Don Quixote Discussion Questions #1: Useful Fictions

“I know who I am,” said Don Quixote, “and who I may be, if I choose….”

1) In Platonic terms (see Platonic Idealism and think about Plato's Ladder of Eros) how does Sancho Panza's character relate to that of Don Quixote (DQ)?  In what ways does Sancho suffer from Don Quixote's Idealistic vision and in what ways might it elevate him?

2) Role Playing

a. Summarize Grisostomo's situation.  How does he compare to DQ?

b. Summarize Marcela's situation. Summarize her argument.  Can she be compared to any other characters we’ve read about this semester, especially women?  How does she compare to DQ himself; how does her use of role-playing allow her to escape her traditional role?

3)  Which characters have been over-all positively affected by Don Quixote’s madness, and which over-all negatively affected (note the operative word here is “over-all”)? Which characters wind up playing along with DQ’s madness, and does this generally positively or negatively affect them?

4) The larger question here is (in relation to the above questions): to what degree does fiction improve our lives, and to what degree does it simply diminish our ability to see – and thus deal with – reality? Would you (yes, you, specifically, yourself) and your friends (yes, think of some of your specific friends) be better off if as adults you, they, we cast aside our childhood Ideal-istic fantastical misconceptions of love and war in exchange for a strong grasp on reality?  In other words, discuss in specific, personal terms, how Idealistic fantasy, literature, fiction (in all its forms: novels, films, video games) both improves your life and how it keeps you from adequately confronting the demands of reality.

5) This leads us to the broader questions: what is the purpose of fiction, of storytelling: of the stories we have read this semester?  Is it simply amusement?  Is it to lead us toward the Ideal?  Is it to better prepare us for living in this real world…or to soothe the pain of living in this real world?  Given the events and overall arc of the novel, Don Quixote, what do you believe Cervantes opinion is on these questions?  What is your own (root your answer in this novel and some of the other works we’ve read this semester)?

6) How does all of this relate to calculus or Useful Fictions?