1. Miguel de Cervantes 1547-1616

2. Cervantes Born in Alcala de Henares, near Madrid Enlisted in Spanish fleet, fought valiantly, was captured by pirates on the way home and held as a slave for high ransom (remember this for Hamlet). After 5 years, bout out by viceroy of Algiers out of admiration. Wrote 20-30 plays and a pastoral romance

3. Cervantes Worked for the navy in supply service but was imprisoned for “irregularities in his administration.” Later served as tax collector for Granada but dismissed from gov’t in 1597 1604 published Don Quixote Part I, and it was so popular that someone wrote a false sequel, so Cervantes then wrote his own, Part II, published in 1615.

4. Don Quixote Satire of chivalric romance, the pulp fiction of his time Uses parody and caricature, but in a unique way, with a main character who lives in Cervantes’s present but is infatuated with medieval romance and chivalry – he lives in the real world but lives by the standards of fantasy. Visions of Don Quixote by Octavio Ocampo http://gallery4collectors.com/visionsofquixote.htm

5. Don Quixote With Don Quixote, Cervantes creates the modern novel. Manages to show positive as well as negative aspects of chivalry and romance Ridiculous situations counterbalanced by serious moral messages Monument to Don Quixote and Dulcinea in El Toboso, Castile-La Mancha, Spain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_QuixoteEl Toboso