Cervantes vs Shakespeare

by | May 19, 2023 | English, Spanish, Uncategorized

Cervantes vs Shakespeare. Two of the most important writers of literature. A must-read!

Few authors have influenced literature as much as William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Both are contemporary; they died just a month apart.

Here I will show you a little more about what they have in common and what are their main differences. In the end, I will include a short list with recommendations for you to read books from one or the other, and in the meantime practice your English and Spanish.

The main difference

Before getting into the similarities (which are several and in some cases chilling), here I will tell you what their main difference is.

In a nutshell: Cervantes is the most influential Spanish-speaking writer and William Shakespeare is the most influential English-speaking one. The first was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain in 1547, while the second is a native of Warwickshire, UK born in 1564.

These differences in place of origin meant that, despite being contemporaries, they handled themselves in separate fields and wrote different stories, but this doesn’t mean that there were no similarities in their personal lives or their ways of writing.

Similarities between Shakespeare and Cervantes

Both are the most recognized authors in their languages and have some of the works that have been translated into most languages in the history of humanity, though the similarities do not end there.

Both authors captured things from their personal lives in the works they wrote. Cervantes’ greatest work includes strong reminiscences of the question of freedom, mainly because Cervantes himself was deprived of it (he was imprisoned and enslaved in Argel).

On Shakespeare’s side, there are always stories of heartbreak or impossible love (Romeo and Juliet being the clearest example), something that some historians say often happened in his personal life.

Why are they so relevant?

Both writers are relevant because their literary works were something that catapulted both languages to success and globalization. Of course, today we know that Spanish or English are the most widely spoken languages in the world, or at least almost everyone knows of their existence. But this wasn’t always the case, especially since it was not the case centuries ago when they wrote their novels or plays.

In the case of Cervantes, his work for the Spanish language is more tangible since at that time it was a language that wasn’t used in other places beyond Spain. Don Quixote became the first great modern novel because it was the first one to be translated into other languages and cross the borders of different countries to become international.

Something else that makes both authors relevant is the values they dealt with in their works. Shakespeare is the perfect example for a writer that includes values or feelings such as anger, dishonour, love, and the search for justice in his stories. The latter is also seen in Cervantes’ great novel, accompanied by solidarity, teamwork, helping others, and fighting for freedom.

Who is better?

None! They are both fantastic writers, and they also wrote different types of works. Shakespeare was a true dramatist, while Cervantes’s compositions were long novels.

It is true that in the UK and worldwide the fame and love for Shakespeare is never questioned, while in Spain there are times when Cervantes is overlooked.

Despite this, anyone who is interested in literature in Spanish knows that Don Quijote de la Mancha is practically mandatory reading. Besides that, thanks to the popularity of his novel, Spanish is known as “the language of Cervantes”, so no one can deny its importance.

To read more from William Shakespeare

To read more  from Cervantes