Abstract

MUGICA, Cristina. Counterpointing madness: don Quixote and Henry IV. Acta poét [online]. 2009, vol.30, n.1, pp.219-238. ISSN 2448-735X.

This paper examines the depictions of folly on Quijote by Cervantes, and on the play Enrique IV by Pirandello. In both masterpieces, the folly is an active agent which interchanges comicalness and seriousness; this results in humor, which, as Pirandello states, is "the objectified sense of the opposite". Being the very antithesis or carnivalization of melancholy, don Quijote's march is the one of a comedian. As for the pirandellian character, the overturning is sarcastic instead of comical, since the protagonist's madness is a reaction to outer and inner destructive compulsions that will eventually lead him to destroy his relations to others.

Keywords : Quijote; Enrique IV; folly; seriocomic; sarcasm.

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