Wednesday, April 30, 2008

BA #12 Juana Panza

1.) Juana Panza first appears in page 350 of the Don Quijote.

2.) Juana is the wife of Sancho Panza, who has to endure the loneliness at home with her children as her absent husband served as Don Quijote’s squire while a pair of them traveled on a knightly mission.

3.) There were a similar between Penelope in the Odyssey and Juana, they both missed there husband. As for Penelope, “she fell weeping for Odysseus, her beloved husband…(Odyssey.89). Juana main concern was a donkey after she saw her husband, “the first thing she asked when she saw her husband was whether the donkey was in good health…”(Don Quijote.350). But still, she loves her husband although the donkey happens to be the driving force to keep Sancho’s farm in operation.

4.) I think Juana is a hero for she is a loyal and patience wife to Sancho, which she stayed home to keep her children and farm together in one piece while Sancho went off on the adventure more than once with Don Quijote.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

BA #12

The priest first appears in chapter forty five and he is a hero because he stands up for Don Quijote when the police want to arrest him. It takes a hero to stand up to authority and that is what the priest does. He convinces "argued so forcefully" (pg15) that the police did not want to arrest him. Then the priest goes on to tell them "that they'd have to be madder than he was not to see his madness" (pg15).

BA#12 Eugenio the Goatherd

1. The Goatherd's introduction is found in Volume 1, Chapter 50, Page 341.

2. The Goatherd is a peasant farmer who tends to his sheep. Eugenio is able to talk to his sheep "as if [they] had a brain" (341). The goatherd tells the men that he became a Shepard along side his friend Anselmo who started to tend sheep after the disappearance of the lovely Leandra. Eugenio tends Anselmo's sheep now (and his own as well), and they both still "sing duets praising, ordaining, our lovely Leandra" (345).

3. The gerdherder is similar to Don Quijote because at one point the men believe both to be a little crazy. The goatherd tells the men that he talks to his animals as if they "had a brain, don't think I'm an idiot , because, really there's a special mystery in the words I use" (341). It is interesting that the men believe every word that the goatherd says, and totally disregard Don's sanity.

4. I believe Eugenio the Goatherd is a hero in our sense of the definition because he sticks up for his own beliefs. The goatherd disregards Don's attempt at adding another man to the group. Eugenio looks disgusted at the way Don is dressed, and asks who the man speaking is, and "why he looks and talks the way he talks" (347). The goatherd is genuine in his depiction of the story of Leandra, and keeps all the men occupied and fascinated with the story. He is someone that the men look up to, even though he is a peasant herder.
BA # 12 Marcela the shepherdess

1)Marcela is first mentioned when Don Quijote and Sancho meet the band of goatherds in V. 1, Ch. 12 on page 63 of our text.

2)Marcela was daughter to Guillermo the Rich. Before her mother died, she was "the most respected woman anywhere around here" (64). Her father, "at the loss of such a good wife" (65), also died, leaving Marcela to be raised in a cloistered environment of the village priest, her uncle. "The little girl grew so beautiful [. . .] that, by the time she reached fourteen or fifteen, no one had ever seen her without blessing God for making her so lovely, and most of them were hopelessly in love with her" (65). The combination of her physical and fiscal endowments combined to make her incredibly desirable. In fact it is by the death of the "famous student-shepherd, Grisostomo, [who . . .] died of love" (63) unrequited for her, that we are first introduced to Marcela. She eventually tires of her cloistered life and becomes a shepherdess, denying the wishes of her uncle and making herself more available to the advances of the villages' lust filled men. In this way, says the goatherd, "she does more damage, here on this earth, than if she carried the plague" (66), because she does not return their overtures. She is vilified, through no fault of her own, though her "reputation for virtue" (76), remains in tact, "no matter how cruel she may be, and prouder than necessary, and a great deal disdainful" (76), too.

3)The figure of Marcela is interesting to compare to the archetype of the chivalric damsel that Don Quijote speaks of earlier in the novel. The assertive, confident and independent nature of Marcela is nearly antithetical to "the damsel." As Don Quijote says, even though we lock damsels away to protect them, "the amorous plague will make its way to them" and, "the order of knights errant was established, to defend damsels" (60). When viewed with Quijote's antiquated gender roles, Marcela reads as a feminist. She is on her own, in the wilds, without the protection of a male benefactor. She determines her own future.

