Spelling in My ‘About Me’

Monument to Cervantes in Madrid, Spain

If you haven’t read Don Quixote, maybe you’ve seen the movie Man of La Mancha with Peter O’Toole in the lead role? Man of La Mancha is a 1972 film adaptation of the eponymous Broadway musical. All the tele-plays, stage plays and films that are named Don Quixote or Man of La Mancha  were inspired by the classic 17th century novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes.


Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, used a lot of peculiarities in his writing. My quote under my picture captioned, A Woman of Plain Words is from Don Quixote, hence the peculiar spelling. Cervantes didn't bother with accents, hardly used punctuation, and capitalized prepositions, adjectives, and nouns for no apparent reason. He wrote given and family names, including his own, in lower case, but not consistently and with different spellings. There are some convoluted literary and orthographic reasons for this, the explanation for which is beyond the scope of this post.

Sometimes the editor or compositors of Madrigal-Cuesta press, an important printing house in 17th century Spain which printed the novel, may have ‘corrected’ and made changes to his spelling and punctuation. (Yes compositors! This was in the days before Microsoft Office, Word and digital printing when metal typesetting was used and done by hand.)


If you haven't read the book, I'll begin at the beginning, and tell you just a little bit more about Don Quixote. In La Mancha, Spain, where he lives, Quixote is known as Alonso Quijano, a thin, fairly old country gentleman, kind and friendly to all. He spends his time studying romantic stories, full of knights, chivalry, castles, and jousts. All this goes to his head to the point where  he believes that he has been called by voices to change the world and right all wrongs. He retreats to a world that holds meaning for him and sets forth as a Knight Errant to fight evil magicians, rescue fair maidens and do good deeds.

 Don Quixote convinces a simple-minded peasant named Sancho to become his squire, promising him wealth and a high spot in society. The book consists of the many adventures the two had, where Don Quixote is convinced that they were doing brave and honorable acts of chivalry, when instead they were only two fools running around the countryside. Quixote's heightened, insane conception of the world is often  rudely brought back down  to earth by Sancho's sly pragmatism; discussions which occasionally end with Quixote threatening to punch Sancho to make him shut him up or to salvage his lost dignity!

This book is not an easy read. At times it is frustrating but you will keep coming back to it. Don Quixote is a lovable character whose popularity has never waned. Cervantes, through the character of Don Quixote, illustrates to readers how we as human beings often make reality to be whatever we want it to be.
Don Quixote sees what his mind and imagination create, not that which is actually perceived through his eyes. 

 When he first departs, he stops at an inn and his eyes make it a beautiful castle with blushing maids and noble sirs. Another famous example of Don Quixote's rampant imagination is the famous windmill incident. Quixote believes the windmills he sees in the distance are monstrous giants. We get the expression “tilting at windmills”, meaning to waste time trying to deal with enemies or problems that do not exist, from this story. Example: "The political party is just  tilting at windmills with its latest accusations and calls for resignation." Tilting is a term used in jousting.

Beware of interpretations that change the theme of the novel. The central theme of this novel, hinted at  by the author himself in his preface is "Neither buy into nor give credence, and authority to others’ delusional beliefs and precepts”.  Or perhaps, a softer theme could be, "Stop living with your head in the clouds". This should not be soft-sold as some sugar-coated modern mantra about attempting the impossible.

Enjoy the  excerpt below The Adventure With The Barber. Do let me know me know what you think.

The morning was cloudy, and rain might begin to fall at any minute. The barber had a new hat which the rain would spoil. To guard against this misfortune, he clapped his brass basin, upside down, upon his head. It covered hat and all, and was proof against the rain.
Don Quixote, as we know, wanted a helmet. He had read so much about Mambrino's helmet that he could think of nothing else. His mind, having dwelt so long upon this subject, could turn anything he chose into a golden helmet. Some people in our own times can do as much.

…he shouted, "Wretch, defend thyself, or at once surrender that which is justly mine." And without further parley, he rushed upon the barber as fast as Rozinante, with his blundering feet, could carry him.

The barber saw him coming, and had just time enough to throw himself from his donkey and take to his heels. He leaped the hedge at the side of the road and ran across the fields with the swiftness of a deer. But the brass basin, having slipped from his head, was left lying in the dust.

Don Quixote checked his steed. "Here, Sancho!" he cried. "Here is my helmet. Come and pick it up."
"Upon my word, that is a fine basin," said Sancho, as he stooped and handed it to his master.
Don Quixote, with great delight, clapped it on his head. He turned it this way and that, and tilted it backward and forward.
"It is pretty large," he said. "The head for which it was made must have been a big one. The worst is, that it has no visor, and half of one side is lacking."
Sancho could not help smiling.
"What is the fool grinning at now?" cried his master, angrily.
"Oh, nothing," answered Sancho. "I was only thinking what a big jolthead it must have been to wear a helmet so much like a barber's basin."
"Well, it does look like a barber's basin," said Don Quixote. "But that is because some enchanter has changed its form. Etc…

Vocabulary & Pronunciation

Convoluted –1) rolled upon itself in overlapping folds or coils 2) complex 3) sometimes you can use it to mean devious.
Examples: a convoluted seashell, convoluted legal language, "I couldn't follow the convoluted plot of the movie so I didn’t enjoy it much."
Orthographic –related to spelling
Jousting – to engage in combat with lances on horseback.
Quixote – pronounced kee-Ho-tee