SOURCE: Flores, R. M. “Don Quixote as a Genre of Genres.” Romance Quarterly 40, no. 4 (fall 1993): 211-25.

In the following essay, Flores argues that the first sentence of Don Quixote sets the stage for the rest of the novel and that the first chapter explores the major themes and devices of the novel as a whole.

My intention here is twofold. I propose to show: (1) that the first sentence of Don Quixote is both a record of intention and a promise of things to come, and (2) that the first chapter of the novel is a compendium of the ideas, creative devices, and literary caveats that dominate the entire work.

Cervantes sets us squarely on three totally different genres in his very first sentence, with an economy of words seldom surpassed: “En un lugar de la Mancha, de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme, no ha mucho tiempo que vivía...