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The Governorship of Sancho and Don Quijote's Chivalric CareerAuthor(s): J. J. AllenSource: Revista Hispánica Moderna, Año 38, No. 4 (1974/1975), pp. 141-152Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press

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REVIST

HISP NIC

ODER

COLUMBIA NIVERSITY ISPANICSTUDIES

XXXVIII

1974-1975

NjM.

4

THE GOVERNORSHIP

F

SANCHOAND DON

QUIJOTE'S

CHIVALRIC AREER

MUCH has

been

written of the

reciprocal

nfluence

which Don

Quijote

and

Sancho

exert

upon

each other in the courseof the

novel,

particularly

ince

Salvador e

Madariaga's

eminal

chapters

n the

Quixotization

f

Sanchoand the

Sanchification

of Don

Quijote,

in his Guja del lector del

"Quijote"

(Madrid:

EspasaCalpe,

1926),

but

the

structural,

hematic

nd

stylistic

correlation

eveloped

by

Cervantesbetween Sancho's

governorship

nd

Don

Quijote's

chivalriccareer

has

not,

to

my

knowledge,

een

delineated,

hough

t would seem to constitutea

significant

actor

n the ethical

orientation

f

the

reader.The

parallels

which have

been

drawn between

aspects

of the

governorship

nd the adventuresof Don

Quijote

warrant

pursuing

he

investigationully.

Leland Chambers as noted "Cervantes'

aralleldevelopment

f

the

dubbing

of Don

Quijote

and the

conferring

f

Sancho's

governorship,"

nd concludes hat

since "both nvestitures ecomevalid in

spirit,"

"the

situations f both characters

are

essentially

he

same,

and each

accurately epresents

he

world

view

of the

novel."

1

CarlosVaro

suggests

the

existenceof a

parallel

between Sancho's

elf-

discovery,a consequence f his experiencesas governor,and the fact that "la

ascensi6n

humanade Don

Quijote

comenz6 al mismo

tiempo

que

desaparecia

el loco monomaniaco mechnicamente

ptimista."

Varo sees in the

parallel

an

embodiment

of Cervantes'

belief in

"la

capacidad

humanamente edentoradel

dolor:

el

hombre e

hace

mis

humano

gracias

al sufrimiento."

Joaquin

Casalduero

ointed

out

25 years ago

that

la cueva de

Montesinos,

omo

la

sima

[en

que

cae Sanchoal abandonar l

gobiemrno],

s un

adentrarse

n

si mismo.

..

[Sancho]

ha

conocido

el

desen-

gafio,

se ha conocido

a si

mismo,

vive

el

limite del

poder.

Gracias

la

caida

en la sima

puede

purificarse

e

sus

deseos

de mando:

"(Qui~n

dijera

que

el

que ayerse vio entronizadoobernador...hoy se habiade ver sepultado n

una

sima...?"

3

1

"Structure

and the Search

for Truth in the

Quijote", Hispanic

Review

XXXV

(1967),

311-I2.

2

Genesis

y

evoluci6n

del

"Quiiote"

(Madrid: Alcali, 1968),

p. 486,

n. 88.

3

Sentido

y forma

del

"Quijote"

(Madrid:

Insula,

I949), P.

343.

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142

J.J.

ALLEN

RHM, XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

E. C.

Riley

has

recently

drawn attention to another facet of the

same

cor-

respondence:

La

aventuraparalela [a la de la cueva de Montesinos] de la caida de San-

cho

en

la

sima

es

quiz8

la tinica

del libro

que

da

la

impresi6n por

lo

menos una

impresi6n

tan fuerte de haber sido introducida

s61o

por

razo-

nes

simnb61icas.

o es

que

el suceso sea

imposible,

sino

que

tiene aire de ser

un acontecimiento

fortuito

que

se

justifica

como simbolo de la caida de

los

'grandes'

desde

la

cumbre de la

Fortuna,

como

parang6n

con la cueva de

Montesinos... 4

This last comment is

particularly

significant

for

its

suggestion

that

Cervantes

is

especially

concerned at this

point

to

draw an

analogy

between the

respective

activities of the

knight

and his

squire.

A

parallel

thus

begins

to

suggest

itself

from the isolated comments of a

number

of

critics,

involving

a

change

from

the

comic to the serious

(Chambers),

a fall

(Riley),

and the

achievement

of

self-knowledge

(Varo, Casalduero).

I

have

sug-

gested,

in

Don

Quijote:

Hero

or

Fool?

(Gainesville:

U. of Fla.

Press,

1969,

pp.

61-63),

that in an

important

sense,

the

governorship

of Sancho

parallels

in

its

principal

outlines the

genesis,

practice

and renunciation

of

the

chivalric mis-

sion of

Don

Quijote.

I

believe that

Cervantes' treatment of the

governorship,

especially

in

its

conclusion,

is

designed

to

elicit a rather

clearly

definable reaction

from the

reader,

and that one's

final

perspective

on the

governorship

informs

one's reaction to the chivalric career of Don Quijote and the renunciationat the

end

of

the novel of what

he had seen as his mission

and

goal.

This

essay

is an

attempt

to elucidate the

parallels

between Sancho's

governorship

and Don

Qui-

jote's

career,

and to

indicate what is

being

foreshadowed

in

the treatment

of the

untimely

end

of the

squire's

brief moment of

glory.

I

Don

Quijote's

initial

goal

is

fame,

to be

obtained

by imitating

the

heroes of

the books of chivalry. The books he liked best were those of Feliciano de Silva,

"porque

la claridad de su

prosa y aquellas

entricadas razones

suyas

le

parecian

de

perlas."

5

The

knight

whom he most

admired,

at that

point,

was

"Reinaldos de

Montalbin,

y

mis

cuando

le

veia

salir de su castillo

y

robar cuantos

topaba..."

