ABSTRACT

The author's assumption in this essay, which surveys the English critical reception of Cervantes before the twentieth century, is that the pronouncements of early readers, however odd, puzzling, or opaque they may now appear, are the products of a discernible critical rationale and epistemological norm. It follows that a history of critical reception should aim to reconstruct a historical sense of readerly expectations. The history of the critical reception of Don Quixote in the English-speaking world is rich, complex, and problematic. In the case of Don Quixote, critical vindication of the novel as a high burlesque performance appeared initially in the context of critical discussions prompted by Samuel Butler's Hudibras, a satirical poem patterned in important ways after the model imparted by Cervantes. Perhaps the most dramatic indicator of Cervantes's growing reputation in England was the Spanish-language edition of Don Quixote sponsored by the Whig opposition statesman John Carteret, Earl of Grenville.