It is important to note that both Don Quixote and the Art of Courtly Love explore differential themes. The former focuses on sanity, falsehood, and chivalry, whereas the latter centers around the nature of love and its preservation. However, one should be aware that both share one common theme, which is love itself. Thus, both literary works explore the concept of love from different perspectives, and thus, they have diverging insights about such suffering, hope, and embrace.
The key understanding of love in Don Quixote is mostly uncritical, positive, and hopeful. It is stated that “hope is always born at the same time as love” (Saavedra, 2003, p. 354). In other words, love is seen as a derivate of hope and a positive view of the future. In addition, love is not viewed as something visual, noticeable, or intense because “there were no embraces because where there is great love, there is often little display of it” (Saavedra, 2003, p. 427). Thus, the true nature of love is calm and hidden, which implies that loud and exhibited forms of romance are fleeting and short-lived. However, in the Art of Courtly Love, it is stated that “love is a certain inborn suffering,” where opposite sexes meditate upon each other (Capellanus, 1990). The latter perspective is more pessimistic and negative compared to the former one because it means that love is born out of pain.
In conclusion, both Don Quixote and the Art of Courtly Love address the theme of love but view it differently. On the one hand, Don Quixote presents love being born alongside hope and points out that true love is not put on display. However, on the other hand, the other literary work focuses on the notion of love emerging alongside suffering due to the excessive focus of partners on each other.
References
Capellanus, A. (1990). The art of courtly love. Columbia University Press.
Saavedra, M. D. C. (2003). Don Quixote. Penguin Classics.