Dulcinea

I read the book Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantez in high school. At the time, it was required reading and I reluctantly finished the book in order to write a twelve page paper. I lumped this book in with Anna Karenina, The Fountainhead, and QBVII: long, lengthy, pointless. When my honors English teacher insisted we read a novel, I unhappily and defiantly flipped vaguely through the pages.

But now, the story of Don Quixote is one of my favorite stories. It follows the chivalrous Don Quixote as he relentlessly pursues a peasant girl named Aldonza. He describes her as "a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her. Her hairs are gold, her forehead Elsynian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bososm marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow". He calls her his "dulcinea", his sweet little one.

Aldonza, though, sees herself as the opposite. She has a face associated with disgust and shame. Aldonza is a whore: a woman whose life consists of one night stands, tawdry money, and meaningless relationships. She's ashamed of herself, of her very life. She rejects Don Quixote's affection. Although as he continues to pursue her, she begins to reveal the secrets of her past: a father she never knew, a mother who never loved her, and the countless faces who paid for a single night with her. As Aldonza shares her wounded heart with him, Don Quixote continues to call her his "dulcinea", his sweet little one.

In one of the scenes, Aldonza is assaulted by a man. She screams and Don Quixote comes to her rescue calling, "My lady! Dulcinea!". His affection for her is too much and she's ashamed. She screams at him, "Don't call me your lady! I was born in a ditch by a mother who left me there naked and alone and too hungry to cry. I never blamed her! I'm sure she left hoping that I'd have the good sense to die! Do not call me a lady! I am a kitchen slut reeking with sweat! A whore men use and forget. Don't call me a lady! I am only Aldonza. I am nothing at all!". As she leaves, Don Quixote calls after her, still in awe of her beauty, still in love with her soul.

Aldonza was convinced and struggled with the belief that she would always be a nobody. Don Quixote saw a beautiful woman who was valued and was worth loving. God does not see the world as a world filled with nobodies. God sees us as His most beautiful creation who He wants to ressurect into new life, to know love, to be loved and pursued relentlessly. It is the sweet love of Jesus Christ that allows the Aldonzas of the world to be transformed into Dulcineas.

God wants nothing more than His creation to know that they are loved and to know that they are lovely. In Song of Solomon, "Let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. Come now, my love, my lovely one come". God is constantly pursuing us, loving us, desiring for us to become his Dulcineas. He is whispering to us that love does exist and that the happiness the world craves is only found in this. He is whispering that we are beautiful, that we are loved.


"The King is enthralled by your beauty, honor Him for He is your Lord" Psalm 45:11