SOURCE: Ihrie, Maureen. “Classical Skepticism and Narrative Authority in Don Quijote de la Mancha.” In Studies on Don Quijote and Other Cervantine Works, edited by Donald W. Bleznick, pp. 31-37. York, S. C.: Spanish Literature Publications Company, 1984.

In the following essay, Ihrie proposes that the role of the author in Don Quixote should be understood against the background of the Renaissance interpretation of classical Greek skepticism toward authority.

The ambiguously complex authorial presence in Don Quijote de la Mancha remains one of the most intriguing inventions of the work, partially because the unique assemblage of shifting narrative footprints logically seems to promise the clearest, most direct acquaintance with Cervantes the creator.¹ For the reader, the narrative structure functions rather as a series of puzzles, tempting him or her forward in hopes of perceiving, or being granted, some final, “traditional” measure of illumination, if all elements have been judged...