(p.

38).

The initial

attraction of the

books of

chivalry

for Don

Quijote,

then,

is

esthetic,

not

ethical,

and

his

desire to

right

wrongs

is

simply

a

necessary

conse-

quence

of this attraction:

"ejercitarse

en todo

aquello

que

61

habia

leido

que

los

4

"Don

Quijote,"

in

Suma

cervantina,

eds. E. C.

Riley

and

J.

B.

Avalle-Arce

(London:

Tamesis, 1973), P. 71. Despite her assertion that "el episodio de la caida de Sancho en la

sima

(LV)...

es de

sentido

opuesto

al

del descenso de Don

Quijote

a la

cueva

de

Monte-

sinos,"

Helena Percas de

Ponseti notes

in

her recent book that "su caida en

la

sima

constituye para

61

la

revelaci6n

de

su

verdad

personal,

como lo es

para

Don

Quijote

la

bajada

a la

cueva de

Montesinos, y

esti

construida

con

anilogos

procedimientos

t6cnicos"

(Cervantes

y

su

concepto

del

arte

[Madrid:

Gredos,

I975], pp.

630

and

637).

s Don

Quijote

de

la

Mancha,

ed.

Martin

de

Riquer

(Barcelona:

Juventud,

I966),

p. 36.

Subsequent

references are to this

edition.








THE

GOVERNORSHIP OF SANCHO

143

caballeros andantes

se

ejercitaban,

deshaciendo todo

g~nero

de

agravio..." (p.

38).

Dulcinea is another

consequence,

and

not

a

motivating

force,

and she is

chosen,

quite logically,

after the more

important

business of

Rocinante is attended to:

"Limpias, pues, sus armas,hecho del morr6n celada, puesto nombre a su rocin y

confirmindose

a si

mismo,

se

dio a

entender

que

no

faltaba otra

cosa

sino

buscar

una dama de

quien

enamorarse..."

(p.

40).

Of course there is much

subsequent

talk of

"righting

wrongs,"

and this is the intent behind much of Don

Quijote's

activity,

because that is what

knights

errant

do,

just

as he

spends

a

great

deal of

time

"pensando

en su sefiora

Dulcinea,

por

acomodarse a lo

que

habia leido en

sus libros..."

(p.

84).

But

his

tacit

acceptance

of the "chivalric" career of

the

innkeeper

who

knighted

him

("haciendo

muchos

tuertos,

recuestando muchas

viudas,

deshaciendo

algunas

doncellas

y

engafiando

a

algunos pupilos..."

[p.

491),

the

determining

factors

in his choice of

Amadis over Roland as a model

(pp. 250-

51),

his elaborationof a

knight's

career

(pp. I97-99),

his defense of the novels

of

chivalry

in the

argument

with the canon

(pp.

499-502),

all manifest the

primacy

of the esthetic

over

the

ethical. It

goes

without

saying

that

his initial esthetic

perceptions

and

predilections

are

ludicrous,

diametrically opposed

to Cervantes'

own

explicit

insistence

upon

verisimilitude and his desire to

express

himself

"a

la

llana,

con

palabras significantes,

honestas

y

bien

colocadas...,

dando

a

enten-

der

[los]

conceptos

sin intricarlos

y

escurecerlos"

(Cervantes'

"friend,"

in the

Pr61ogo,

p.

25).

It seems

equally

clear

that the initial

attraction of

the

governorship

for Sancho

is the material gain to be had from it. He is willing to trade the governorship

for the

recipe

for the balsam of

Fierabrnis,

which

promises

a

quicker,

easier,

and

larger

financial return

(p.

99),

and he wants his domain in Micomicon

to be on

the coast so that he can

easily transport

his black slaves to market:

"Par

Dios

que

los

he

de

volar,

chico con

grande,

o

como

pudiere, y que, por negros

que

sean,

los he de volver blancos o amarillos"

(p.

296;

Cf.

p.

315).

Don

Quijote

and Sancho

begin

their

respective quests supremely

self-confident.

Each

is

characterized

by

that "serene unawareness"

of

inadequacy

which

D. C. Muecke

proposes

as a

necessary

attribute of the victim of situational

irony.

6

"Imagindbase

el

pobre

[don Quijote] ya

coronado

por

el valor de

su

brazo, por lo menos, del imperio de Trapisonda" (p. 38). "Yo valgo por ciento,"

he

says,

on

attacking

the

Yanguesans

(p.

I36),

and

he means

he is worth a

hundred men in

physical

prowess.

He

expects

to

improve upon

the

exploits

of

his

predecessors,

for if

they

rewarded their

squires

in their old

age

with

"algiin

titulo de

conde, o,

por

mucho,

marqu6s,

bien

podria

ser

que

antes de

seis

dias

ganase yo

tal

reino,

que

tuviese otros a

61

adherentes,

que

viniesen de molde

para

coronarte

por rey

de uno dellos"

(p.

80).

A similar self-confidence

characterizes

Sancho in the

early chapters:

"no se le olvide lo

que

de

la

insula me tiene

pro-

metido;

que yo

la

sabr6

gobernar,

por

grande

que

sea"

(p.

80).

A closely related characteristicwhich the two protagonists share is a serious

lack

of

self-knowledge,

an

extremely

important

element

in the

process

under

investigation,

since true

self-knowledge

is a

prerequisite

for the

self-mastery

which

6

Irony

(The

Critical

Idiom,

no.

13,

General

Editor, John

D.

Jump)

(London:

Methuen,

I970),

pp.

25-30.








144

J.

J.

ALLEN

RHM,

XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

constitutes

Don

Quijote's

victory

in the end.

