Renaissance and Reformation Primary Sources | Miguel de Cervantes

Excerpts from Don Quixote (1605)

Translated by Burton Raffel
Published in 1999

Don Quixote (Quijote in Spanish) is considered one of the great masterpieces of world literature. This work was largely responsible for creating what is known as the modern novel. (A novel is a long narrative work that features fictional, or imaginary, characters involved in complex plots.) Don Quixote has been translated into more than sixty languages and its central character, Don Quixote of la Mancha, has become a major figure in Western (non-Asian) culture. Don Quixote's image has been popularized in films, musicals, and paintings. His creator, Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), lived at the end of the glorious years of the Spanish empire and fought heroically at the decisive sea battle of Lepanto. However, throughout his life Cervantes lived on the margins of society in a continuous...