Courtly Love. Courtly love is a code of romantic love celebrated in songs and romances of the Medieval Period. According to this code, the male lover knows himself to be truly in love if he is overcome by extreme, transforming emotion. The female lover is often portrayed in ideal and unrealistic terms. The male lover is led sometimes to depths of despair and sometimes to heights of courtesy and heroism to prove his worth to his lady. As you read, determine what elements of courtly love are found in these selections from Don Quixote.
Medieval Romance. A medieval romance is a medieval story about the adventures and loves of knights.
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Don Quixote de la Mancha is a mock epic in which a deranged gentleman, having spent too much time reading romances about the adventures of knights in shining armor, decides to enter upon a life as a knight, enlisting as his unwilling companion a servant named Sancho Panza. This parody of medieval romance, with its absurd, comic, and tragic hero, has enjoyed enormous popularity throughout the ages and has inspired countless other works of literature, music, and art. The novel has also given to the English language the word quixotic, meaning “impractical” or “foolishly idealistic,” as well as the phrase to tilt at windmills, meaning “to make a ludicrous effort.”
As you read, make a cluster chart showing how Don Quixote demonstrates characteristics of the medieval romance. One example has been done for you.
When have you read a book or seen a movie in which you wanted to take part? Select one particular scene. What part would you play? What would happen to you?
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