"Yo

s6 quidn

soy"

(p. 63),

he

affirms,

in

the famous

phrase

so

dear

to Unamuno. He

had

thought,

at

this

point,

that

he

was

Valdovinos,

"y crey6,

sin

duda,

que

aquel [labrador]

era

el

marques

de Mantua, su tio" (p.

62).

Some chapters later, he forgets Dulcinea altogether,

in

elaborating

imaginatively

his

rise

to fame:

"S61o

falta

agora

mirar

qu6

rey

de los

cristianos

o de

los

paganos

tenga guerra

y

tenga hija

hermosa"

(p.

I99).

The

king's

daughter

is to

be

his

bride.

Sancho's lack

of

self-knowledge

is

beautifully represented

in his

reaction

to

the

escalation of Don

Quijote's

ambitions for him

from

governor

to

king,

referred

to

above:

-De esa

manera--

respondi6

SanchoPanza

-,

si yo

fuese

rey

por

algin

milagro

de

los

que

vuestra merced

dice,

por

lo

menos, Juana

Guti6rrez,

mi

oislo, vendria a ser reina, y mis hijos infantes.

-Pues

(qui6n

lo duda?

respondi6

don

Quijote.

-Yo

lo

dudo

-

replic6

Sancho Panza

porque

tengo para

mi

que,

aun-

que

Iloviese Dios

reinos sobre la

tierra,

ninguno

asentariabien

sobre la

cabeza

de

Mari

Guti~rrez.

Sepa,

sefior,

que

no

vale

dos

maravedis

para

reina;

con-

desa le caeria

mejor,y

aun

Dios

y

ayuda.

(pp.

80-8I)

As

Lazarillo

remarked,

n a similar

context:

"iCuintos

debe

de haber

en el

mundo

que

huyen

de otros

porque

no se veen

a

si

mesmos "

The

parallel

between

the

knight

and his

squire

is

quite

clear in this

regard

when each in turn ignores the unbridgablechasm between his specific station in

life and

that to which

he

aspires.

Don

Quijote

needs to

be "de

linaje

de

reyes,

o,

por

lo

menos,

primo

segundo

de

emperador,"

to

marry

the

king's daughter.

His

actual

situation is

"hijodalgo

de

solar

conocido,

de

posesi6n

y

propriedad

y

de

devengar

quinientos

sueldos"

(p.

200).

Sancho will

be,

as

Don

Quijote

says,

a

count,

and "en

haci6ndote

conde,

citate

ahi

caballero."

The

squire

feels

he has

the

necessary background,

"porque

por

vida

mia

que

un

tiempo

fui

mufiidor

de

cofradia,

que

decian

todos

que

tenia

presencia

para

ser

prioste

de la

mesma

cofradia"

(p. 201).

The

terms

of

the two

relationships

are

roughly

proportionate:

hijodalgo

de solar

conocido:

linaje

de

reyes

=

mufiidor

de

cofradia:

conde.

The

stylistic

complement

to this

elaborate

parallel

preparation

for

Don

Qui-

jote's

career and

for

Sancho's

governorship

can be

seen

most

clearly

in the

mock-

heroic

passages

dedicated

to

each at

the

outset of

their

respective

undertakings.

In the

case of

Don

Quijote,

it

is

a

mock-epic

dawn

description,

which he

himself

composed:

Apenas

habia

el

rubicundo

Apolo

tendido

por

la faz

de la ancha

y espa-

ciosa

tierra las

doradas

hebras

de sus

hermosos

cabellos, y

apenas

los

peque-

fios

y pintados

pajarillos

on

sus

harpadas

enguas

habian

aludado on

dulce

y

meliflua

armonia

la

venida

de

la

rosada

aurora,

que, dejando

la

blanda

cama

del celoso marido, por las puertas

y

balcones del

manchego

horizonte

a los

mortales se

mostraba,

cuando el

famoso

caballero

don

Quijote

de

la

Mancha,

dejando

las

ociosas

plumas,

subi6

sobre su

famoso

caballo

Rocinante, y

co-

menz6

a

caminar

por

el

antiguo y

conocido

campo

de

Montiel.

(p. 42)

In the

case of

Sancho,

it

is

a

mock-epic

invocation of

Apollo:








THE GOVERNORSHIP

OF SANCHO

145

i

Oh

perpetuo

descubridor de

los

antipodas,

hacha

del

mundo, ojo

del

cielo,

meneo dulce de las

cantimploras,

Timbrio

aqui,

Febo

alli,

tirador

aci,

medico

acullA,

padre

de la

Poesia,

inventor de la

Misica, tAi

que siempre

sales

y, aunque

lo

parece,

nunca te

pones

A

ti

digo,

i

oh

sol,

con

cuya ayuda

el

hombre

engendra

al

hombre ,

a ti

digo que

me

favorezcas, y

alumbres

la

escuridad de

mi

ingenio, para

que

pueda

discurrir

por

sus

puntos

en la

narra-

ci6n del

gobierno

del

gran

Sancho

Panza.

(p. 858)7

Auerbach's characterization

of Don

Quijote

as "a

comedy

in

which

well-

founded

reality

holds madness

up

to

ridicule,"

8

though inadequate

as

applied

to

the

whole

book,

serves

quite

well

to

describe

this first

phase

of

the

parallel

trajectories

of Don

Quijote

and Sancho. The

structure,

understood as the author's

disposition

of the constant elements of a fictional world

(in

Castro's

terms,

the

"incitements" offered Don Quijote and Sancho by their world), the plot, i.e.,

the

developmental arrangement

of the characters'reactions to that

world,

and the

style

clearly

lead the reader to

expect

a comic

denouement

for

both characters:

failure

in

the

endeavor

and

reintegration

with

the

world.

