A brief biography of Cervantes

The life experience of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is a typical Spanish adventure career. He was born in Spain in the 16th century, an exciting time. The Moors who believed in Islam were expelled back to North Africa, and Spain was unified both geographically and religiously. With funding from the Spanish royal court, Columbus discovered the New World. Ocean adventure promoted the rise of colonialism, and the plunder of the Americas stimulated the development of domestic industry and commerce. Capitalist production relations began to sprout in some cities. Spain had more than a thousand ships sailing around the world, becoming a powerful feudal empire that dominated Europe. However, Spain's prosperity was extremely short-lived. The autocratic monarch Philip II launched many failed wars, which not only depleted the assets of the national treasury, but also caused Spain to lose its status as a maritime hegemon. At home, the feudal nobles and monks still maintained their privileges, and there were many harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, which made the uneven distribution of rich and poor more prominent and class conflicts increasingly intensified. Although the autocratic royal power colluded with the Catholic Church and used the Inquisition to suppress all progressive ideas and people's resistance, humanist ideas were still spread and a number of outstanding writers emerged. Cervantes was born in a poor family, his father was a surgeon who traveled around the world. Because life was difficult, Cervantes and his seven brothers and sisters traveled around with their father until 1566, when they settled in Madrid. His troubled childhood meant that he only received a middle school education. At the age of 23, he went to Italy and became a retainer of Cardinal Julio. A year later, his unwillingness to settle for the status quo drove him to join the Spanish army in Italy, preparing to fight against the invading Turks. He participated in the famous Battle of Lepando. In this battle, twenty-four warships of the Spanish-led combined fleet severely damaged the Turkish fleet. Cervantes, who stayed at his post despite being ill, suffered three wounds in the fierce battle, and even had his left hand amputated. He has since been known as the "One-Armed Man of Lepando". After four years of a life-and-death military career, he returned home with letters of recommendation from Juan, the commander of the Christian coalition, and the governor of Sicily to the King of Spain. Unfortunately, he encountered a Turkish pirate ship on the way and was kidnapped to Algeria. Because of these two letters of recommendation, the Turks regarded him as an important figure and prepared to extort a huge ransom. As a slave, Cervantes organized escape after escape, but all ended in failure. However, his courage and courage gained the trust and love of the captives. Even the Turks who enslaved them admired his indomitable spirit. Impressed. In 1580, relatives and friends finally raised funds to redeem him, when he was 34 years old. Cervantes, who returned home as a hero, did not receive the attention of King Philip and was busy with life all day long. While writing books, he worked as a clerk in the government. He worked as a quartermaster and a tax collector, and was exposed to rural life. He was also sent to America on official business. He was arrested and imprisoned more than once because he could not pay the taxes he should collect, and sometimes he suffered unreasonable disasters. Even his immortal "Don Quixote" was partly conceived and written in prison. He died in poverty and illness in 1616. Cervantes loved literature very much. When life was difficult, selling literature was the only way for him to support his wife, children and children. He used literary language to advertise one businessman after another and one product after another. He wrote so many lyric poems and satirical poems that even he could not remember, but most of them did not arouse much response. He has also been invited by theaters to write thirty or forty scripts, but they did not achieve the expected success after they were released. In 1585, he published the pastoral novel "Galatea" (Part 1). Although the author was very satisfied with it, it did not attract the attention of the literary world. Cervantes began writing "Don Quixote" when he was in his 50s. "Don Quixote" is a precious cultural heritage. In the book, Don Quixote's experiences in the life of a knight reveal the darkness of society, criticize the tyranny of the church, and reveal the plight of the people. The Don Quixote and his servant Sancho he created are two typical images in Western classical literature. The first volume of "Don Quixote" was published in 1605, and it immediately became popular all over the country. It was reprinted six times within a year. Although the novel failed to lift Cervantes out of poverty, it won him immortal honor. The satire and ruthless ridicule of current ills in the book were dissatisfied and hated by the feudal nobles and the Catholic Church. In 1614, someone published a forged sequel. From the standpoint of the church and the nobility, he wantonly distorted and vilified the image of the protagonist of the novel, and viciously slandered and attacked Cervantes himself.

