11
«A cada lector le toca identificar los pecados y maldades de Cardenio»
(Percas de Ponseti 17). And of course penitence could assuage guilt, and it may be this which so affects Cardenio: «that of the many manifestations of fear and sorrow, feelings of guilt seemed to weigh so heavily on the melancholy was a fact which struck him [Robert Burton] most forcefully. They endure the 'most intolerable torment and insufferable anguish of conscience'»
(Bergen Evans 57).
12
«The meeting of Cardenio and Don Quijote is one of the most carefully prepared and fully realized events in the Don Quijote. It takes up an entire chapter by itself, signifying that this adventure is to be of considerable weight»
. (Edward Dudley 122).
13
«Semejante prevención no es verosímil. Si Cardenio estaba loco, parece impropia esta advertencia, la cual supone previsión y juicio, y tanto la advertencia como la razón que se da de ella, no asientan bien en boca de un demente. Pero el intento de Cervantes hubo de ser preparar algún pretexto para interrumpir la relación de Cardenio, dividiéndola en dos trozos [...]»
(Clemencín 1236, n. 8, emphasis added). Later the critic adds two more trozos, when these three meet Dorotea, and then when all are together in the inn (1274, n. 24).
14
«When Cardenio resumes his story in chapter 27, we once again witness his great resistance to marriage»
(Feal 191); this point of view is dubious, given the conditions of the final resolution and the concomitant statement of the fact of their union. And given their betrothal it is difficult to justify Carroll B. Johnson's point of Cardenio's «fear of intimacy with a woman»
paralleling Quijote's (112), a thought echoed by Feal; any parallel to Lope Ruiz thus vanishes.
15
See the discussion by Louis Combet of the question of what it is that Cardenio really wants in this triangle (201-02). Percas de Ponseti notes that «La amistad por Don Fernando es un sentimiento todopoderoso que parece suplantar el amor a Luscinda»
(3).
16
Gaos rightfully suggests «Nótese el contraste entre esta súbita decisión [...] y la apatía con que a continuación se conduce»
(479, n. 96).
17
Nieto appropriately queries «Si éste [Fernando] fue capaz de organizar una boda en cuarenta y ocho horas, ¿por qué aquél [Cardenio] no hizo lo mismo después de años y años de ferviente y correspondido amor?»
(503). Feal points out the obvious: «It looks very much as if Cardenio could have avoided going to the duke's house simply by marrying Luscinda, without facing strong opposition from anyone»
(184).
18
«One cannot fail to note the extent of his submission to other men, whom he perceives as superior»
(Feal 192).
19
Clemencín: it would be «tan fácil a la persona de adentro evitarla; por eso dijo Cervantes y dijo bien, casi por fuerza»
(1277, n. 45). Given that Luscinda appears to be more forward than Cardenio it seems unlikely that she would resist.
20
«His [Fernando's] character flaws are his overaggressive tendencies and passions, so unbridled that they recognize no social or religious limitations, thus presenting an obvious contrast to Cardenio's meekness and passivity»
(Anderson 27).