II

In

attempting

to

identify

the

principal

factors in

the reversal of

the

reader's

expectation

of a comic denouement

for Don

Quijote's

career and for the

govern-

orship of Sancho, it is perhaps worthwhile to note that although this analysis

corroboratesLeland Chambers'

observation of a

parallel

between the

dubbing

of

Don

Quijote, early

in

Part

I,

and

the

conferring

of Sancho's

governorship,

in the

middle of Part

II,

it

must

be

said

that

the fulfillment of the desires of both

men

is achieved

nearly simultaneously

at the castle of

the

Duke

and

Duchess.

They

arrange

for Don

Quijote

the first chivalric

reception

in

his

career,

"y aqud1

fue

el

primer

dia

que

de todo en todo conoci6

y crey6

ser caballero andante

verda-

dero,

y

no

fantistico..."

(p. 762).

The

governorship

of the 'island' is conferred

upon

Sancho

later

the same

day (p. 771).

Although considerable preparationfor the reversal has already been accom-

plished,

and thus the distance between reader

and

protagonist

has

already

begun

to

diminish,

it is still

possible

or

Cervantes

o make the

following

comment,

as

Sancho sets out for the insula:

Deja,

lector

amable,

ir en

paz

y

en

hora buena al buen

Sancho,

y espera

dos

fanegas

de

risa, que

te ha de causar el saber c6mo se

port6

en su

cargo,

y

en

tanto,

atiende a saber lo

que

le

.pas6

a su amo

aquella noche; que

si

con ella no

rieres,

por

lo menos

desplegards

los labios con

risa

de

jimia,

porque

los

sucesos

de

don

Quijote,

o se han de

celebrar

con

admiraci6n

[i.e.,

astonishment],

o

con

risa.

(p. 850)

7

For a

complementary

discussion of these two

passages

in relation to

other,

similar

ones,

see Don

Quixote:

Hero or

Fool?, pp. 58-63.

8

Erich

Auerbach,

"The Enchanted

Dulcinea,"

in Mimesis. The

Representation

of

Reality

in Western

Literature,

tr. Willard Trask

(Princeton,

I953),

P.

3o5.

9

Don

Quixote:

Hero or

Fool?, pp.

42-45.








146

J. J.

ALLEN

RIM,

XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

This

piece

of

commentary may

serve as an

explicit

ratification

by

Cervantes

of the conclusion

here

drawn as to

the

major

thrust of the novel

to

this

point,

yet

one

wonders

just

how

comfortable the reader is

supposed

to

feel with that

ape-like grin on his face, and there is just enough ambiguity in admiracidnto

allow

for

the fact

that

Cervantes has been

working subtly

in

another

direction at

the same

time,

as

alluded

to

above;

else how are

we

to

accept

that

Don

Quijote's

aid

is

now

sought by

Dofia

Rodriguez

in

utter

seriousness,

that Basilio

and

his

friends

took him

home with

them,

"estimindolo

por

hombre de valor

y

de

pelo

en

pecho" (p. 693),

that,

as Lester Crocker has

said,

"Don

Quijote

embodies the

great spiritual

force of human

aspirations,

and

Cervantes

presents

him

as

superior

in moral

fibre to

the

people

who flout

him,"

10

or that Sancho

"orden6 cosas

tan

buenas,

que

hasta

hoy

se

guardan

en

aquel

lugar, y

se

nombran las

constituciones

del

gran gobernador

Sancho Panza"?

(p. 915).

In

the

foregoing exposition

of

the

development

of comic

expectations

in the

reader,

four

basic

elements were

discussed:

flawed

motivation,

excessive self-

confidence,

lack of

self-knowledge,

and

an

appropriatestylistic complement.

Basic

changes

can be

observed in

both Don

Quijote

and Sancho

in all of these

aspects

as the

novel

progresses.

The

change

in

Don

Quijote's

motivation

can

perhaps

best be seen in the

ethical

emphasis

which he infuses into

the

originally

esthetic

drive

for

fame in

imitation of

the chivalric

heroes,

in

Chapter

8

of Part II:

Hemos

de

matar

en

los

gigantes

a la

soberbia;

a

la

envidia,

en

la

genero-

sidad y buen pecho; a la ira, en el reposado continentey quietud del linimo;

a la

gula y

al

suefio,

en el

poco

comer

que

comemos

y

en

el mucho velar

que

velamos

a

la

lujuria y lascivia,

en la lealtad

que guardamos

alas

que

hemos

hecho sefioras de

nuestros

pensamientos;

a la

pereza,

con andar

por

todas

las

partes

del

mundo,

buscando las ocasiones

que

nos

puedan

hacer

y hagan,

sobre

cristianos,

famosos caballeros. Ves

aqui,

Sancho,

los medios

por

donde

se alcanzan los

estremos de

alabanza

que

consigo

trae la buena fama.

(p. 594)

(It

is

significant

that of these six

of

the

seven

Deadly

Sins

-

avarice is

missing

-

the

only

one

which

is

not

yet demythologized,

that

is,

which

Don

Quijote

still

sees as

external,

is la

soberbia: Pride

is

in fact Don

Quijote's nemesis.)

As for

Sancho,

though

he

can still tell

Teresa,

who

always

brings

out

his most

materialistic tendencies: "De

aqui

a

pocos

dias me

partir6

al

gobierno,

adonde

voy

con

grandisimo

deseo

de hacer dineros"

(p.

806),

the attitude

which more

properly

characterizes his

actual selfless

performance

in the

governorship

is best

expressed

in

conversation

with

Don

Quijote:

Venga

esa

insula;

que

yo

pugnar6

por

ser tal

gobernador que

a

pesar

de

bellacos me

vaya

al

cielo; y

esto

no

es

por

codicia

que

yo

tenga

de salir

de

mis casillas

ni de

levantarme

a

mayores,

sino

por

el

deseo

que tengo

de

probar

a

qu6

sabe

el

ser

gobernador.

