The Nature of Humor and Laughter in Don Quixote - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... “Don Quixote” is considered as a very funny novel that is romantic and full of adventures and high spirits. It generates laughter at every level but the nature of humor and laughter in the novel is implicit at places which take the novel to a more sensitive and intellectual realm. The nature of humor and laughter in “Don Quixote” is not only entertaining and aesthetic but it also evokes element of intellect and sensitivity in the novel. Thesis Statement The essay intends to trace and to comprehend the subtle interplay of wit, sarcasm and humor inherent in the adventurous plot of the novel Don Quixote and trace out its functions in the plot and the thematic aspect of the novel. Humor Explicit: The Role of Rancho Penza and Don Quixote in Generating Humor and Laughter in the Novel At the outset of the novel itself, the readers get well aware with the skill of Cervantes in terms of dealing the elements of laughter and the facets that will generate humor in the novel with his immense grasp over the area and exercising them at length through the character delineation of Sancho Panza. A close reading and introspection to the character of Sancho Panza, hints at the fact that Cervantes derived materials for his novel from myriad sources and he was highly influenced by them as well. Chivalric novels, tradition pertaining to Carnival and some autobiographical elements loom large in the backdrop of the novel. Author Samuel Putman remarkably notes that the character of Sancho Panza is “the most humorous creation in the whole range of fiction” (Putnam, “The Portable Cervantes”, P 24). He further notes that Don Quixote is the first comedy that frames its humor on the base of “the incongruous clash of reality...
Since the date of publication, Cervantes’ masterpiece “Don Quixote” has been the best-seller and has been translated in more than sixty languages. The reason for such publicity of the novel pertains to its amusing quality that generates laughter and spontaneous humor since ages. Don Quixote is regarded by the writers and the critics as centrally located in the history of the novel. The immaculate tale of a man and his struggle in the immoral world where his world view is strikingly different from the real vision of the world, projects a cautionary saga of idealism versus realism. The humor intended in the novel is beyond any argument, one of the finest of its kind and apart from all the literary theories and anticipation, the novel has the capacity to amuse and relate human mind irrespective of language, culture and age. ...Download file to see next pagesRead More