The true pursuit of life

馬魁梓

Don Quixote is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. In the history of western literature， Cervantes representative work Don Quixote is an epoch-making significant novel. It not only enlightens the creation inspiration of writers， but also set up a significance vast literary figure --- Don Quixote. He is a gaunt， middle-aged gentleman who having gone mad from reading too many books about chivalrous knights， determines to set off on a great adventure to win honor and glory. Initially， Don Quixotes good intentions do only harm to those he meets. As the novel progresses， with the help of his faithful squire Sancho， he slowly distinguishes between reality and the pictures in his head. Actually， we cannot adequately explain the split between his madness and his sanity， since he remains a puzzle throughout the novel. It can be said that 1000 readers have 1000 Hamlets. In my opinions， to be the same， 1000 readers also have 1000 Don Quixotes.

According to the reader-response literary criticism， to examine a texts meaning， one must become an active reader and a participant in the reading process. So we can see that Don Quixote becomes fusion product of the author and the reader， therefore obtained readers approval. In other words， different ages breed different readers which lead to different understandings about Don Quixote.

In my understanding， one of the most important standards of evaluating a certain novel is to test its temporal spirit. If the figure can not only be vivid in its time but also educational to us in our age， it is a successfully shaped image. Don Quixote is just a good example. In Cervantes age， this image from the authors point of view was the opposite of knight literature， and this novel is considered a satire of orthodoxy， veracity and even nationalism， ridiculous but thought-provoking. Today， Don Quixote is regarded as the spiritual ballast and spiritual pillar by many people. We may see Don Quixotes adventure as the pursuit towards dream， freedom， and the idealized life we are dreaming about. The fast pace of life and too much pressure make us immersed in deep worry and confusion about our current stuff situation. We have no courage to break the routine， so the image of Don Quixote is given more meanings not only in the original text but also in our life. We become to admire Don Quixotes adventure and pursuit towards his idealized world. The thing he owns is just what we get lost.

I have ever watched part of the play Man of La Mancha written by Dale Wasserman which was in turn inspired by Cervantes and his seventeenth-century masterpiece Don Quixote. In my eyes， it is more like the contemporary understanding in modern times that shows the relationship of “I” and Don Quixote. It tells the story of the “mad” knight Don Quixote as a play within a play that reflects peoples sense of alienation and “dramatic” living style. The principal song， “The Impossible Dream”， became a portrayal， not only for Don Quixote， but also for us.

In the end， I want to send this phrase to my favorite Don Quixote：

You are always being laughed but always being admired.endprint