Student Question
Why does Don Quixote belittle and demean Sancho, contradicting the chivalric code of treating inferiors kindly?
Quick answer:
Don Quixote's treatment of Sancho Panza serves multiple purposes. It provides humor through slapstick and ridiculousness, exemplifying the two sides of humor: the ridiculous and the ugly. This behavior also reflects the novel's thematic inversion of reality, where traditional roles and expectations are subverted. Cervantes uses this dynamic to parody chivalric romances, encouraging readers to look deeper beyond the surface actions, revealing potential fondness between Quixote and Sancho.
There are several reasons why Don Quixote abuses Sancho the way he does.
The first two are related to each other: humor and entertainment. It is funny, in a broad, slapstick fashion, for Don Quixote to abuse Sancho this way. In his study of Don Quixote, Daniel Eisenberg suggests in these two characters Cervantes gives us the two sides of humor: the ridiculous and the ugly, and does so in ridiculous deeds (like attacking windmills) and ridiculous words (abusing Sancho)
This abuse is also part of the larger inversion of the world. Everything in this novel is turned upside down. The "knight" is crazy, the monsters are not real, etc. As the question pointed out, knights are supposed to treat their squires with respect. Abusing Sancho is part of this inversion of the natural order--it aligns with insanity.
This, in turn, aligns with Cervantes' purpose for this story. Rather than...
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being a straightforward romance of chivalry, it is aparody.
And finally, it is one of the many ways in which Cervantes signals we should look past the surface of things. Go with the surface, and Quixote is crazy and abusive. Look deeper, and he's a hero (and fond of Sancho, perhaps?).