Don Quixote Use The Chivalric Ideals In The Song Of Roland

Literature of the Middle Ages can not be discussed without acknowledging the undeniable importance of chivalry. Chivalry in relation to the middle ages is defined as “the code of conduct adhered to by Medieval knights with gallant knightly values including honor, bravery, courteousness and honesty.” This key characteristic is essential in defining an ideal knight as well as his expectations. A knight must live by a chivalric code in which he becomes indebted to the people, his fellow knights, and most importantly, his lord. No other knight displayed more of a devotion to upholding the code then Lanval of Marie de France’s lai “Lanval.” Lanval demonstrates his chivalric nature in essential every action from maintaining comitatus amongst the

Whats a good medieval romance without chivalry? The combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. “The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is governed by well-defined codes of behavior. ... The ideals of Christian morality and knightly chivalry are brought together in Gawain's symbolic shield. The pentangle represents the five virtues of knights: friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety.”

In two stories there is a code that knights follow. Chivalry is the code that they follow. The code says that a knight should be a brave warrior, a good christian, and selflessly fighting for justice. The knights are supposed to fight for their king and queen. In the stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and from Morte d’Arthur they show the idea about chivalry.

The protagonist, Don Quixote's obsessive reading of books of chivalry plays a major role in defining his character; his inspiration for his travels as a knight errant comes from the literature about chivalry that he reads, the literature that causes him to lose his mind and go mad. Everything that he usually experiences in his journey, first happened in the books that inspired his travels. The character, Dulcinea’s role as Quixote’s lady-love becomes equivalent with the position a king might hold in a true and honorable knight’s life.

In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.

     An act of chivalry is described as the qualifications or character of the ideal knight. Knights were expected to uphold this code of conduct. In the English literature Le Morte d?Arthur, French for ?The Death of Arthur?, by Sir Thomas Malory, the characters display acts of chivalry from beginning to end. Though the code of chivalry contains many qualities or acts, nevertheless bravery, loyalty, and courtly love are demonstrated more throughout this literature.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.

The role of chivalry is a complicated concept for solitary heroes within Beowulf and Albrecht Dürer’s Knight, Death, and the Devil. In Beowulf, the concept of chivalry is explained through the eyes of the hero, Beowulf, which is the idea of performing chivalrous actions in the face of death for glory; however, Beowulf does not realize that his actions will not keep his people safe in the end. In Knight, Death and the Devil, the idea of chivalry is the motivation of the knight on religious grounds to be chivalrous in the face of death. The Knight gives the impression that he understood that his actions would ultimately be meaningless, and he appears resigned to the idea. The argument can be made that chivalry is unsustainable in both texts, given that while it inspires these heroes to pursue these tasks, the result is that they believe that mild sacrifices, such as their own life, must be made to ensure victory; however, these two texts differ with their heroes’ anticipated outcomes of their sacrifices, which turns out to be for nothing. Despite having different outcomes of operating within a system of chivalry, these two texts similarly critique the outcomes of chivalry as being unsustainable based on the demands it places on heroes to sacrifice themselves. To defend this claim, I will begin by similarly critiquing how chivalry is unsustainable within both texts. I will then express how both texts show the unsustainability results from the demands of sacrifice. I will then

At this point in history the men who fought the wars were lead by their leaders with a code of chivalry. Chivalry can be explained as “the Anglo-Saxon code on steroids.” (McGee) Which is, explained further, a moral system for a good way to conduct fighting. The knights in Arthurian time went even further with that code to say that it was a way to conduct oneself not only in battle, but at all times. Knights, by being chivalrous, were kind to all people, fought well and true, kept faith and believed in the Christian God, and fought for their kings. Chivalry can be found across the Arthurian texts, The Song of Roland is one of the texts that has multiple examples of chivalry.

