"Andrenio's Perception of Reality and the Structure of "El Criticon

from the way it should be (these terms appear no less than one hundred and seventythree times in the novel). He reiterates that the depraved human condition is the cause for it, and he urges the individual to be alert and wary in order to penetrate society's guileful meanness. Graciin likewise teaches that one must consciously strive for an aurea mediocritas by seeking the middle path between vice and excessive virtue; for only then will one become what the author terms a persona.2 These themes recur in every country through which Critilo and Andrenio travel (Spain, France, Germany, and Italy), and they form a major part of the ethical philosophy Graciain espouses for the successive ages of adolescence, youth, manhood, and senescence. This continual reiteration of

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