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| | Dulcinea and Her Critics, by Javier S. Herrero |
 | | This purification is artistically expressed by Cervantes through the progressive disappearance of Aldonza Lorenzo, which is completed in Part II, where Don Quijote asserts that he does not know Dulcinea, has never seen her, and that he loves her only through her fame of beauty and honesty. |
 | | Aldonza, a coarse and uncouth peasant girl, as the all-too-real basis of Don Quijote's love, corresponds to the satiric mode. |
 | | Dulcinea, in fact, corresponds to the beauty of the soul of Aldonza Lorenzo, Aldonza is a hidalga del Toboso; behind her modesty, Don Quijote sees the greatness of her spirit, hidden to the eyes of her coarse neighbors. |
| www.h-net.org /~cervantes/csa/artics82/herrero.htm (6534 words) |
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