Honor; honor is something that all will strive to achieve in life. Honor shapes people and without it, the world would be very contradistinct. But the concept of honor has changed over time. Today, honor is telling the truth, putting others before oneself, being kind, and protecting people no matter the cost. However, in the French epic, The Song of Roland honor is a very incommensurable thing. Honor is idealized by characters like Roland, Ganelon, and Marsilion as bravery to the point of stupidity and ultimately even death. Honor was not defending others, but safeguarding one’s own reputation and legacy. And a multitudinous amount of characters in this epic put honor above all else, and it’s not always smart.

The story of Arthur and excalibur is a great one, this story shows chivalry extremely well. On page 186 second paragraph, “All these ladies for whom I have foughten for.” This quote shows that men would fight for women. That is the epitome of chivalry in the olden days. To fight for someone, man or woman, is to care for and respect them.

Loyalty and love play a definitive role in this early medieval period. It is important to give these to one's friends, lord, and community. However, the love of a woman is not significant here. The romantic love between man and woman is not a trait of the early medieval society; that is to come later. Roland captures the strength of love and loyalty in many ways. As previously stated, The Song of Roland clearly depicts the loyalty between a lord and his vassals. It also shows how going against one's lord, and more importantly, one's community went against the set code of conduct for a vassal. Early on, the writer shows the treachery of Ganelon, including the significance of this betrayal by the loss of the great Peers of Francia. The end of the poem completes Charlemagne's revenge of Roland's death when, for his treason, Ganelon must suffer death. However, the kings obligation is not easily accomplished because the nobles of his realm wish to have Ganelon go free instead of face Pinabel, Ganelon's "champion". The pain of these treacheries cuts Charlemagne to the heart, yet they go beyond just Charlemagne. They are injustices against the community as a whole. After trial by ordeal, the custom of two warriors fighting each other with God deciding the winner, the king's revenge can

“At the heart of Don Quixote is the discrepancy between external appearance and internal perception.” says Wirfs-Brock (2). In that respect, Don Quixote is depicted as a character who is guided merely by his internal perceptions, disregarding external appearances. Most of the time, he is deluded, depended on his faculty of imagination, stuck in his make-believe world through the guidance of chivalric books he is obsessed with and “everything he read in his books took possession of his imagination” (1/1 p.27). He takes everything he reads in those books for real as if they were parts of history and decides to join this glorious history by making a knight errant of him. In order to put all he has read into practice, he puts on a rusty armor, devises a heroic name for himself which is ‘Don Quixote de la Mancha’ and for his horse which is ‘Rocinante’. Additionally, since “a knight errant without a lady-love is a tree without leaves or fruit, a body without a soul” (1/1 p.29) he finds “a good-looking peasant girl” called Aldonza Lorenzo and decides to call her ‘Dulcinea del Toboso’. So this peasant girl becomes a princess, the most beautiful lady in the world for him to whom he may serve “as if he really were in love” (1/1 p.31).

Roland’s display of pride at the beginning of the poem sets the events in motion for the knight’s downfall. For Roland proudly suggests that his stepfather, Ganelon, represent King Charlemagne as the French messenger. Ganelon reacts furiously because his own

In Song of Roland, the ideas of chivalry and loyalty to one’s king are central. Throughout the text, the author uses the concepts of good versus evil, shown by the Christians versus Muslims, as well as loyalty versus treason, shown by Roland versus Ganelon, to highlight and exemplify the ideals of the code of knighthood. The main character, Roland, is often presented as being an exemplary knight; he personifies the conventional chivalric values of the time such as bravery and loyalty, but he also struggles to balance these values in order to be a responsible leader. Roland is in stark contrast to his stepfather, Ganelon, as well as being in slight contrast to his close friend, Oliver. These contrasts of character come to a climax as the battle against the Muslim army at Roncesvalles begins; Oliver and Roland debate over whether they should call the king to help them, leading to the eventual demise of the French army. This specific scene brings to light the ideological dilemma of bravery versus wisdom and logic, by utilizing Roland as an example of the former, and Oliver of the latter. Roland, as evidenced by this situation, displays perfect loyalty to one’s king and God by being incredibly brave in the face of danger, making sacrifices that he sees are necessary, and fought valiantly until his death, all the while keeping the utmost faith in his God and king.