Bruce Wardropper, in his «Cervantes and Education», Cervantes and the Renaissance (Easton, PA: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 1980), pp, 178-193, suggests that some envy and a good deal of rancor on Cervantes' part motivate the carelessness of the designation «el estudiante bachiller, o licenciado». He observes that Cervantes treats most of his academics disparagingly, casting them as liars, frauds, and pedants. «The humanist and his like 'se cansan en saber y averiguar cosas que después de sabidas y averiguadas, no importan un ardite al entendimiento ni a la memoria.' What does matter, for Cervantes, is the understanding of man and his values, a true humanism of a kind alien to the self-styled humanist of Don Quixote. This understanding comes, not from books, but from dealing with one's fellows and observing them. Cervantes aligns himself with those characters of his who have enhanced their innate talents by learning from experience» (p. 192.) I am grateful to Professor Wardropper for the help he has given me in preparing this paper. (N. from the A.)

John Allen, in his «Don Quixote and the Origins of the Novel», Cervantes and the Renaissance (Easton, PA: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 1980), pp. 125-140, comments that Sancho's position in the debate is far from disinterested: «Sancho, for his part, provides on awakening (on the day of the wedding) one of the most damning revelations of his propensity toward egocentric rationalization. He had initially favored the suit of Basilio for Quiteria's hand, identifying with him against his wife's obstinate opposition to Sanchica's marrying «up»: 'Lo que quisiera es que ese buen Basilio, que ya me le voy aficionando, se casara con esa señora Quiteria...' But now a whiff of Camacho's banquet is sufficient to make him change sides: 'Mas que haga lo que quisiere Basilio -respondió Sancho-; no fuera él pobre, y casárase con Quiteria. ¿No hay más sino no tener un cuarto y querer casarse por las nubes?'» (p. 138.) (N. from the A.)

Luke 6. 48-49. (N. from the A.)

Though Sancho reminds his master of their earlier agreement to let him speak freely as long as he speaks respectfully, Don Quijote claims not to remember it. It is difficult to ascertain who is at fault here. Don Quijote is correct insofar as there is no account of such an agreement anywhere in the early chapters of Quijote II, those which describe the occasion to which Sancho refers («antes que esta última vez saliésemos de casa» [p. 679]). (lt is also possible that an agreement was made but not disclosed to the reader.) On the other hand, there seems to be a sort of standing agreement, present almost from the beginning of the novel, to the effect that Sancho will never speak disrespectfully to his master. Don Quijote says, «y está advertido de aquí adelante en una cosa, para que te abstengas y reportes en el hablar demasiado conmigo» (p. 189), to which Sancho eventually agrees saying, «Mas bien puede estar seguro que de aquí adelante no despliegue mis labios para hacer donaire de las cosas de vuestra merced, si no fuere para honrarle, como a mi amo y señor natural» (p. 190). Don Quijote, then, is right only in the strictest sense of the word. But such is the challenge of the Quijote: it is precisely that of determining the implications of such «slips» in assessing the reliability of each commentator. (N. from the A.)

Manuel Durán, in his «El Quijote a través del prisma de Mikhail Bakhtine», Cervantes and the Renaissance (Easton, PA: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 1980), p. 73, comments, «Rabelais y Cervantes elevan sus construcciones artísticas por el aire del Renacimiento, pero no cabe dudar de que los cimientos, en ambos casos, han de hundirse forzosamente en la tradición medieval». Although Durán is primarily concerned with the subversive elements of carnaval as they appear in the Quijote, he also recognizes the importance of orgy. He observes: «... los carnavales y las orgías que suelen acompañarlos representan una restauración simbólica de la unidad indiferenciada y caótica que precedió la creación del mundo» (p. 75), and adds: «El carnaval subraya la importancia de la materia y de los sentidos que nos ponen en contacto con el mundo material» (p. 77). As the producer of a kind of carnival, Camacho becomes to some extent the agent of renewal and revitalization, especially in the case of Sancho Panza. On the other hand, the epic scale of the wedding festivities calls to mind the indulgences of Spanish royalty of the period (particularly the lavish entertainments of the Duke of Lerma and the Dukes of Medina Sidonia), to which Cervantes was opposed (his sonnet «Al túmulo del Rey Felipe II en Sevilla» is a more explicit expression of his attitude). Don Quijote asks if the wedding is to be that of some prince (p. 671), and Sancho later exclaims that Quiteria is dressed like a «garrida palaciega» (p. 687). Moreover, Camacho is extravagant, and his leafy canopy is described as though it had been built in defiance of nature: «hásele antojado de enramar y cubrir todo el prado por arriba, de tal suerte que el sol se ha de ver en trabajo si quiere entrar a visitar las yerbas verdes de que está cubierto el suelo» (p. 672). (N. from the A.)

Don Quijote maintains: «Duerme el criado, y está velando el señor, pensando cómo le ha de sustentar, mejorar y hacer mercedes» (p. 678). (N. from the A.)

Sinnigen asks the same question: «How, then, (in view of the outcome, which is a draw) did Don Quijote come to his stated conclusion (that the scriptwriter is a better friend of Camacho's than of Basilio's)?» (p. 162). It is unclear whether the question is rhetorical or genuine, since there seems to be no response to it in Sinnigen's article. Any answer to the question -barring Don Quijote's utter incomprehension of the play- would, of course, tend to undermine Sinnigen's argument, since it would explain why Camacho seemed the more impressive of the two suitors represented (at least to Don Quijote's way of thinking). (N. from the A.)

The savages who play the part of peacemakers are somewhat puzzling. In the courtly-love context of medieval prose fiction (for example, in Diego de San Pedro's La cárcel de Amor) the savage represents lust (El Deseo). The pastoral romances of the sixteenth century, with their platonic love, present wild men ambivalently: in the couple named Sylvano and Selvagia in Montemayor's La Diana «el aspecto innocuo de la vida salvaje se ha transformado en el ideal pastoril, pero los verdaderos salvajes son enemigos de los pastores, y son matados por Felismena» (A. D. Deyermond, «El hombre salvaje en la novela sentimental», in Actas del Segundo Congreso Internacional de Hispanistas, ed. Jaime Sánchez Romeralo and Norbert Poulussen [Nijmegen: Instituto Español de la Universidad de Nimega, 19671, p. 271)]. Cervantes, no doubt following the pastoral tradition, presumably intends to stress in the dances «el aspecto innocuo de la vida salvaje». (N. from the A.)

«This thy stature is like to a palm tree», Song of Solomon 7.7. It is also worth noting that Solomon too was a rich man. (N. from the A.)

100

Basilio's performance curiously does away with the opposition between armas y letras -another fundamental «debate» in the Quijote- his first feat of destreza with his sword being necessary to the success of his verbal destreza. Don Quijote also succeeds in reconciling armas y letras when he persuades the company -with words and brandished sword- to accept Basilio's marriage. (N. from the A.)