Don Quixote Part Two example essay topic

It's not hard to tell from where Miguel de Cervantes drew his inspiration for Don Quixote. He started innocently enough. Born in Alcala de He nares in 1547. Miguel was fathered by Rodrigo, a surgeon, who despite his claims to be a nobleman was plagued by poverty and bad luck, along with a high patient fatality rate. There is little known about his childhood, for it wasn't recorded. The minor details of his life depend on the sources of information.

However, we do know he had an informal learning experience, due to his families financial difficulties. He received over a year of advanced schooling. The Spanish Renaissance brought uplifting spirits to everyone including Cervantes. His teacher Lopez de Hoy os published four of his poems, which brought him closer to achieving his dreams of being a poet. This debut occurred when he was a teenager and it was only the beginning for his writing and mis fortunate life.

While at school he was quiet the troublemaker. At an attempt to escape trouble with the law he fled into Rome. While in Rome he studied many Italian writers before joining the army. In 1571, European Christian forces and the Turkish fleet met in the battle of Lepanto, where Cervantes despite illness, fought heroically, but suffered many wounds. One of these wounds left his left hand permanently crippled. After his military career ended, Miguel was traveling home to Spain, when he fell into the hands of Turkish pirates.

He was enslaved and taken to Algiers, where he was held for a high ransom. Cervantes, knowing of his family's financial state had no form of paying the ransom. He attempted four escapes, the next more daring than the last, but to no avail. In 1580, aboard a ship about to depart for Constantinople, he was freed with the money his family had raised and borrowed from locals. During these events he had composed several second rate poems and decided to explore a less respected genre. In 1585, after his arrival in Spain and marriage to Catalina de Salazar, Miguel published a well received work of prose fiction entitled La Galatea.

In 1605, in great need of money he sold a book he had been working on, for as much as he could get, a p autry sum. What he did not gain in wealth from the book, Don Quixote de la Mancha, he gained in literary fame. The first part of Don Quixote secured his position in the a nals of history. The book was an instant success and to this day still inspires writers and artists. The book deals with surrealism in the face of reality. However, he was still haunted by his family's bad luck.

He had several altercations with the law. Now in his late fifties Miguel Cervantes was suffering from diabetes. Despite his illness he continued to write. In 1613, he published a collection of short fiction entitled Novel as ejemplares. Much to his dismay the project of a sequel to Don Quixote was taking longer than expected. In 1614, an anonymous writer published an unauthorized version of part two of Don Quixote.

It was common practice to write unauthorized sequels at that time. This pseudo version of Don Quixote included insults toward Cervantes and the quality of part one. The author of this part two is unknown, but scholars theorize that is was no other than Lope de Vega, Cervantes's rival. The appearance of this version enraged Cervantes so much it gave him the inspiration to complete his own Part Two. Miguel wasn't afforded the opportunity to enjoy the acclaim that came from an authentic sequel. With the completion of only one more novel, Cervantes already in bad health died in April of 1616.

In the closing pages of his great work, Don Quixote Part Two, he wrote "For me alone was Don Quixote born, and I for him. He knew how to act, and I knew how to write". This was originally conceived as a threat to the unknown author of the fictitious part two, but after his death these words took on a more significant meaning. Miguel de Cervantes, born into a family of little wealth achieved great success in his life. A literary fame that would continue even after death. He lived a life of utter adventure.

Whether it was being captured by pirates or travelling the world, Cervantes had true fullfillment. He conveyed this fullfillment to others through his great works of literary heroism. He continues to influence the lives of his readers to this day and days to come..