Cervantes
Cervantes refers to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the Spanish writer widely considered the greatest figure in Spanish literature.
He is best known for *Don Quixote*, published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, often called the first modern novel.
The name appears in literary discussions as shorthand for the author or his distinctive style of mixing comedy with pathos: Cervantes gave us the template for the lovable fool on an impossible quest.
References to Cervantes often invoke themes of idealism, delusion, and the gap between romantic dreams and harsh reality.
Belief in noble principles
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- knightHonored mounted soldier
- romanticismEmotional, imaginative worldview
- madnessMental derangement or folly
impossible dream · tilting at windmills · adventure · illusion · imagination · dreamer · visionary · impractical
Squire to a knight-errant
- novelistWriter of prose narratives
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- Spanish literatureWritten works from Spain
- Golden AgeLegendary period of perfection
windmills · chivalry · satire · picaresque · quixotic · narrative · fiction · prose
Armed forces member
- captiveOne held by force
- AlgiersCapital of largest African nation
- Battle of Lepanto1571 Mediterranean sea engagement
- woundedHaving sustained harm
one-armed · prisoner · ransom · tax collector · poverty · playwright · Madrid · Seville
Romance tongue from Iberia
- HispanicOf Spanish-speaking origin
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- statueThree-dimensional sculpted likeness
- plazaPublic open square
commemorative · cultural icon · national treasure · legacy · influence · tourism · anniversary · celebration
idealism
Belief in noble principles
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- knightHonored mounted soldier
- romanticismEmotional, imaginative worldview
madness · impossible dream · tilting at windmills · adventure · illusion · imagination · dreamer · visionary · impractical · chivalric
Sancho Panza
Squire to a knight-errant
- novelistWriter of prose narratives
- playwrightAuthor of stage dramas
- Spanish literatureWritten works from Spain
Golden Age · windmills · chivalry · satire · picaresque · quixotic · narrative · fiction · prose · masterpiece
soldier
Armed forces member
- captiveOne held by force
- AlgiersCapital of largest African nation
- Battle of Lepanto1571 Mediterranean sea engagement
wounded · one-armed · prisoner · ransom · tax collector · poverty · playwright · Madrid · Seville · debtor
Spanish language
Romance tongue from Iberia
- HispanicOf Spanish-speaking origin
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- statueThree-dimensional sculpted likeness
plaza · commemorative · cultural icon · national treasure · legacy · influence · tourism · anniversary · celebration · UNESCO
- Escritoresbardo, Shakespeare, Borges, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- individual authors CAgatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Cormac McCarthy, C.S. Lewis, Colleen Hoover
- European AuthorsShakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Jane Austen, Dante
- european novelistsTolstoy, Dostoevsky, Dickens, Victor Hugo, Kafka
- Renaissance WritersWilliam Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Marlowe, Jonson
- Spanish Renaissancemystical poetry