The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda Quiz

Answer: Yes, in the Prologue

On the road from Esquivias to Toledo, Cervantes and his two companions encounter a student, who is clearly an ardent fan, for he lavishes praise on the great writer. The travelers pass the remainder of the journey in conversation, parting in friendship at the city gate. So far, so unremarkable. Unsettlingly, though, Cervantes closes the brief scene with a matter-of-fact statement that he expects to be dead in a matter of days, together with the pious and touching hope that he will see all his dear friends again in Heaven.

The Spanish municipality of Esquivias is located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, forty-four kilometers from the city of Toledo. Cervantes came to live in the town upon his 1584 marriage to Catalina de Salazar y Palacios, a local landholder' daughter. The Cervantes House Museum is located here.

Answer: True

Due to its episodic nature, the loose connections amongst the adventures it relates and the overall theme of a journey, the novel falls within the broad definition of the picaresque.

Like Cervantes' better known work "Don Quixote", "Persiles and Sigismunda" is also a tale of a quest, though unlike that pursued by the Knight of the Woeful Countenance, this quest ends happily because it is, at its heart, an expressly Christian pilgrimage. The protagonists travel to Rome through peril and hardship, not to find some earthly treasure, but rather to prove their fitness for both marriage and rule of their northern realm.

Answer: In medias res

In "Ars Poetica", pubblifhed ca. 13 BC, the Roman poet Horace (65 to 8 BC) recommended that stories start in medias res, that is in the middle of things, rather than at the beginning. The idea, influential to the present day, is to grab the reader immediately with compelling action, rather than boring him with all that tedious setup. Arguments can be made for both styles of entry into a story. Cervantes chose to follow Horace, opening the novel with an exciting scene of barbarians, disguise, imprisonment and daring rescue.

Douglas Adams' science fiction adventure tale, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" begins very simply. It begins with a house.

Answer: The Barbarous Isle

This is a novel of romance and high adventure. Accordingly, our protagonists travel in exotic and perilous lands. We first meet them struggling through, and eventually triumphing over, the dangers of a barbarian island-kingdom in the far North, referred to throughout the tale as the Barbarous Isle. For the remainder of Books One and Two, they and their ragtag band of companions wander from island to snow covered island at the mercy of wind and wave, sometimes in small, open boats and sometimes in stately sailing ships, sometimes together and sometimes apart since our beautiful, wise and chaste heroine often finds herself kidnapped. But, through it all, they are content to face whatever perils and adventures may come to them, being sustained by their love and their determination to reach Rome.

Answer: No

Although our hero's true name is briefly dropped in the middle of Book Two, until the beginning of Book Four, the final book, we know our gallant protagonists as Auristela meaning Goldenstar, and Periandro, Spanish form of Periander, notable as the name of Periander of Corinth, a 7th-century BC tyrant renowned as one of the Seven Sages of Greece for his wisdom.

Answer: Polycarpo, Sinforosa and Polycarpa

Polycarpo is the elected king of "an island near Hibernia", where the company eventually find themselves reunited after many adventures at sea and much hardship.

It seems our hero has been there before, winning the heart of the king's elder daughter, Sinforosa, with his courtesy and athletic prowess. This discovery sparks jealousy in the, until now, pure heart of our heroine. Adding to the confusion, Claudio and Rutilio foolishly plan to announce their love for her, while the king's sorceress-advisor declares her, unwelcome, devotion for Antonio the Younger.

Things go from bad to worse, as they seem to have a tendency to do for our intrepid travelers, and it becomes necessary for them to escape Polycarpos kingdom. They accomplish this with the help of the king's younger daughter, Polycarpa, who provides the getaway boat.

Answer: Lisbon

After fleeing Polycarpo's Isle, the somewhat diminished company finally comes to land at Lisbon, capital of the Catholic kingdom of Portugal. From here, having had more than their fill of the sea, they decide to continue their pilgrimage to Rome on foot.

It is during their land journey that the three French ladies join the company.

The three incorrect answers are Atlantic ports: Bilbao in Spain, Le Havre in France and Dover in England.

Answer: For both of these reasons

Although throughout the tale both our hero and, especially, our heroine find themselves the object of amorous advances that sometimes lead to truly sticky situations, they maintain the pretense of being brother and sister, even after arriving in Rome. For the place itself, though significant, does not mark the end of their quest, but rather the start of its final stage.

Answer: That on jealousy and rivalry

While many of those they meet in their travels are driven by pride, greed, lust, jealousy, ambition and rashness that all too often lead to violence and even murder, our protagonists embody all the virtues. It is a testament to Cervantes' power as a writer that they remain likable, never coming off as either prissy or saccharine, but simply as young people who practice their faith, if perhaps rather more so than the reader is conscious of doing.

Their good influence ennobles their companions, often causing justice to be tempered with mercy.

Answer: Yes

Our heroine traveled to Rome in order to receive more complete instruction in her Catholic faith than was available in Friesland, her home in the far north of Europe. After achieving this goal she believes for a time, much to our hero's dismay, that she ought to remain a virgin.

However, circumstances made it clear that Heaven intended her for marriage. And, as the old saying is, she and our hero lived happily ever after.