Abstract

VADILLO, Juan. Delirium Against Reason in the Quixote. Acta poét [online]. 2013, vol.34, n.2, pp.103-126. ISSN 2448-735X.

This article revolves around the counterpoint tension that is created by delirium in the face of reason in the Quixote. We begin with the idea (which we share with Maria Zambrano) that delirium is a different kind of intelligence from rational intelligence, and that it is also one of the many different perspectives (according to Leo Spitzer) that make up the world. It is the space of metaphor, of invention, of hallucination; it is the world of Don Quixote. Our errant knight will attempt to pour his world over rational reality, and that is where the clash of delirium and reason will be produced in counterpointing terms, the dissonance that is almost always resolved into consonance when delirium is defeated; in this moment, the time without time of the adventure ends, Don Quixote returns to chronological time and distinguishes rational reality, but will be unable to accept it unless it is enchanted. This subject is analyzed in the light of several works, among them: La ambigüedad en el Quijote, by Manuel Durán; "Don Quijote" by Foucault; Meditaciones del Quijote, by Ortega y Gasset; "Ambigüedad de la novela", by Octavio Paz; "Perspectivismo lingüístico en El Quijote", by Leo Spitzer, etc.

Keywords : Don Quixote; madness; reason; reality.