Before Cervantes published his second part, an impostor released his. The name on the cover was a pseudonym: Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda.
The apocryphal of 1614
A year before Cervantes finished his Book Two, an unauthorized sequel to Don Quixote appeared. She used the characters without permission, without the literary care of the original and, in Cervantes' assessment, with bad faith.
Cervantes' response
Instead of ignoring it, Cervantes turned the offense into literature: he included the existence of the fake book in his own narrative. His Don Quixote knows that there is an apocryphal version of himself and rejects it, even changing his route so as not to cross paths with it.
The mystery that remained
Avellaneda is a pseudonym, and the author's real identity has never been confirmed. The paradox is that the provocation hastened and enriched the second part: without the impostor, we might not have the book as we know it.
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Who was Avellaneda?
He was the author, under a pseudonym, of a false continuation of Don Quixote published in 1614. The real identity behind the name Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda has never been confirmed.
What is Quixote apocryphal?
It is the unauthorized second part, written by Avellaneda, who used Cervantes' characters without permission before Cervantes himself published his sequel.
How did Cervantes react to the fake Quixote?
He included the apocryphal book in his plot: his Don Quixote becomes aware of the false version and rejects it, transforming the literary dispute into material for the novel.
Continue: Don Quixote, Part 2: summary and analysis · Who is Alonso Quijano · The Historical Macbeth: The Real King
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