El Caballero de la Locura y su ambigüedad: Don Quijote entre Unamuno y Zambrano

Abstract

The essay proposes a comparison between the interpretations that Miguel de Unamuno and María Zambrano offer of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. The Basque writer seems to focus on the tragic character of Don Quixote and rescues the figure of Sancho Panza, asserting the autonomy of the characters from the author of the work and their key role in the interpretation of Spain. From the reflections of her mentor, María Zambrano sees in the figure of the knight the ambiguity of human existence, product of the tension between dreams and the waking action of consciousness. In order to save himself from ambiguity and rescue life, Don Quixote, like every human being, needs to find an image that will enamor him. He needs to find and follow “his” Dulcinea.