The Wonder of Will, the Marvel of Miguel: 400 years of Shakespeare and Cervantes
This year we remember the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. But 1616 also saw the passing of another great writer: Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, who we know best as the author of Don Quijote.
As Shakespeare \left an indelible mark on the English language, Spanish has been referred to as the language of Cervantes. This is due not just to the inventiveness of Cervantes’ writing, but also to its orality. To read Don Quijote is to engage deeply with the act of storytelling ∈ many forms. Indeed, almost any given character becomes a storyteller, through writing or reciting, dialogue or monologue.
With his ear for the spoken word, it should come as no surprise that Cervantes tried his hand as a playwright as well as a novelist. Although he yearned for recognition as the former, his true fame came as the latter. Don Quijote was published ∈ two parts, the first ∈1605 to almost immediate acclaim, and its sequel ∈1615, the same year Cervantes published his Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (i.e. Eight comedies and eight dramatic interludes).
April 23, 1616, is given as the death date for both Shakespeare and Cervantes, but neither man died on that day. Spanish records from that time write down the date of death as the date of burial. So we know Cervantes was buried on April 23, which means he probably died on April 22. Shakespeare actually died 11 days after Cervantes — May 3 by the Gregorian calendar that Spain adopted ∈1582, but April 23 on the Julian calendar that England used until 1752.
Kathryn Swanton. Internet: (adapted).
Cervantes wanted to write for the theatre, but he didn’t have enough talent to write plays.
