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Shakespeare & Beyond

Prospero and Persiles: Comparing the late romances of Shakespeare and Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The travels of Persiles and Sigismunda. 1619. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The travels of Persiles and Sigismunda. 1619. Folger Shakespeare Library.

In preparing for the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s and Miguel de Cervantes’ deaths, it is worth considering the writing they produced toward the end of their careers, particularly since these works bear striking similarities in setting, plot, and theme.

For Shakespeare, this group of plays, categorized as romances, includes Pericles (1606-1608), Cymbeline (1608-1610), The Winter’s Tale (1609-1611), and The Tempest (1610-1611). Cervantes’ last work, which has been dubbed a Christian romance, is Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda: Historia septentrional (The Works of Persiles and Sigismunda: A Northern Story). It was posthumously published in 1617. Cervantes considered Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda his greatest achievement, and it was well received in its day, but Don Quijote is perennially more popular with modern readers.

Shakespeare’s romances involve pivotal, often treacherous ocean voyages to cross from one kingdom to another. Much of the Persiles takes place on the sea, as the two main protagonists and numerous other characters embark on an ocean peregrination from Northern Europe to Rome, with many island stops along the way.

Comments

I know that little is certain about Shakespeare’s late collaboration, Cardenio. But as it was based on a story from Don Quixote, I’d like to know if you would share your thoughts on how it might fit in with the romances we do have.

Lawrence Plotkin — March 10, 2016