This dissertation discusses the role of delinquency in four of Cervantes' Novelas ejemplares: Rinconete y Cortadillo, La ilustre fregona, El casamiento enganoso and El coloquio de los perros. The study's goals are 1): using Bakhtin's theory of the chronotope to establish various common uses of Time and Space related to delinquency in all four of the novellas to establish a Cervantine Chronotope of Delinquency, and 2): using a chronotopic analysis of the novellas to identify an exemplary message common to all four of them.

Delinquency in this study is defined according to contemporary precepts. A delinquent is in fact someone who breaks the law, in the widest possible sense, i.e. secular or religious law (i.e. someone who acts against accepted moral precepts, a sinner, is also a delinquent in these terms). Immoral behavior, for instance seduction in general was punishable by law for both noble and commoner alike within the Spanish civil law of the time.

Four common aspects of Time & Space related to delinquency were found: 1. Time: Everyday Time, Age, Decisive Points in Time and Apprenticeship. 2. Space: Social Status, Legitimizing Space, Apprenticeship, and Movement away from Delinquent Spaces. Furthermore, a common exemplary message was also found: free will is necessary to the redemption from a delinquent life, but a redeemed delinquent is not guaranteed a blessed life in perpetuity. One must continuously exercise free will to choose not to return to a reprobate's life.