WHAT´S ON SANCHO´S MIND?
Sancho Panza often shows himself as Don Quixote´s opposite but he also completes him so that they both become a whole. Don Quixote represents the spirit, dreams, ideals but Sancho brings matter, tangibility and reality to the table. This duality, when put together, embraces the two faces of human soul, enabling it to be studied anytime, anywhere and by anyone, overcoming the readers´ differences.
(Buenaventura Pinero. 1976. "Devenir social de Sancho
Panza". Caracas: Instituto Universitario Pedagógico de Caracas.)
These two characters´ relationship is so strong and alive
that they affect each other´s evolution along their adventures in such a
degree that they are told to become the other in a way. That is to say,
Sancho Panza
evolves into a Don Quixote look-alike and so does Don Quixote
turning into a copy of Sancho Panza. This is thought to be one big
innovation Cervantes created in literature as it had never been seen before,
at least not as clear.
Sancho appears as a wise fool. He would defend Don Quixote even with his life because Don Quixote is a hope maker, had Don Quixote died, Sancho would have ended without any hope in life. Sancho uses a lot of idiomatic expressions that Don Quixote does not like at all. Those are proof of Sancho´s duality we mention here. Sancho´s idiomatic expressions are widely studied in literature and also compiled in specific books.
(Leif Sletsjoe. 1961. "Sancho Panza, hombre de bien". Madrid: Insula.)
Cervantes eventually uses
Sancho as his voice in the book instead of Don
Quixote, that shows the love Cervantes felt for his character but also puts
Sancho under the spotlight by pronouncing words that would not belong to
neither his status nor his capabilities, those words are thought not to be
disguised enough to make the situation feasible.
Sancho´s
mind goes through severe changes, from stubborn
and dumb to brilliant, unexpected, philosophic, governor, hero and back to
his origins, so he sometimes seems to be mentally unstable, travelling from
fake illusions to disappointing realities. This level of complexity in the
characters was rare at the time but a signature feature from Cervantes.