The son of a poor but respectable family in Mexico City, Periquillo refuses to follow an honest trade. Instead, he bounces from one master and profession to another: he is a student, a sacristan, a pharmacist’s apprentice, a beggar, a thief, a bullfighter, a doctor’s assistant, and even a leader of a gang of thieves. He travels through the viceroyalty of New Spain, from the capital to the countryside, experiencing all levels of society. Each episode serves as a vehicle for Fernández de Lizardi to expose a specific social vice—the laziness of the privileged, the corruption of public officials, the greed of the clergy, the incompetence of quack doctors, and the brutality of the justice system. Periquillo’s journey is circular: after suffering imprisonment, betrayal, and near-death experiences, he finally returns to Mexico City, marries, and becomes an honest man—but only after learning the hard way.
As the first novel written in Latin America, El Periquillo Sarniento broke new ground. Before it, literary production in the colonies was dominated by religious tracts, chronicles, and poetry in the Baroque style. Fernández de Lizardi adopted a colloquial, accessible prose that mirrored the speech of Mexico City’s streets. He also incorporated local customs, foods, and slang, creating a distinctly Mexican literary voice. periquillo sarniento
El Periquillo Sarniento was born in a period of severe censorship and revoked freedoms. Lizardi used the guise of a fictional story to bypass colonial authorities, writing in a time when Mexican Creoles were increasingly challenging Spanish rule. The novel was designed not just for entertainment, but as a pedagogical tool meant to educate the Mexican public, aligning with the educational theories of the Enlightenment, particularly Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Emile . 2. The Titular Character: Periquillo The son of a poor but respectable family