In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Sancho's Courtly Performance:Discreción and the Art of Conversation in the Ducal Palace Episodes of Don Quijote II
  • Ryan Schmitz

To unlock a society, look at its untranslatable words.1

In conjunction with the vast social changes of the early modern period in Iberia, particularly the mass movement of socially ambitious individuals to burgeoning urban centers, there emerged a proliferation of conduct manuals that aimed to teach their readers the nuances of impression management, the art of conversation, and how to successfully deal with people in diverse social contexts. While many of these treatises were written specifically for courtiers, others were intended for a more general audience, including young social climbers.2 As one literary scholar has observed, "Villanos wanted to become cortesanos, and their efforts were satirized by a traditional aristocracy determined to maintain a distinction between the truly gentleborn and would-be cortesanos" (Preto-Rodas 231). Sancho Panza, undoubtedly the most [End Page 445] well known villano of the period, is similarly obsessed with social and economic ascendency, particularly during his stay at the ducal palace.3 Sancho's efforts to overcome his rustic upbringing, utilizing don Quijote's detailed lessons on courtesy and discretion, both reflect a significant social reality of the day and humorously engage some of the most important values and ideals of early modern Spanish society.

There is, perhaps, no concept of greater importance or more illustrative of the system of values of late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century Spain than discreción. The full meaning of this term, however, often eludes modern commentators and translators alike, due to its complex polyvalence and the fact that it encompassed a much wider range of qualities than it does in modern usage.4 Damasio de Frías y Balboa, a writer whom Cervantes praises in "El Canto de Calíope," defines the term with meticulous detail in his understudied "Diálogo de la discreción" (1579). It is an intellectual habit engaged in practical decisions; while it is similar to the Aristotelian definition of prudence, "right reason applied to practice," it differs in that discretion, unlike prudence, does not imply use for morally virtuous ends.5 Exceptionally broad in its scope, discretion encompassed such diverse qualities as mental sharpness (agudeza); ingenuity (ingenio); clear judgment (juicio); and good sense (cordura). Additionally, discretion referred to social intelligence and the art of conversation; it was often paired with forethought, caution, and dissimulation (circunspección, recato, disimulación); grace and affability (gracia, donaire); and eloquent communication appropriate for the social context, including the use of witticisms, clever repartee, and the proper use of humor, such that it would not harm third parties (avisado, advertido, elocuencia, cortesanía).6 [End Page 446] In the pages that follow, I aim to examine Sancho's attempts to overcome his rustic origins, transforming himself from ignorant peasant to discreet courtier and governor at the ducal palace. Additionally, through a careful comparison of Cervantes's fictional court and representative conduct manuals of the period, I intend to elucidate the complicated concept of discreción, which emerged as a fundamental ideal in early modern Iberia.

It seems that Sancho Panza is at a distinct disadvantage with regards to the acquisition of discretion. As a sedentary and rustic villano, the level and variety of discourse to which he is exposed inherently limit his educative opportunities. As the well-travelled canine Berganza of El coloquio de los perros observes: "el andar tierras y comunicar con diversas gentes hace a los hombres discretos" (II 332). As an additional handicap, the Panza stock appears to be ingrained with a penchant for irrelevant and excessive discourse: the priest observes, "todos los deste linaje de los Panzas nacieron cada uno con un costal de refranes en el cuerpo" (905). It comes as a surprise, then, that Sancho should be called "discreto" in his first encounter with the duchess:

De que Sancho el bueno sea gracioso lo estimo yo en mucho, porque es señal que es discreto; que las gracias y los donaires, [ . . . ] no asienten sobre ingenios torpes, y pues el buen Sancho es gracioso y donairoso, desde aquí le confirmo por discreto.

(760; emphasis added)

That her syllogism is...

pdf

Share