“Who could ever find a book burning funny?” With these words, we enter one of the most fascinating literary episodes in Western history. In Don Quixote, published in two parts (1605 and 1615), Miguel de Cervantes shockingly uses humor and satire to depict a book burning—a solemn, often disturbing event—as a comical piece of social commentary.
In this deep dive, we’ll examine:
How the Don Quixote book-burning scene functions as both ironic satire and cultural critique
The roots of chivalric romance and their clash with an expanding Spanish Empire
Cervantes’s own life and disillusionment that shaped his masterpiece
The invention of the modern novel and its enduring influence
Why Don Quixote remains so relevant in an age still grappling with censorship and book bans
So let’s travel back to 17th-century Spain and discover why this timeless novel continues to challenge, entertain, and, yes, make us laugh at the absurdity of a book burning.
Table of Contents
1. The Darkly Comedic Book-Burning Scene
Early in Don Quixote, our titular hero lies “almost dead, really” after his first misguided foray as a knight-errant. He’s been beaten by mule drivers and left in a sorry state. Concerned for Don Quixote’s well-being, his priest and barber friends decide that the chivalric romances in his library are to blame for his madness. They gather together in his home, “sit in his library, going over which books they’re going to save…and which books they’re going to throw away and burn.”
“The priest asked the niece for the keys to the room that contained the books responsible for the harm that had been done…and they found more than a hundred large volumes…”(Don Quixote, Part I, Chapter VI)
Yet, instead of a grim condemnation, Miguel de Cervantes orchestrates the scene like a mock tribunal—part trial, part roast, “literally and metaphorically.” They argue over which books to spare, often for purely personal reasons:
“‘This one seems to be a mystery...I have heard that this was the first book of chivalry printed in Spain… and all the rest found their origin and inspiration here…’‘No, señor,’ said the barber, ‘for I’ve always heard that it is the best of all the books of this kind ever written…’”(Don Quixote, Part I, Chapter VI)
As your lecture transcript points out:
“…some of the humor comes from the fact that the priest doesn’t want to get rid of one book because it brought him lots of pleasure, while the barber wants to keep a particular piece because it brought him something…”
Cervantes highlights the arbitrariness of censorship and the “ironic tribute” such a purge offers to literature. Even the censors can’t help but save the stories they enjoy.
2. Chivalric Romances vs. Expanding Empire
To understand Don Quixote’s book burning, we need to explore the chivalric romances themselves. As you say in the transcript:
“…if you haven’t read Don Quixote, don’t worry at all. I got you. But all you need to know…is that our protagonist has lost himself in chivalric romances…these are knight in shining armor tales…”
Chivalric romances flourished in medieval Europe—think King Arthur in Britain, Charlemagne in France, or El Cid in Spain. They upheld a code of chivalry: valor, courtesy, honor, and devotion to a noble lady. Yet by the late 1500s and early 1600s, Spain was becoming a vast empire, stretching into the Americas, parts of Africa, and beyond.
“A world…caught in transition from medieval loyalties to a sprawling modern empire…a society torn over what ideals to uphold…”
Cervantes saw firsthand how the “grand narratives” of chivalry didn’t match the gritty realities of empire. Soldiers came home wounded and broke, not showered with the praise or fortune those old stories promised.
3. Miguel de Cervantes: Soldier, Captive, Writer
Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) lived an extraordinary life shaped by war, captivity, and financial struggle. His personal history, which you outline, reveals a man disillusioned by “the gap between lofty ideals and everyday life.”
Battle of Lepanto (1571): Cervantes fought bravely, even though he was ill. He “insisted on fighting on the galleys prow… the most dangerous part of the battle.” Shot twice in the chest and once in the left arm, he lost the use of that arm but famously said he lost it “for the greater glory of the right.”
Captivity in Algiers (1575–1580): After being captured by Barbary pirates, he spent five years in harsh conditions, hoping for ransom. This ordeal dampened his illusions of knightly glory.
Financial Struggles & Writing: Returning home, he found Spain’s empire uninterested in heroes of distant battles. He faced “indebtedness, poverty, and disappointment”—a far cry from chivalric romance endings.
Such experiences “fueled a disillusionment” yet shaped his perspective. As you note:
“Cervantes does not completely become disillusioned with valor. He still respects valor, but he begins to satirize… the reality of how the valor that he believes should be upheld…is actually treated in the real world.”
This nuance forms the beating heart of Don Quixote—a love letter to noble ideals and a critique of how society fails them.
4. Satire and the Clash Between Ideals and Reality
At its core, Don Quixote is about “a character…trying to deal with these high ideals…and the real world that doesn’t seem to coincide.” When Don Quixote attempts to gallantly defend his beloved Dulcinea, he ends up “charged by mule drivers, beaten almost to death…” It’s a literal clash of romance vs. reality.
“Sometimes you might be chasing after high ideals…and even if you think those ideals are correct based on reality, there’s still…a clash with the success of your actual life…”
Cervantes uses humor to highlight this disconnect. By making us laugh at Don Quixote tilting at windmills, or the priest’s arbitrary censorship, he exposes the “ridiculousness of the system” and how we, too, can become trapped in outdated narratives.
5. Inventing the Modern Novel
One of the most significant contributions of Don Quixote is its place at the birth of the modern novel. Prior to Cervantes, chivalric or epic tales often presented unambiguously heroic figures, with little psychological depth. But Don Quixote’s “interiority”—his thoughts, motivations, and introspection—was revolutionary.