(p.

838)

It is

difficult

not to

anticipate,

in

dealing

with

the

intrusions of self-doubt

upon

the initial unbridled

self-confidence,

and

the

acquisition

of

self-knowledge

10

"Don

Quixote, Epic

of

Frustration,"

Romanic Review XLII

(1951),

18o.








THE GOVERNORSHIPOF SANCHO

147

during

the

phase

of

performance

which we

are

just

now

attempting

to char-

acterize,

for the

process only

comes to fruition in confession

and

repentance

at

the

point

of

anagnorisis,

with which

we

are not

yet

concerned.

In the

case

of

Don Quijote, perhaps it is enough to note that the self-confident "yo valgo por

ciento"

of

Chapter

I5,

Part

I,

becomes

the

"todo

este mundo es

miquinas

y

trazas,

contrarias unas de

otras. Yo

no

puedo

mis,"

of

Chapter

29,

Part

II

(p.

755),

before

being definitively

transcended in Don

Quijote's

reflection

after

his second encounter with

Sans6n Carrasco:

"Cada uno es artifice de

su

ventura.

Yo lo

he

sido

de

la

mia;

pero

no con

la prudencia

necesaria,

y

asi me

han salido

al

gallarin

mis

presunciones" (p.

IoI9).

In a similar

way,

the

"yo

s6

quien soy, y

s6

que puedo

ser no

s61o los

que

he

dicho,

sino

todos

los

doce

Pares de

Francia,

y

aun todos

los

nueve de

la

Fama,

pues

a todas

las

hazafias

que

ellos todos

juntos

y

cada

uno

por

si hicieron se

aventajarin

las

mias,"

of

Chapter 5,

Part I

(pp.

63-64),

becomes: "hasta

agora

no s6 lo

que conquisto

a

fuerza

de mis

trabajos;

pero

si

mi

Dulcinea

del

Toboso

saliese de

los que padece,

mejorindose

mi ventura

y

adobindoseme

el

juicio, po-

dria

ser

que

encaminase

mis

pasos por

mejor

camino del

que

Llevo,"

n

Chapter

58

of Part II

(p. 955),

before

culminating

in the final

pages

of the novel:

"Ya

yo

no

soy

don

Quijote

de

la

Mancha,

sino

Alonso

Quijano,

a

quien

mis costum-

bres me

dieron renombre de Bueno"

(pp.

1063-64).

As for

Sancho,

just

before he takes

office,

he

is

able

to

say

to Don

Quijote:

Si a

vuestramerced

e

parece

que

no

soy

de

pro

para

este

gobierno,

esde

aqui

le

suelto;

que

mis

quiero

un solo

negro

de la

ufia

de mi

alma,

que

a

todo mi

cuerpo.

...

Yo no s6 mis de

gobiernos

de

insulas

que

un

buitre;

y

si

se

imaginaque por

ser

gobernador

me

ha

de Ilevarel

diablo,

mis

me

quiero

ir

Sancho al cielo

que

gobernador

al

infierno.

(pp. 847-8)

This element of self-doubt is

accompanied

by

an increased

measure of

self-

knowledge,

as

he tells the Duke: "Vistanme... como

quisieren; que

de

cual-

quier

manera

que vaya

vestido ser~ Sancho Panza"

(p.

839),

and he is

quick

to

point

out

to

the

majordomo

in Barataria

"que

yo

no

tengo

don,

ni en todo mi

linaje

le ha habido: Sancho

Panza me

laman

a secas"

(p. 859).

As Sancho overcomes

his desire

for

material

gain,

he

judges wisely,

out of

a credible

combination of

peasant

shrewdness,

memories from

folk

traditions,

and

the advice

of

Don

Quijote.

As

Don

Quijote

shifts

his

emphasis

from reliance

upon

the

strength

of

his arm to the cultivation of

strength

of

spirit,

as

he inter-

nalizes

the

struggle

and

demythologizes

the

giants

of

pride,

Cervantes

shows

him

victorious

simply by

virtue of

the

attempt

(the

episode

of

the

lions,

Clavilefio),

and

finally,

victor even in defeat at the hands of the

Knight

of the White Moon

-

"vencedor

de si mismo"

(p.

Io56).

The

phase

of the two

careers

which

we

are

now

examining

is

characterized

by surprisingly laudable performance, accompanied by a shift in motivation, a

loss of unwarranted confidence

and a

deeper knowledge

of self. If the madness

of

desire

distorts

one's

perception

of

reality

-

especially

of one's self

-,

achieve-

ment of

the ostensible

goal sharpens

one's

perception

of

reality.

Sancho is

puri-

fied

of

his

greed

as

Don

Quijote

is

purged

of his

egocentric

blindness and

pre-

sumption.

Both transcend

narrow,

undisciplined

self-interest.








148

J. J.

ALLEN

RHM,

XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

Before

discussing

the

stylistic component

in

the

reversal of comic

expectations

and

preparation

for a serious

denouement,

it

is

necessary

to focus

briefly upon

two

major

thematic

parallels

which arise

as

consequences

of the

surprisingly

laudable performanceof both Don Quijote and Sancho: el cuerdo-loco and los

burladores

burlados,

and to examine the crucial

episode

of

the cave

of Montesi-

nos

and its

parallels

in

Sancho's

experience.

The characterizationof

Don

Quijote

as cuerdo-loco is a central

element

in

the extended encounter with Don

Diego

de

Miranda,

who

vacillates

continually

in

his

appraisal

of the

knight,

"pareci~n-

dole

que

era un

cuerdo

loco

y

un

loco

que

tiraba a cuerdo"

(p. 659),

and in

subsequent

chapters

the madness of

Don

Quijote

recedes at times to

such

an

extent

as

to

escape

entirely

the notice of those he

meets,

even

that

of such a

clever man as

Basilio,

who

spent

three

days

with

Don

Quijote

after the

wedding,

"teni6ndole

por

un Cid en las

armas

y por

un Cicer6n en la

elocuencia"

(p.

