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SPAN 300: Cervantes' Don Quixote

Lecture 24 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LXXI-LXXIV (cont.). Would have Cervantes deserved such recognition, had he not written the Quixote? The answer is no. However, he would probably be remembered for some of his other works. Two of The Exemplary Stories, significantly connected together, are commented in this lecture. "The Deceitful Marriage" deconstructs marriage both as a social institution and as a narrative tool: Cervantes manipulates literary conventions by beginning with what is normally the end of a story, a marriage, and works backwards to undue a union that never took place legitimately. In "The Dogs Colloquy" we skirt the supernatural idea that dogs can talk. The story is a picaresque autobiography in which the picaro pretends to be a dog. Perhaps Scipio's life, not told here, could have been another Quixote. The author of a story, it is suggested, does not control the text while it is being read. A short comment on Kafka's parable "The Truth about Sancho Panza" and Borges' story Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote precede the end of this last lecture that refers to Cervantes' death. Drawing a parallel between Cervantes' death and that of Don Quixote and Alonso Quijano, Gonzalez Echevarria reads the dedication to Persiles and Cervantes', and also his own, farewell to this course. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 24 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LXXI-LXXIV (cont.)

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Cervantes at Death: At Peace with Himself and the World
[00:14:09] 2. Remarks on "Exemplary Novels"
[00:23:30] 3. "The Deceitful Marriage": Working Backwards to Deconstruct Marriage as Social Institution
[00:36:09] 4. "The Dogs Colloquy": A Picaresque Autobiography Skirting the Supernatural
[00:46:13] 5. Kafka's Parable and Borges's Story
[00:51:02] 6. Parallels between Cervantes's Death and those of Don Quixote and Alonso Quijano

References
Lecture 24 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LXXI-LXXIV (cont.)
Instructor: Professor Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Introduction
Lecture 02 - Don Quixote, Part I: Front Matter and Chapters I-X
Lecture 03 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters I-X (cont.)
Lecture 04 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XI-XX
Lecture 05 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XI-XX (cont.)
Lecture 06 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXI-XXVI
Lecture 07 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXI-XXVI (cont.)
Lecture 08 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXVII-XXXV
Lecture 09 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXVII-XXXV (cont.)
Lecture 10 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXXVI-LII
Lecture 11 - Don Quixote, Part I: Chapters XXXVI-LII (cont.)
Lecture 12 - Don Quixote, Introduction to Part II
Lecture 13 - Don Quixote, Part II: Front Matter and Chapters I-XI
Lecture 14 - Don Quixote, Part II: Front Matter and Chapters I-XI (cont.)
Lecture 15 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XII-XXI
Lecture 16 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XII-XXI (cont.)
Lecture 17 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XXII-XXXV
Lecture 18 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XXII-XXXV (cont.)
Lecture 19 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XXXVI-LIII
Lecture 20 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters XXXVI-LIII (cont.)
Lecture 21 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LIV-LXX
Lecture 22 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LIV-LXX (cont.)
Lecture 23 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LXXI-LXXIV
Lecture 24 - Don Quixote, Part II: Chapters LXXI-LXXIV (cont.)