Between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: a cervantine “mirror for the princes” (or “speculum principis”), a possible interpretation

Abstract

The literary work by Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote of La Mancha presents numerous possibilities for interpretation, especially between law and literature, since the subject of law and justice is exposed critically through its episodes. During the Middle Ages, the king was the one who kept the legal order. It was in this period, from the twelfth century onwards, that the principle of ratio status was based on the submission of power to the ethical-religious order, presupposing respect for the law, in observance of the fair order. The objective of this paper is to analyze the advice given by Don Quixote to Sancho Panza before he goes to rule the Island of Barataria. For that, a bibliographical research was made, highlighting other works from Cervantes’ lifetime. In addition to the literary genre of “mirrors for the princes”, this research examined the possible intertextuality of Don Quixote with the chivalric romance, drawing a parallel between them. In carrying out the study it was verified how much the law is present in the work of Cervantes. The characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are representations of subjects of law resembling the instructor and the judge of that period.