The Relationship Between Books and a Healthy Culture

I take a “healthy culture” to mean one in which the relationship between books enjoys a certain autonomy. In the minds of readers, books enter conversation with each other in many languages and many ways. Such conversations go beyond the question of “influence.” The relationship between "Hamlet" and "Don Quixote" is not one of influence. Nor does it boil down to one or two key ingredients, for instance, “madness” or “the Fool.” We may choose to compare Hamlet’s madness to Quixote’s, and we will find much to discover, from the old humoral psychology (remember Galen?) to skeins of biblical allusion to the early modern self. The history of Europe underlies "Hamlet" and "Don Quixote," both published early in the seventeenth century. Coincidentally, Shakespeare and Cervantes died in the same year, 1616. It is likely that Shakespeare read the 1612 English translation of "Don Quixote" (Part One), though at such a late date it cannot have had much impact on his career.