The "Duet" In "Don Quixote"——On Its Religious Color And Secular Factors

This thesis focuses on Don Quixote, one of the best novels of the Spanish Golden Age. After an investigation of the study of Cervantes during 4 centuries, the author presents the problem: Is Cervantes a loyal son of the Catholic Church or a real humanist? With a combinative method of form criticism and socio-historical criticism, the thesis pays close attention to one of the duets of Don Quixote: religional and profane elements, from which Cervantes'philosophy of novel creation takes shape. The thesis consists of four parts:First, calling of the angel and the devil in the life of Cervantes. It's the complex social background that decides the contradictions of Cervantes'life and his personality: coexistence of religion and profaneness, richness and poorness, honor and humiliation. Second, Jesus Christ, the prototype of Don Quixote. Through the main line and some important events of the Don Quixote's life, such as double birth, via dolorosa and sacrifice, we can see clearly the prototype of Jesus Christ; and there are some identical images and themes in Don Quixote and the Bible. Third, profaneness and humanism in Don Quixote. Cervantes represents involuntarily profane and human elements in his novel, but he keeps a prudent critical attitude all the time. Fourth, the literary golden law in Don Quixote: combination of theme and story, fiction and truth. With a perfect combination of theme and story, fiction and truth, Cervantes shows successfully the distance between spirit and material, ideal and reality, noble and gross, religion and profaneness, and in this way begins the age of the novel.With an indepth exploration of those four issues, the thesis seeks to find Cervantes'attitude toward religion and profaneness, and analyse the double sided characteristics in his novel. The author hopes that through this thesis, we could find a new way to explain Don Quixote, and thus contribute to the research on Cervantes.