Quixotic influence in Gaskell's fiction

Don Quixote has been a very influential novel within the literary world, both in Spain and abroad. An example can be found in English literature where we can trace several works influenced by Cervantes’ novel. However, quixotic reception, as well as its influence, has varied in intensity over the centuries, being this influence sometimes more obvious than others. Thus, different Quixotes can be found in English literature throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, whereas in the 19th century what we are going to find is a more diluted, and difficult to trace, quixotic influence. Although Eliot, Thackeray and Dickens are the Victorian novelists in whose works an evident quixotic presence can be found, they are not the only ones. We can also find some quixotic characters in Elizabeth Gaskell’s fiction, being these characters the ones we are going to study.

Dr. Blanca Puchol Vázquez studied at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where she obtained a degree in English language and literature, and later achieved a PhD in Literary Studies. Since October 2017 she teaches English at Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, in Industrial Organization Engineering Degree. She is also a member of the research group “Estudios literarios de la modernidad” at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.