694).

The correspondingtheme in Sancho's career as

governor

is that of the discreto-

tonto.

After a series of

perspicacious judgments,

"el

que

escribia las

palabras,

hechos

y

movimientos de

Sancho no acababa de

determinarse

si

le

tendria

y

pondria por

tonto,

o

por

discreto"

(p.

863),

and

by

the

time he

left

Barataria,

"los

dej6

admirados,

asi

de sus razones

como de su determinaci6n

tan

resoluta

y

discreta"

(p.

928).

The

Sancho "de

muy poca

sal en la

mollera" of

Chapter 7,

Part

I

(p.

79),

and the Don

Quijote

of

Chapter

I,

"rematado

ya

su

juicio"

(p. 38),

have

clearly

run a

parallel

course,

and

if

in

Chapter

2 of Part II the

priest

speaks

of "las

locuras

del

sefior

[y]

... las

necedades

del criado..."

(p.

554),

by

the

end of the novel it is possible or someone o say:

-Si el criadoes tan

discreto,

i

cu8l

debe

ser el

amo

(p.

1o21)

The theme of

the

burladores burlados

develops similarly

in

Part

II.

Don

Quijote

initiates the

process

with

his defeat

of

Sans6n

Carrasco in

Chapter

14,

frustrating

the latter's

plans

to

force

him

to remain home for two

years.

As Tome

Cecial remarks to Sans6n:

"Don

Quijote

loco,

nosotros

cuerdos,

61

se

va sano

y

riendo;

vuesa merced

queda

molido

y

triste.

Sepamos, pues, ahora:

CuMil

s

mis loco: el

que

lo

es

por

no

poder

menos,

o el

que

lo es

por

su

voluntad?"

(p.

642).

Most of the

manifestations of

the

theme,

however,

are

more the

work

of the author

than

of

Don

Quijote

himself: the Duke is

nonplussed

when

Dofia

Rodriguez

seeks

Don

Quijote's

aid

in

resolving

a

problem

which the

Duke,

to

his

discredit,

is

unwilling

to deal with

(p.

916);

she reveals to Don

Quijote

the

intimate

defects

of both

the

Duchess

and

Altisidora

(p. 885);

the Duke is cha-

grined

when Tosilos

concedes

the battle

with Don

Quijote

(p.

946);

finally,

Alti-

sidora

angrily

drops

the

pose

of

love-sick

damsel,

stung by

the

knight's

consistent

refusal

to succumb to her

attempted

seduction

(p. lo44).

In the

parallel

phase

of Sancho's

governorship,

the

point

is

explicitly

made

by

the

majordomo:

Estoy

admirado de ver

que

un hombre tan sin letras como vuesa

merced,

que,

a Ic

que

creo,

no

tiene

ninguna, diga

tales

y

tantas cosas lienas

de

sen-

tencias

y

avisos,

tan

fuera de todo

aquello que

del

ingenio

de vuesa merced

esperaban

los

que

nos

enviaron

y

los

que aqui

venimos.

Cada

dia

se veen

cosas nuevas en

el

mundo: las burlas se vuelven veras

y

los

burladores

se

hallan burlados.

(pp. 888-89)








THE GOVERNORSHIPOF SANCHO

149

Almost all of the material discussed in this

phase

of the

reversal of

comic

expectations

for both Don

Quijote

and Sancho

is

drawn from the

period

of

their

sojourn

with the Duke and

Duchess,

the

pinnacle

of

worldly

achievement for

both; but a crucial episode for Don Quijote the cave of Montesinos pre-

cedes their arival

there,

and Cervantes draws subtle but

explicit parallels

in the

experience

of

Sancho,

one before and one after his

governorship.

The

topos

which informs the

episode

of the cave of

Montesinos

is

a

classic

one. The motif

is

the hero's descent into the

underworld,

and the theme is the

hero's search

for wisdom.

1

The

adventure

is a

dream,

appropriately,

an occa-

sionally grotesque

amalgam

of recent

experience,

fears,

and

aspirations,

and thus

a

revealing

descent into

the

protagonist's

unconscious. His

report

of the dream

(which

he,

of

course,

does

not

recognize

as

such)

reveals a mind

in

precarious

balance

between

the unreal

pretensions

and

aspirations

with which

he

began,

as

reflected in Montesinos' reception and his presentation of the knight to Duran-

darte,

and a

dawning

sense of

inadequacy,

as reflected in Durandarte's reaction

("paciencia

y

barajar"),

and in Dulcinea's

request

for a

loan,

illuminated for us

by

Gerald Brenan.

12

The

outward

manifestations of these

two

poles

are

repre-

sented

most

clearly

in Don

Quijote's

reckless valor in the

adventure

of

the

lions

(II,

16),

and in his fearful

flight

in the

episode

of the

braying

aldermen

(II, 28),

respectively.

The sense of

inadequacy

will not be

consciously

articulated until

immediately

after

he

leaves the Duke's

castle,

in his

reflections

upon

encountering

the

images

of the saints

(p.

955).

The parallel in Sancho's experience is double. Sancho's account of the ride

on

Clavilefio

is the comic

counterpart

of the unreal

pretensions

of

his

master in

the

cave,

and

it is Don

Quijote

himself

who

explicitly points up

the

analogy

in a

desperate

bid for

support

in his

flagging attempts

to

keep

the faith:

-Sancho, pues

vos

quer6is

que

se os crea lo

que

hab6is

visto en el

cielo,

yo

quiero

que

vos me credisa

mi

lo

que

vi en

la cueva

de

Monte-

sinos.

