Reference no: EM131690732

In this chapter, what do you think Cervantes is trying to say about the rituals and pageantry of knighthood? Explain your answer.

Chapter reading

He said this with such spirit and bravado that it instilled mortal terror in those who were stoning him. As a result of this and the innkeeper's pleas, they ceased hurling their stones, and he in turn allowed them to remove the wounded, at which point he returned to his vigil with the same calm and composure as before. The host, not taking kindly to his guest's pranks, decided to conclude the affair and immediately confer upon him the accursed order of knighthood before any further misfortune could befall them. So, approaching him, he apologized for the insolent treatment that, unknown to him, Don Quixote had received at the hands of the rabble, who, he pointed out, had been nicely chastised for their insolence. He also repeated that there was no chapel in the castle, nor was one really necessary for what remained to be done, for the crux of the knighting ceremony consisted of being tapped on the neck and shoulder with one's own sword, and this ceremony, according to everything he had read, could be performed in the middle of an open field. Besides, Don Quixote had already satisfied the requirement of standing watch over his armor, since this could be met with only a couple of hours of vigil, and he had already put in more than four. Don Quixote naively believed all this and said he was prepared to obey him, but asked that it be concluded as quickly as possible, for should he be attacked again once he was knighted, it was his intention not to spare any persons in that entire castle except those the governor might designate, whom he would not harm out of respect for him.