Roberts, M.K. / Published 2010 / Article
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Citation: Roberts, M.K. (2010). Worlds of Uncertain Status. In K. E. Davis, F. Lubuguin, & W. Schwartz (Eds.), Advances in Descriptive Psychology: Vol.9, (pp. 287-319). Ann Arbor, MI: Descriptive Psychology Press.
Abstract: The concept of persons as world creators is presented, and reality constraints on real world creation are discussed and illustrated using examples from Miguel de Cervantes’ masterpiece, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. Dreams and fiction are treated as mediums in which we have freedom from reality constraints, allowing us to explore behavioral possibilities that may change our worlds. A famous dream from Don Quixote is analyzed to reveal the dreamer’s new way of treating the world. The novel itself is analyzed to show the alternative behavioral patterns that Cervantes explored. The significance of these patterns in his life is examined, and the world-changing nature of Don Quixote is discussed.
“Far away, alone in the open Manchegan plain, the lanky figure of Don Quixote bends like an interrogation mark…” (Ortega y Gasset, 1961, p. 101)