Sainte-Beuve's Quixotic Response to Hugo's Shakespeare

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article studies Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve's and Victor Hugo's clashing perspectives on Don Quijote in texts written in 1864, namely, the former's review of Doré's illustrations for the novel and the latter's Shakespeare . Considering the intellectual history between the two, the article argues that they use Don Quijote to promote their different literary and political agendas, which leads to overly complicated readings of the novel. They both interpret Sancho's way of dealing with Quijote as a metaphor for the attitude that the French nation should have towards Napoleon III, but they fundamentally disagree in their descriptions of that relationship.