The Utopian Nexus in Don Quixote

Jehenson and Dunn explore the mythic utopian desires that drive Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Don Quixote . By tracing the discourses surrounding what they identify as a myth of abundance and a myth of “simple wants” throughout Spain and the rest of Europe at the time, Jehenson and Dunn are able to contextualize some of the stranger incidents in Don Quixote , including Camacho’s wedding. They bring to the forefront three aspects of the the cultural and juridical background of Don Quixote’s utopian program for reviving the original property-less condition of the Age of Gold; the importance for Sancho Panza of the myths of Cockaigne and Jauja; and the author’s progressive skepticism about utopian programs.