Y no os

digo

mis.

(p. 837)

The

squire's

fall into the

pit

corresponds

to the dark side of

his master's

vision in the cave. Sancho, quite naturally, is struck by the differences between

the two subterranean adventures:

No

ser6

yo

tan venturoso

omo lo fue mi sefiordon

Quijote

de la Man-

cha

cuandodecendi6

baj6

a la cuevade

aquel

encantado

Montesinos,

onde

hall6

quien

le

regalase

mejorque

en su

casa,

que

no

parece

sino

que

se

fue

a

mesa

puesta

y

a

cama hecha. Alli vio

61

visiones hermosas

y apacibles,

y

yo

ver6

aqui,

a lo

que

creo, saposy

culebras.

p. 937)

But his view

of

the

place

of

the event in

his recent

experience

both harks back

to

the intimations

of

inadequacy

in

Don

Quijote's

dream and

points

toward

his

master's final

realization

of

his own

error:

11

Robert

Scholes and Robert

Kellogg,

The Nature

of

Narrative

(New

York:

Oxford

Univ.

Press,

I966),

p. 27.

12

The Literature

of

the

Spanish

People (New

York:

Meridian

Books,

1957),

pp.

I85-90.








150

J.

J.

ALLEN

RHM,

XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

,Qui~n

dijera que

el

que

ayer

se vio entronizado

gobernador

de

una

insula..., hoy

se habia

de ver

sepultado

en una

sima..?

...

i

Desdichado

de

mi, y

en

qu6

han

parado

mis locuras

y

fantasias

(p. 937)

"Simbolo de

la

caida de

los 'grandes'

desde

la

cumbre

de la

Fortuna,

como

parang6n

con la cueva de

Montesinos...

,"

as

E.

C.

Riley

said of

the

adventure,

and,

we must

add,

foreshadowing

and

portent

of the fall of Don

Quijote,

who

must also one

day

admit his errors: "me han salido

al gallarin

mis

presuncio-

nes"

(p.

1o19),

"ya

conozco mi necedad..."

(p. lo64).

But the

serious business

of

confession and

repentance

which constitutes

the final

stage

of the

process

of

desengaiio

requires

an

appropriate

stylistic complement,

one

radically

different

from the mock-heroic

style

with

which

the

two

parallel

trajectories

began.

III

Sancho

is

of course the first to

fall,

and the

narrator's

commentary

in

prep-

aration for the account of the

end of the

governorship adopts

a

tone

which

is

heard

for

the

first time in the novel:

Pensar

que

en esta vida las cosas

della

han de durar

siempre

en un

esta-

do,

es

pensar

en

lo

escusado;

antes

parece

que

ella

anda todo en

redondo,

digo,

a

la

redonda: la

primavera

sigue

al

verano,

el verano al

estio,

el estio

al otofio, y el otofio al invierno, y el invierno a la primavera, y asi torna a

andarse

el

tiempo

con

esta

rueda

continua;

sola la

vida

humana corre

a

su

fin

ligera

mis

que

el

tiempo,

sin

esperar

renovarse si no es en

la

otra,

que

no

tiene

t~rminos

que

la limiten.

Esto

dice

Cide

Hamete,

fil6sofo

mahom6-

tico;

porque

esto

de entender la

ligereza

e

inestabilidad de la

vida

presente,

y

la duraci6n

de la

eterna

que

se

espera,

muchos sin

lumbre de

fe,

sino

con

la

luz

natural,

lo

han

entendido; pero

aqui

nuestro

autor

lo

dice

por

la pres-

teza

con

que

se

acab6,

se

consumi6,

se

deshizo,

se fue como en

sombra

y

humo el

gobierno

de Sancho.

(pp.

922-23)

As I

have

pointed

out

elsewhere,

"the

subject

is no

longer

'el

gobierno

del

gran

Sancho

Panza,'

and

though

there

is humor in the

passage ('digo,

a la

redon-

da';

'fil6sofo

mahomdtico'),

it

is not directed

at

Sancho,

and the

seriousness

of

the

analogy

death:

governorship)

nd the level of

style

contrastwith the

mock-

epic

invocation" which

introduced the

governorship.

3

There

is

only

one other

passage

like this one in the

novel,

in tone

and

content

-

the

preparation

or

the

end of Don

Quijote's

areer

and for his death:

Como

las cosas

humanas no sean

eternas,

yendo siempre

en

declinaci6n

de sus

principios

hasta

llegar

a su

iiltimo

fin, especialmente

las vidas de los

hombres,

y

como la

de

don

Quijote

no

tuviese

privilegio

del

cielo

para

de-

tener el curso de

la

suya,

lleg6

su fin

y

acabamiento

cuando

61

menos

lo

pensaba.

(p. 1062)

13

Don

Quixote:

Hero or

Fool?, p.

62.








THE

GOVERNORSHIP

OF SANCHO

151

These

passages

introduce

the

moment

of

maximum

lucidity,

of

desengaio,

for

both characters.

Sancho has been

defeated,

and now he sees

clearly:

"Despuds

que

os

dejd

y

me subi sobre las torres de la

ambici6n

y

de la

soberbia,

se me

han entrado por el alma adentro mil miserias, mil trabajosy cuatro mil desaso-

siegos...

Yo no naci

para

ser

gobernador....

Qu~dense

en

esta

caballeriza las

alas de la

hormiga, que

me levantaron

en

el aire

para

que

me comiesen

vencejos

y

otros

pdjaros..." (pp.

926-27). "Y,

iqu6

has

ganado

en el

gobierno?"

asked

Ricote.

"He

ganado

el

haber conocido

que

no

soy

bueno

para gobernar,

si no es

un hato de

ganado..."