“What Cervantes does in Don Quixote is he pioneers the modern novel… By giving us a peek into Don Quixote’s inner thoughts…He introduced a new style of literature…”
This style would influence authors like Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and even modern-day novelists. The hallmark of the modern novel—subjective narration, flawed protagonists, interior monologue—can be traced back to this Spanish classic. Cervantes’s comedic take on idealism vs. real-world complexity set the stage for the countless “anti-hero” stories we love today.
6. Relevance to Modern Readers: Bans, Identity, and Power
6.1. Censorship and Book Bans
From the Inquisition in 16th-century Spain to modern-day debates over “banned books,” Cervantes’s insight is strikingly current:
“…we still see to this day not book burnings as much, but book bannings quite a bit… who decides which books are good and which books are bad?”
In the novel, the priest and the barber literally “pass judgment” and throw offending books onto the pyre—mirroring how institutions or political groups decide which narratives are “safe.” Yet even these “censors” spare certain titles they personally like. This conflict—between control and personal taste—exposes the futility of restricting access to stories.
6.2. The Power of Reading and Imagination
Don Quixote’s descent into “madness” occurs because he believes the “chivalric romances” are real. As his niece in the novel laments:
“It often happened that my dear uncle would read these cruel books of adventures for two days and nights without stopping… and he would say that he had killed four giants as big as four towers…”(Don Quixote, Part I, Chapter VI)
But is it truly madness, or is it the power of imagination? Cervantes playfully suggests that reading can reshape our perceptions of reality—for better or worse. In your words:
“Reading books as catalysts to change…that’s really what becomes problematic for people in power… because you don’t want them to be too inspired, too motivated to do something.”
6.3. Shaping Identity and Morality
Cervantes poses a timeless question: how do the books we read shape our identity, moral compass, and vision of the world? As you point out:
“…this is the whole point… who decides which stories get preserved and which get silenced? How does your personal reading experience shape your identity?”
For Don Quixote, reading about knights and heroes makes him crave a life of honor, even if society no longer values it. For us, the lessons might be about staying open to new perspectives and being aware of how stories inform our worldview.
<a name="key-quotes"></a>
7. Key Quotes from Don Quixote
Below are some additional public-domain quotes from Don Quixote that highlight the humor and depth of Cervantes’s masterpiece. (All references are to Part I unless noted; translations in the public domain may vary slightly.)
On Chivalric Romances:
“But what disturbed him most of all was not having another book to read. The desire to read, as well as the pleasure he took in reading, was so great that he hardly thought of anything else.”(Part I, Chapter I)
On Book Burning:
“Take it, señora housekeeper, open that window, throw it into the corral, and let it be the beginning of the pile that will fuel the fire we shall set.”(Part I, Chapter VI)
Don Quixote on Adventure and Identity:
“Destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected. Look there, Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them…”(Part I, Chapter VIII)
On Illusion vs. Reality:
“Mad I am not… but I am sure that the enchanter who turned those giants into windmills has turned everything else into something else.”(Part I, Chapter VIII)
Humor & Satire:
“…the priest laughed heartily… ‘These enchanters are clever folk indeed; they transform everything to suit their fancies.’”(Part I, Chapter VI)
These passages capture the irony, satire, and self-awareness that Cervantes masterfully employs, ensuring that even a book burning can be both comedic and deeply revealing.
8. Conclusion: What Books Would You Save?
When we laugh at a book-burning scene, we’re forced to confront the absurd. Cervantes’s priest and barber might genuinely believe they’re helping Don Quixote, but they inadvertently prove how subjective and arbitrary censorship can be. As you so succinctly put it:
“…by laughing at book burning… it shows you how ridiculous is the system that you’re living in…”
Yet, Don Quixote is more than satire. It’s the story of a romantic—someone who dares to uphold virtue and combat injustice, even if the world calls him insane. Modernity, as Cervantes sketches it, is the struggle over ideas: “the struggle over information or the struggle over power to control the information.”
Today, we face our own versions of inquisition-like control, whether through banning books in schools or restricting certain media platforms. The question remains: “Who decides which stories are preserved and which get silenced?” And perhaps a more personal question: What books would you save from the fire?
As you conclude in your lecture:
“…I hope you will really try to go through this and understand it for yourself, because in doing so, I believe you will…better understand the world that you inhabit now. So get out there and read a big book.”
Ready to Dive Deeper?
Join the Literary Canon Club: Read Don Quixote along with a community dedicated to exploring the great canonical works.
Explore More on Cervantes: Investigate his battle-scarred life, from Lepanto to Algiers, to understand how personal disillusionment informed his satire.
Reflect on Modern Censorship: Compare the comedic burning of Don Quixote’s library to modern debates on “dangerous ideas.”
By engaging with Don Quixote, you’re not just opening a 400-year-old text—you’re stepping into the birth of the modern novel and grappling with questions about censorship, identity, and truth. Let the knight of the sorrowful countenance remind you that even when the world seems hopelessly pragmatic, there is still room for imagination, idealism, and a dash of well-placed satire.
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this exploration of Cervantes’s timeless satire, feel free to share your thoughts or favorite Don Quixote quotes below. Let’s keep the conversation—and these books—alive!
Comentários