2006-06-28 12:38:02 · 5 answers · asked by durhamj_2001 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Don Quixote is the fictional main character from the Novel Don Quixote de la Mancha written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra - Part 1 Published 1605; Part II Published 1615.
Don is a Spanish title of dignity which would be applied to a gentleman who had land holdings. The word quixotic actually comes from the novel not vice-versa! It is considerred one of the greatest Novels of all time. I am guessing but the name probably comes from the suffix -ote meaning big or grand and the word Quien - or Who. Possibly "Who is this great one?". The other names in the novel make me believe this is true such as Dulcinea (overly elegant "sweetness")(2) - the fictional love of his life and Rocinante (Used to be a nag) his horse (1). However, it could just be a fictional name that sounds grandiose.
(1) Rocinante
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rocinante is the name of Don Quixote's horse, in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra.
Rocín means "nag" (a low-grade horse), but also illiterate or rough man. There are similar words in French (roussin), Portuguese (rossim) and Italian (ronzino), but the real etymology is uncertain. The Spanish word ante means "before" or "previously", and as the narration of the novel states at the beginning of the book, when Don Quixote thinks of a name to give to his steed in order to set out on his adventures, he chooses Rocinante to establish it as no longer being a nag.
(2) Dulcinea
In the Spanish of the time, Dulcinea means something akin to an overly elegant "sweetness". In this way, Dulcinea is an entirely fictional person for whom Quixote relentlessly fights. To this day, a reference to someone as your "dulcinea" implies hopeless devotion and love for her.
2006-06-28 13:10:34 · answer #1 · answered by The Mog 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Don is a respect title
Quijote is somebody who does good deeds that do no good to nobody, useless behavior
Cervantes wrote the character as a metaphor of a searcher who tries to validate himself in front of his Dulcinea, with an interesting preview of romantic love not yet popular at the time when he wrote the novel. Also a guide to conquest and get-rich-by-doing-nothing-but-... which was typical Spaniard way of thinking in the XV century.
2006-06-28 21:42:52 · answer #2 · answered by pogonoforo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2006-06-28 19:45:24 · answer #3 · answered by boxturtle_21 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Don" means "Sir", and "Quixote" means "Quixotic", which means someone with unusual thinking and ideas.
2006-06-28 19:42:04 · answer #4 · answered by when_it_happens 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol saw the movie w/that guy from my favorite martian. idk, its just like this guy goes to find adventure and a lady and did u mean the name or the book?
2006-06-28 20:35:02 · answer #5 · answered by Sarah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