True Honor

“For liberty, as well as for honor, man ought to risk even his life, and he should reckon captivity, the greatest evil life can bring.” In the novel Don Quixote, there are several instances where the characters of the book struggle to find their true honor and overcome the captivity of their own social class. Don Quixote, however, searches for liberty throughout the book. Once you overcome the captivities of your social class, and find one’s true personal honor, as opposed to the honor associated with one’s social position, then will you find liberty.

For example, Don Quixote’s squire Sancho, is the best example of this. During the course of the story, one sees that his traits show he is ignorant, cowardly, and foolish. With time, however, he proves himself to be a wise and just ruler. He eventually comes to the realization that excessive ambition only creates trouble. But by the time Sancho returns home for the last time, he has gained confidence in himself and in his ability to solve problems, regardless of his lower-class status, or what has been holding him captive from liberty. Once Sancho found his personal honor and broke the bounds of social captivity, he achieved a feeling of liberty inside himself.

On the other hand, in Don Quixote’s pursuit for liberty, he becomes obsessed with honor, which leads him to do battle with individuals who never mean to cause him any offense or harm. Also, Anselmo, for example, is so overly protective of his wife's honor that he distrusts her loyalty, which leads to her adultery and his death. These characters are primarily concerned with socially prescribed codes of honor. They, in turn, meet their liberty with difficulty. However, those who set out merely to protect their own personal honor, such as Dorothea, meet their liberty with success. Dorothea's concern for ...

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Many times in the book it is evident how two lovers must overcome difficulties of class difference to achieve their love, as well as their liberty. This captivity of social class in the novel often appears as an obstacle to what a character truly wants. Only through disguises, tricks, and imagination can characters overcome their social circumstances and act according to their true values. For example, only through Don Quixote’s strange imagination can he see beyond the limiting boundaries of social class to the inner worth of the people he meets. This is how we could overcome the boundary of social class between him and Dulcinea, by seeing her true inner worth, as opposed to her social standing.

Many instances in the book, Sancho states that God knows what he means. He shows that faith in God may be an improving force that distinguishes truly honorable men, even when they have lower class origins. Cervantes shows that personal honor can be a powerful and positive motivation, while socially

prescribed notions of honor, which are often false, can be destructive. By the end of the book, it is clear how one's true personal honor has nothing to do with the honor typically associated with one's social position. Only once a character does break through this understanding and part the captivity of social position can they find their true liberty. When Don Quixote broke his bounds of captivity, he said, “Liberty, Sancho, my friend, is one of the most precious gifts that Heaven has bestowed on mankind; all the treasures the earth contains within its bosom or the ocean within its depths cannot be compared with it.”