Abstract

MENASSE, Adriana. Mirrored Justice: The Works of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Interpret. Rev. herméneut [online]. 2025, vol.10, n.2, pp.199-211.  Epub Mar 20, 2026. ISSN 2448-864X.  https://doi.org/10.19130/it.10.2.2025/00s329y8x489.

Abstract: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, two pillars of our Western canon, axes and references of our symbols and summits of their respective languages, were contemporaries to the point that it is said they died on the same day. If Shakespeare is the great playwright of all times, Cervantes creates, according to Milan Kundera, a new genre: the genre of the novel. Even so, there is between Shakespeare and Cervantes a cissure, a fundamental breaking point, since Shakespeare’s understanding of justice still draws from the wellsprings of medieval soil, while Cervantes tears that impalpable veil to take a first step into the modern era. The Knight of the Sad Figure is, for this very reason, a failed knight, while the Shakespearean tragedies, with their legion of deaths and betrayals, seem to offer the grace of a confident joy. This essay tries to elaborate on what that means.

Keywords : Shakespeare; Cervantes; hero; caution.

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