Menéndez Pelayo and the literary culture of Cervantes

Abstract

This article explains what Don Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo thought of Miguel de Cervantes and his work, refuting some statements about Menéndez Pelayo that are not entirely true. Although he did not consider himself a Cervantist, he was able to see the background of Don Quixote and proposed to analyze the novelist in conditions. This essay shows all the statements about Cervantes de Menéndez Pelayo, some of which Américo Castro did not take into account when commenting on them. Menéndez Pelayo was a realist and criticized the belief that Cervantes was an idiotic or unconscious genius and always took into account the historical context of the writer when talking about his attitude and work.