The Liberal Lover by CervantesCervantes frequently wrote "idealistic novels" and "The Liberal Lover" is among them in which the characters strive to achieve ideals of perfection. Novels can be grouped into two categories: realistic or idealistic. A common characteristic of Cervantes' works is that the protagonists usually enter a previously unknown world where they can appreciate a new environment, a new culture and a new society. It is necessary to understand the Cervantine public to fathom the reasons why these exemplary novels acquired such popularity. The fact remains that the 16th century public believed that every novel "the good ends happily and the bad ends unfortunately, and that is what Fiction means." Which begs the question: did Renaissance novelists seek truth or verisimilitude or did they focus solely on pleasure, admiration, and surprise? There are two antitheses: the possibilities represented and the realities represented. The staging of events in the real world versus ideal characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Cervantes, similar to Shakespeare, presents a number of classical characters to depict exemplarity in his exemplary novels. Among the usual characters is the female protagonist, or maid of honor, endowed with the highest qualities of the Renaissance woman such as her beauty, high social class, good reputation, wealthy and equally fair suitors. She maintains and guarantees her purity and is known to be an honest and Christian woman. The playwright then presents us with the ideal “damsel in distress,” held captive against her will and rejecting the hand of the main male protagonist. On the other hand, the main male protagonist is of noble blood/lineage, wealthy, Christian and espouses his principles and values. He is in love with the female protagonist, is both a man of arms and a man of letters, and proves to be an exemplary and gallant “caballero”. This love story ends with the happy marriage of the main characters, the creation of a new family, the freedom and reconciliation of the “Other” as a proselyte of the Catholic Church. The dominant motifs of The Liberal Lover include, but are not limited to, love. , generosity, freedom versus captivity, redemption, religion, marginality, economy, justice/law and corruption. There are, however, realistic aspects to this novel as the story is set in a tumultuous period of Spanish history where relations between ethnic groups were strained. We observe the capture, war and trade of the Moors. Muslims, Jews, Greeks and Christians reside in Spain. The mention of “the opposite” implies that the mandate for “the other” to accept Spanish imperialism and religious hegemony had already passed. Cervantes however shows the other side where lust, infidelity and betrayal reside only in the domain of the Other. Surprisingly enough, the most complex characters are the men as they seek and pursue love and are subject to a more difficult process to gain love. of their lives have had to overcome other obstacles to personal happiness. Over the course of the novel, the men's characters undergo a radical reform. The male protagonists must learn to control themselves as they try to prove themselves worthy of their beloved. They are both stories of courtship, rationality and marital love, and their characters move from tyrannical and selfish love,.