Don Quixote discussion

I was coming up with characters in other books and movies that are similar to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

One of the first that I thought about was Toy Story with Buzz Lightyear and Woody. It's really obvious comparison. Buzz Lightyear thinks he is a space ranger when in reality he is a toy. Woody even feeds into this illusion of his later in the movie taking the part of Sancho Panza.

Madame Bovary. Emma Bovary is what I would call the female version of Don Quixote. She wants to be lead by a life of passion and material extravagance like her romance books. This is the way Flaubert unmasks the romanticism in his time period like Cervantes with chivalry. The interesting thing about Emma Bovary at the beginning of the novel is immersed into the “romantic” world but after an affair that went against her expectations she turns into Sancho Panza and she only pretends to believe in romantic ideals. This is like Sancho who pretends to go along with Don Quixote in his imaginary world. So, the conflict that goes on in Don Quixote between the two characters goes on within one character in Madame Bovary. The contrast in this novel are the romantic ideals she has to her boring country life.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
I was thinking of this the other day and it's a road narrative which is similar to Don Quixote. Also, the two of them are living in this illusion that bank robberies are still doable. The wild west isn't so wild anymore. They don't think about the consequences that could happen.
There is one quote in the movie which I love "I got vision, while the rest of the world has bifocals." I think it's the other way around.

What other characters are similar?

I have take a different path to comprehending Don Quixote. What if the Man of Lamacha is a symbol of free will and in 1607 the Renaissance was a catch phrase like the post modernists are now in art. Only the greatest writer of all time, Shakespeare, surpassed him. I might conclude that Cervantes was writing a satire of Western thought not just poking fun at chivalry. It might of been in his mind to record his heroics from his military back ground. The fact that he was mad only hints that he knew he was on shaky ground even to record his opinion. I think you don't give the author his due acclaim for getting his book past the inquisition. It is perhaps the greatest classic of all time in my humble opinion. I am doing the same thing, comparing great classics, only I want to discuss on a more deeper level. For example name the archetypes that the author uncovers. I still am studying. Trying to find a connection between the Drama movement "Strum and Stress" and Don Quixote. If I find it I'll write a book about it. It would be important to a developed history line of Western thought and it's development. Thanks for being so intelligent with your post. It's a fascinating book. Your so close to putting sense to this conundrum.

Remember all the tasteless, but funny, slapstick in the book. Admittedly humour that works better visually in my opinion.
Therefore I'd suggest:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109686/?...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103376/?...

Don Quixote is a hard book to turn into a movie, nobody understands the wry humor of the Spanish Golden Comedy and it is an excellent book to play for the literate minded. The last noteworthy production I have heard of was done at Stratford which is the premier Shakespeare festival located in Ontario Canada. The reviews were especially good. But in general I believe the plot shows up time and again in so many other works. I hail both, Sarah and Old-Barbarossa for bringing up excellent examples. For me the question of finding the driving force behind the essence of what Don Quixote was, is, and will be is of extra importance in the future. The prize in the end is finding how to preserve our cultural identity even as times and Centuries go on.

From a strictly Watsonian point of view, I wouldn't say that Sancho pretends to believe Don Quijote. He fully believes that Don Quijote is a knight, and all those stories about wizards and the unique Dulcinea, and that one day he will find the favor of a high lord or win a kingdom, and make Sancho a governor.

Even when Sancho is unable to see Don Quijote's delusions, and time and again tries to convince him that the [one and only] road inn isn't a castle, that those are not wizards, giants, etc., he still believes the main story, that his master is a knight in the search of adventures to glory his beloved Dulcinea, and he's determined to help him as his squire.

Woody tricking Buzz into believing Planet Pizza was part of his fantasy was the exact opposite to what Sancho did with Don Quijote.

Thank you for all your interesting view points. I'll have to check out The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen. I understand what you mean Gary and it would be interesting to look at all the connections. I was just thinking of similar characters.

Well, I still believe Sancho is pretending to go along with Don Quixote. I think he wants to have an excuse to have an adventure. *Spoiler* And at the end of part two Sancho tries to restore Don Quixote's faith into being a knight. That was the similarity I saw.

Also, Monty Python totally reminds me of Don Quixote in style. Then the movie Labyrinth has Sir Didymus who is a Don Quixote character. Terry Jones wrote the screenplay of Labyrinth and obviously Monty Python with other people.

Commented on a thread about Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 the other day, and it is certainly true that it's protagonist is impossible without Don Q and his way of dealing with the world through superimposing his delusions upon it.

Characters similar to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza? Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. In Huckleberry Finn, at the beginning, Tom actually refers to Don Quixote and treats Huck like Sancho. Later, Huck becomes the Quixote to Jim as he makes him believe his lies. The interesting thing about Huckleberry Finn is that Twain abandons the comparison as Huck and Jim become real, rounded human beings instead of caricatures based on one of Twain's favorite books.