The Reason of Madness or Don Quixote

With Don Quixote, Cervantes preserved for generations the chivalric spirit of Spain. In 1553, Charles V issued a law prohibiting the printing of chivalric novels in Spain's American possessions; two years later, the Cortes insisted on their prohibition in Spain itself. Cervantes did what neither the king nor the Cortes could do: Don Quixote destroyed chivalric novels. A Greek painter depicted in his painting Palamedes, killed by his friends for the treacherous betrayal of Odysseus. Alexander the Great trembled and turned pale whenever his gaze rested on this painting, because it reminded him that he himself had caused the death of his friend Cleitus. After the publication of Don Quixote, chivalric novels reflected themselves in him just as Alexander did in the painting of the Greek painter. But "Don Quixote" showed the strength of both the Spanish character and the chivalric spirit. Byron was wrong when he thought that "Don Quixote" destroyed the chivalric spirit of the Spaniards and that, as a result, Spain became a third-rate state.