(p.

934).

"Yo

tengo

juicio

ya,

libre

y

claro,

sin las sombras

caliginosas

de

la

ignoran-

cia..."

"Ya

yo

no

soy

don

Quijote

de

la

Mancha,

sino Alonso

Quijano,

a

quien

mis costumbres me

dieron

renombre de Bueno"

(pp.

1063-64).

His islanders

may

exhort Sancho

to

get up

and celebrate

his

'victory'

over the

invaders,

Sans6n

may

remind Don

Quijote

that

Dulcinea

is

now

disenchanted,

and Sancho him-

self

may implore

his

master not to "let himself

die,"

to blame him

for his

defeat,

but

each of

them,

in his own critical moment of

recognition,

knows the truth.

Failure

lays

bare

the

internal

inadequacy,

and

gives

rise to definitive self-

knowledge, humility,

and

confession,

which

issue

in

what

the

seventeenth-century

Spaniard

called

desengaiio.

IV

Both

Sancho

and Don

Quijote,

then,

have lived

through

a

process

beginning

with

pride

and

presumption

and a

consequent

unawareness

of their

limitations,

moving

toward

self-discovery

through suffering,

and

culminating

in

confession

and

repentance.

Both of them

say

this

explicitly.

Their

experiences

have

not be-

fallen

them

by

chance,

and here one must be careful

not to draw

the

wrong

conclusions

from

E.

C.

Riley's

allusion to "la caida de los

'grandes'

desde

la cum-

bre de la Fortuna." "No

hay

fortuna

en el

mundo,

ni las cosas

que

en 61 suce-

den,

buenas

o malas

que

sean,

vienen

acaso,

sino

por particular providencia

de

los cielos

...," says

the

enlightened

Don

Quijote (p. IoI9),

with

almost

the same

words

as

Cervantes,

in the Persiles:

"aquello

que

comunmente

es Ilamada for-

tuna,

... no es otra

cosa

sino un firme

disponer

del cielo."

14

Recognition,

confession,

and

repentance

are

ratified in

epiphany.

As

Don

Quijote

and Sancho

approach

the end of the third and final

sally,

subieron

una cuesta

arriba,

desde

la

cual descubrieron su

aldea,

la cual

vista

de

Sancho,

se hinc6 de

rodillas, y dijo:

-Abre

los

ojos,

deseada

patria,

y

mira

que

vuelve a ti Sancho Panza tu

hijo,

si no

muy rico, muy

bien

azotado.

Abre los brazos

y

recibe

tambidn

tu

hijo

don

Quijote,

que

si

viene

vencido de los brazos

ajenos,

viene

vence-

dor

de si

mismo;

que

segfin

~1

me

ha

dicho,

es el

mayor

vencimiento

que

desearse

puede. (p. io56)

14

LOS

Trabajos

de

Persiles

y Sigismunda,

ed.

R. Schevill and A. Bonilla

(Madrid:

B.

Rodriguez,

1914),

II,

291.








152

J.

J.

ALLEN

RIM

,

XXXVIII

(1974-1975)

At the end of another

long

and arduous

journey,

Persiles and

Sigismunda

finally

approach

their

goal,

Rome: "los demis

peregrinos

de

nuestra

compafiia,

Ilegando

a la vista

[de

Roma],

desde

un

alto montezillo

la

descubrieron,

y,

hin-

cados de rodillas, como a cosa sacra, la adoraron"(II,

221).

Alban Forcione has

indicated the

significance

of

this ritualistic ascension: "As

Frye points

out,

the

hill

is

one

of the

archetypal

locations for the

point

of

epiphany,

at which

the 'un-

displaced

apocalyptic

world and the

cyclical

world

of

nature come

into

align-

ment,'

like

the

Bible,

the

Persiles

presents

several

mountaintop

epiphanies..." 5

The

epiphany

does

not

include

Sancho;

on the

contrary, though

it is

he

who

articulates

the statement

which

makes

explicit

the

implicit

process

of

self-mastery

as

victory,

his own situation

represents

a comic reduction of

Don

Quijote's

self-

discovery,

since he is unable to assimilate

fully

the

lessons

of the

governorship.

It is

precisely

the

bogus lashings

alluded to in the

epiphany

scene which

consti-

tute the

sign

of Sancho's

backsliding

into

greed,

and thus of his

inability

to

follow

his

master on the

plane

of

transcendence.

His is

a comic

reintegration

nto

the world such as the

reader was

initially

led to

expect,

and the

common

notion

of Sancho

as Don

Quijote's

disciple

at the end of the

novel,

ready

to

carry

forward his master's

quixotic

quest,

is

simply incompatible

with the

text. It

would nevertheless be

ill-advised to

judge

Sancho too

harshly,

for

he

survived

his moment

of

recognition.

One cannot live in the

rarefied

atmosphere

of tran-

scendence,

for to live is to

err.

Which is

why

Don

Quijote

must die

at the mo-

ment of maximum

lucidity.

Yace

aqui

el hidalgo

fuerte

que

a tanto

estremo

leg6

de

valiente,que

se advierte

que

la

muerteno triunf6

de

su vida con su

muerte.

Tuvo a todo el

mundoen

poco;

fue

el

espantajo

y el

coco

del

mundo,

en

tal

coyuntura,

que

acredit6

su

ventura

morir

cuerdo

y

vivir loco.

J.J.

ALLEN

UNIVERSITY

OF FLORIDA

15

Cervantes'

Christian

Romance:

A

Study of

"Persiles

y Sigismunda" (Princeton,

I972),

pp.

35-36.

The

quotation

from

Northrup

Frye

is from

Anatomy of

Criticism

(Prin-

ceton, 1957), p. 203.

allen, j.j_the governorship of sancho and don quijote's chivalric career

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