Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1898 — THE POWER OF SATIRE. [ARTICLE]

THE POWER OF SATIRE.

How “Don Quixote” Destroyed an Entire Department of Literature, The object of Cervantes in writing “Don Quixote” was, as he himself declares, to render abhorred of men the false and absurd stories contained In the books of chivalry. The fanaticism caused by these romances was so great in Spain during the sixteenth century that the burning of all extant copies was earnestly requested by the Cortes (or Legislature of the realm.) To destroy a passion that had taken such deep root among all classes, to break up the only reading which (at that time) was fashionable and popular was a bold undertaking, yet one In which Cervantes succeeded. No books of chivalry were written after the appearance of “Don Quixote,” and from that time those in existence have been steadily disappearing, until now they are among the rarest of literary curiosities. This is a solitary instance of the power of genius to destroy, by a weU-alm-ed blow, an entire department of literature. This romance, which Cervantes threw so carelessly from his pen, and which he only regarded as an effort to break up the absurd fancies about chivalry, has now become the oldest specimen of romantic fiction and one of the most remarkable monuments of modern genius. Ten year's after its appearance Cervantes published the second part of “Don Quixote,” which is even better than the first. It was written in his old age, when in prison, and finished when he felt the hand of death pressing cold and heavy upon him; so that both admiration and reverence are due to the living power of “Don Quixote” and to the genius of Cervantes. A second intention or application of the poet was to depict in “Don Quixote” all or any forms of ill-judged, visionary enthusiasm, as contrasted with the simple solid sense of honest Sancho Panza. —Curious Questions.