In order to resist the bad influence of counterfeit books, Cervantes rushed to write the second part of "Don Quixote", which was released in 1615. The book has been translated into almost every language and has been widely circulated in the world. It is suitable for all ages and has profound implications. Some famous European literary critics say it is the greatest work in human history. In addition, he also published "Stories of Punishing Evil and Promoting Good" in 1613, which included thirteen excellent short stories, including twists and turns of love stories, descriptions of social customs, and some philosophical discussions. The book describes the evils of feudal society and the poverty of the Spanish lower class, affirms human nature and individual freedom, and makes an angry protest against social injustice. These realist short stories full of humanistic ideas occupy an important position in Spanish Renaissance literature. The famous novel "Don Quixote" (1602~1615) is Cervantes's representative work. The full name of the novel is "The Fantasy Gentleman Don Quixote La Manche" Volume 2. It mainly describes a thin and declining aristocrat, Don Quixote, who is obsessed with ancient knight novels and actually uses the sword like an ancient knight. He dressed up the armor-piercing horse, used an ugly pig girl as the adoring lady of the beauty, and then used the short and fat farmer Sancho Panza as his attendant. He set out three times to travel around the country to create a knight's performance of supporting the weak and hoeing the strong. . As a result, he made a lot of jokes, was humiliated everywhere, was beaten seriously, or was sent home as a lunatic. There are nearly 700 characters appearing in the novel, and the scenes depicted range from the palace to the wilderness all over the country. It reveals various contradictions in the declining Spanish Kingdom from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century, condemns the debauchery and decadence of the aristocratic class, shows the people's pain and struggle, and touches on politics, economy, morality, culture and customs. question. The novel creates two famous typical characters in world literature, the ridiculous, respectable, and pathetic Don Quixote and the pragmatic, timid, yet smart and just peasant Sancho. It organically combines realism and romanticism, both It contains simple and unpretentious real life, as well as comically exaggerated fictional plots. It has reached a new level in reflecting the depth and breadth of reality and in shaping the typicality of characters. This book can be called a classic, but it is best not to read it with such a serious eye, because this book was a street reading for a long time after its publication, and its value was once considered to be just for "laughing" (Ser. Vantes was neither learned nor skilled, but he was a talented man. He was the funniest writer in Spain (according to people at the time). No matter what reviews it has received, this book is indeed very funny. I can’t bear it when I write this review. I just want to laugh. The language of this book is light and lively. It seems that every sentence is picked up and very appropriate, but it is not so precise. Even the connection of the plot is very casual, so that there are many loopholes, but this does not affect the appeal of the whole book. , this book has a kind of vitality that comes from the folk. If you get together and joke with a bunch of simple country people, you can feel this warm, natural vitality. The author Cervantes is just such a low-level character in society. He is a disabled sergeant who was captured and used as a slave. During this period, he led his brothers to escape several times, but was captured all the time. After being redeemed, he was impoverished, and writing did not help him escape poverty. He also went to jail several times for unreasonable disasters... and finally died of edema. After his death, people did not know his exact burial place. Don Quixote, a country gentleman, was fascinated by reading novels about knights, and wanted to put the various behaviors of knights in the books into reality. He offered benefits and actually persuaded his neighbor Sancho to become his slave. In this way, , a madman and a fool, started this "Great Messenger". In adventures and conversations with others, as long as it does not involve chivalry, Don Quixote has a clear mind and wise knowledge. He has firm beliefs and noble moral character. He can be called a model of chivalry. He pursues justice wholeheartedly and fights against his imaginary enemies." "Fight" without fear, even risking his life. He firmly believes that he should help the weak, but in fact, he often causes trouble for others. He defends purity and loyalty, and sticks to his self-righteous love without regrets, but his so-called "lover" is a stout village girl who doesn't know him at all. He lived in an imaginary world, experienced setbacks without regret, thinking that this was just a "magician's trick", and constantly encouraged Sancho - knights always have to go through all kinds of hardships before they can achieve great achievements. And what about Sancho? He is a farmer who only sees immediate benefits and only cares about himself. Because Don Quixote promised him various benefits, he followed him as a slave. He was satisfied with the enjoyment of food and drink, and kept thinking about Don Quixote's various whims. exposed, full of complaints about his poor life. “The eagle flying in the sky is not as good as the hen running on the ground.

"He used common sense to judge and deal with the problem, and the governor actually did a good job. Of course, later he felt tired and did not want to be the governor. The adventures of the master and the servant are somewhat similar to the adventures of the four monks and apprentices in "Journey to the West", except that The former is absurdity with the real world as the background, while the latter is the struggle with the mythical world as the background. This reminds people of the issue of faith. Faith is distant, like the lights in the distance, while the world in front of us is limited to experience and is perceptual. , shallow and perhaps "normal", Sancho is an irrational fool who only knows about enjoyment. The master and servant seem to be contradictory, but in reality Don Quixote's ideal is ridiculous, but who can. What about laughing at him? If a person has some ideals and beliefs that excite him, is it more real and noble than Don Quixote's knight-errant dream? If not, what if he wants to be Sancho and be satisfied with the happiness in front of him? Who is willing to do this? The author is a tragic figure like his Don Quixote. He was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, in October 1547, to his father Rodrigo de Cervantes and his mother Leon. Noel Cortina was a fallen aristocrat. The social background at that time: the first half of the sixteenth century was the heyday of Spanish history. After Spain became the first unified feudal country on the European continent at the end of the fifteenth century, it continued to expand overseas. Expanded, conquered most of the Americas, and plundered gold crazily. In 1516, Carlos I inherited the Spanish throne. In 1519, he inherited the German throne from his grandfather and became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. , renamed Carlos V. Relying on its huge army and invincible fleet, Spain dominated the two continents of Europe and the United States, and became a military power. Its capitalist industry and commerce also developed, and it was economically prosperous, making it the richest region in Europe. 1. At the same time, its cultural and educational undertakings also developed rapidly. After the publication of Spain's first grammar book in 1492, Castilian became the national language and Montema appeared. The introduction of Joel's pastoral novels, picaresque novels, and Rueda's dramas brought Spanish literature and art into a golden period that lasted nearly two centuries. Growing up in a fertile cultural soil, Cervantes was undoubtedly influenced by colorful literary works. Cervantes had a special interest in literature. In order to read extensively Latin classics and other famous works, he went to the home of a Roman church clergyman. He taught Spanish, and later went with them to Italy, where he served as a chamberlain under the then Cardinal Giulio Akoviva, which gave him the opportunity to use his master's rich collection of books and browse classics. He also came into contact with many Italian literati, met Giordano Bruno, known as the "Philosophical Knight Errant", and listened to Torguato Tasso's incisive discussion of ancient art. Infected and influenced by the humanistic ideas of the Italian Renaissance, he had a deeper understanding of the glorious culture and art of ancient times. In this way, he was able to use the protagonist's words in "Don Quixote" to understand culture, education, and hierarchy. He published incisive discussions on the issues of integrity, justice, freedom and equality, shining the brilliance of humanistic thought.