4)It is for this reason that I find her a heroic figure. In a world that must have been severely patriarchal, she vows to remain outside of masculine determinations. "I was born free, and I chose the solitude of the fields so I could live free" (78) she says. "All my desires have their boundaries here in these mountains, and if they ever do go forth, it's only to contemplate the sky's beauty, and the steps the soul takes as it proceeds toward its primal home" (79). Marcela appears at Grisostomo's funeral to defend herself, with these and other words, from sexist accusations. As a hero, she stands up to not only an entire village of men, but an entire society's condescension. She is a heroic woman in her singular character, but she is an heroic person for remaining true to her beliefs in the face of crowded scrutiny.

Monday, April 28, 2008

BA # 12 Sancho Panzo

Sancho Panzo first appears on pg 42.



Sancho Panzo is a farmer that lives near Don Quijote. Sancho doesnt come from alot and is not the brightest person around. After hearing all the stories about Knights and chivalry, Sancho decides to accompany Don Quijote on his adventures. Not to mention that Don Quijote also promises Sancho that he will be the governer of his own island, and money aand gifts will be left to him in his will.

I think that Sancho and Don Quijote are very different. The only similarity that they have is that they are both not very smart. Don Quijote beleives magic is the reason why everything happens and Sancho although doubts him at times, he mostly believes it. "So now you'll finally see, Sancho my son, that what I've told you so many times is true, and everything that happens in this castle is caused by enchantment." (Don Quijote pg 318), "And I believe it." said Sancho, "except for the blanket tossing buisness, which really happened in the usual way."

I think the major reason that Sancho continues on with don Quijote even though he keeps getting hurt is because Sancho finally feels important and needed. Sancho has to in a way lead Don Quijote and take care of him. Without him don Quijote would probably be in a lot of trouble. I would consider Sancho more of sidekick or companion sort of character but he does have some heroic qualities. Sancho is very loyal to don Quijote and no matter what pain he goes through he sticks with him. I feel like he is also a little protective of Don Quijote, so that shows that he is a caring person. The novel also shows that Sancho is tough, even though he complains alot he has gone through alot. Hes been basically poisoned and beaten over and over again but he gets up and keeps going. If that was me I would have given up after the first accident.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Don Quijote first appears right in the beginning of the novel on page 13. The narrator describes Don Quijote as a man with many physical flaws. As we read the narrators point of view Don Quijote is a man that has respect of pervious knights. We also learn that Don Quijote is a hero because just like Odysseus he wants “eternal fame and glory” (15).

BA#11 Pedro Alonso

1) Pedro Alonso first appears on page 31.

2) Pedro is the neighboring farmer who found Don Quijote laying in the road. He is kind to Don Quijote and helped him up, and brought him home.

3) Pedro can be compared to the innkeeper. Both the innkeeper and Pedro helped Don Quijote. The difference between the two characters is the way in which they help him. The innkeeper helped Don Quijote to amuse himself: "To have some fun, he made up his mind to humor Don Quijote" (22). The innkeeper knighted Don Quijote, and feed into his imagination before setting him off on his adventure. He was nice enough not to hassle Don Quijote for the money that was owed. Pedro, on the other hand, aided Don Quijote out of the kindness of his heart. He found Don Quijote on the ground in the road from where a young mule driver had beat him. He helped Don Quijote up, picked up the pieces of his lance, and strapped his gear to Rocinante. Pedro then mounted Don Quijote onto his donkey and walked them home. During which he had to listen to then endless, mindless rantings of Don Quijote.Pedro's kindness to Don Quijote never faltered and continued when they reached the village, before entering "the farmer waited until night had fallen, so the half-dead gentleman might not be seen on so poor a mount" (32).

4) Pedro Alonso is a hero because he is compassionate to Don Quijote. He helps Don Quijote purely out of the kindness of his heart. Pedro's patience and compassion towards Don Quijote are characteristics of a hero.