.

Question 3

That the demons can be tricked is a device Dante uses to demonstrate that while they have a little foresight, the pride they have in so small a thing makes them stupid. While they are physically capable of suppressing humans, they underestimate the intelligence some of the souls have. Dante may also be using them to portray that they were stupid from the start if they thought they could be like God--and even Virgil points out to Dante that there isn't much to fear since their safety has already been affirmed through divine providence. "Do you think, Evil Tail, that you see me here, once already safe from all your tricks, without God's will and favorable fate? Allow us to walk on, for it is willed in Heaven that I guide someone on this savage journey." (pg. 323, 79-84)

Canti 14-20, questions 1 and 5

1) I think the quote on pg. 556-557 is spot on: "Like the body of Satan, it is a representation of both the history of mankind and its present state, expressed in terms of the human body." In other words, as long as there have been materials and any kind of wealth, greed is created. Greed creates consequences for the entire world, and so the statue is representative of humanity's greed as well as the pain it causes that is unceasing because the lesson is never learned.

5) If someone were to overestimate the piety that is found in past centuries, then perhaps that person would also gawk at Dante's criticism of the church. But it is not surprising considering there were always power struggles with the church, so difference of opinion over just how holy its leaders are is to be expected. Dante makes it a point to distinguish between God and his followers--he is well-read and informed for the times so he knows that people, even when they are Christian, do not follow a Christ-like example, which is the exact point of the journey into Hell.

Dante is there so that he will learn what kinds of behaviors are not in the example if Jesus. And many times the audience sees that he is not beyond compassion for some of the damned souls, such as his reverence towards the homosexuals in Canti 15 and 16, as well as in several earlier chapters.

Canto 13

"Not green leaves, but dark in color, not smooth / branches, but knotted and twisted, no fruit was there, / but thorns with poison." (Canto 13, verse 4-6) I think it is interesting that Dante uses tainted trees as a symbol for "the violent against themselves". This punishment seems out of place from the others since it is less violent, although it serves the purpose of Dante's message. This first quote alludes to that suicide or other forms of self-harm poisons the soul, and as a result poison is produced in the afterlife. It is also important not to overlook that these trees do not bear any fruit, which could be a reference to the what is called the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which the condemned souls no longer have as a result of their offense.

As Dante proceeds further, one of the shades admits, "My spirit, at the taste of disdain, believing by death to flee, made me unjust against my just / self." (verse 70) Therefore, not only have they committed an act against the nine fruits, but also an offense against the four virtues, in particular the virtue of justice, which has already been established as one of the most important themes in the Inferno.

Dante Canti 1-6, Question 1

Dante immediately sets the atmosphere by showing almost immediately that there are divine powers at work—as Virgil explains that he was sent to guide Dante by the intercession of Beatrice, who resides in heaven. It is said through the story on an almost incessant level that Dante has a lot of "cowardice" in his soul, and is off to bad start along his spiritual journey or life, these two things being almost inseparable at the time the Inferno was written. Therefore, it is up to Virgil to show Dante what could happen to him if he continues down a crooked path. As they pass through the first few circles of Hell, Dante is frightened, repulsed, and saddened at what he sees, but cannot help questioning the events before him, acting to help provide a foundation for answers in order to keep the readers informed.