Don Quixote Book I Study Guide

Cervantes is considered one of the greatest writers of all time. Often, Cervantes is compared to
Shakespeare. Both men have become "national literary treasures" glowing during "golden ages"
of literature. Cervantes was writing along aside a number of literary luminaries, many of whom
were more esteemed during their era than ours. Lope de Vega, Quevedo, and Calderon among
them. The words in the preface of Book I suggest that Quixote began thinking about the novel
while he was in prison. Even after Book I was completed, it took some time before Quixote was
able to find a publisher. This publisher, Francisco Robles of Madrid, was reluctant to take the
book and he did not bother securing a copyright for Aragon or Portugal, thinking that Castile
would be enough.

The book was an immediate success. Pirated editions could be found in Valencia and Portugal
until the next year, when Cervantes acquired the appropriate copyrights. The aristocracy was not
amused with the novel's critique on chivalric literature. Lope de Vega, the most renown of
Cervantes' contemporaries, was extremely dismissive of Don Quixote. A Brussels edition was
published in 1607. The seventh edition of the novel was published in Madrid in 1608.

The first translation of Don Quixote was the English translation done by Shelton in 1608, and
published in 1612. In 1687, John Philips, a nephew of John Milton, re-translated Don Quixote,
announcing that it was "made English according to the humour of our modern language."

Milan followed in 1610, and Brussels brought ought their second edition in 1611. In the
intervening years, Cervantes wrote other works, postponing his work on Book II. His Novelas
Ejemplares was published in 1613, and was dedicated to the Conde de Lemos. In the preface of
Novelas, Quixote writes: "You shall see shortly the further exploits of Don Quixote and the
humors of Sancho Panza." At this point, Cervantes was only halfway through Book II.
Ironically, Cervantes had high hopes of becoming Spain's great dramatist. He wanted to create a
national epic drama, but unfortunately, his dramatic works were quite unsuccessful.
In the Fall of 1614, Cervantes had made it to Chapter LIX of Book II. To his horror, he discovers
a small book being printed at Tarragona entitled: "Second Volume of the Ingenious Gentleman
Don Quixote of La Mancha: by the Licentiate Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda of Tordesillas."
The last half of Chapter LIX and most of the following chapters of Book II respond to
Avellaneda. Cervantes could see how his nine year delay had invited such a disaster. Still, there
was no real justification for the invective found in Avellaneda's preface. As John Ormsby put it,
in 1885, Avellaneda "taunts Cervantes with being old, with having lost his hand, with having
been in orison, with being poor, with being friendless, accuses him of envy of Lope's success, of
petulance and querulousness, and so on; and it was in this that the sting lay." To this day, critics
remain uncertain as to who "Avellaneda" was ("Avellaneda" was only a nom de plume, and not
an actual person). Avellaneda's work does not match the brilliance of Cervantes' work, but it is
clear that Avellaneda's imposter sequel certainly made Book II a prompt and more superior effort
than might have been the case otherwise. The volume was published at the end of 1615 and
Cervantes died a few months later, in April, 1616. Except for The Bible, no book has been so
widely diffused into as many different languages and editions as Don Quixote.
Don Quixote Book I Summary
Alonso Quixana is an older gentleman who lives in La Mancha, in the Spanish countryside. He
has read many of the books of chivalry and as a result, he has lost his wits, and he decides to
roam the country as a knight-errant named Don Quixote de La Mancha. Neither his niece nor his
housekeeper can stop him from riding his old horse, Rocinante, out into the country. Quixote's
first sally ends quickly. He insists on having an innkeeper knight him into the chivalric order.
Quixote believes that the inn is a castle. Returning home for clothes and money, Quixote is
beaten and left for dead. A commoner rescues Quixote and brings him home.

The niece and housekeeper deliberate with two of Quixote's friends, the priest and barber, and
they decide to destroy Quixote's library, burning many of the books of chivalry. These books are
the culprit. When Quixote recovers, he asks for his books and his niece tells him that the
sage Muñaton has taken them. Quixote believes it was the sage Friston, his mortal foe.
Having found a squire, a common peasant named Sancho Panza, Quixote leaves yet again.
This second sally provides the story for the rest of Book I. Panza quickly realizes that his master
is mad, but the squire hopes that Quixote will make good on his promise to name Sancho as the
Governor of an island. Quixote attacks a windmill, believing it to be a giant, destroying his lance
in the process. Indeed, Quixote gets involved in several altercations and violent disputes while
traveling on the road.
There is a peaceful and pastoral interlude when Quixote joins the goatherds who mourn the death
of their friend Chrysostom, a poet who died of a broken heart. Continuing on the road with
Sancho, Quixote has a run in with some horse-breeders and he is beaten so badly that Sancho has
to quickly get the knight to an inn. Quixote perceives the inn to be a castle, yet again. Quixote
believes the innkeeper's daughter to be a beautiful princess who has promised to come to his bed
during the knight. Later that night, Quixote ends up caressing Maritornes: the half-blind,
hunchbacked servant girl. Her lover, a mule carrier, is enraged and the carrier beats Quixote
when he realizes that his lover, Maritornes, is struggling to get away from Quixote. In the
darkness a brawl ensues, including Sancho, Maritornes, the innkeeper, the mule carrier and
Quixote‹who quickly passes out. An officer of the Holy Brotherhood enters the room, having
heard the commotion, and he fears that Quixote is dead.
Quixote is not dead. When he revives, he asks for the ingredients so that he might prepare for
himself the "true balsam of Fierabras." He prepares the balsam, vomits, passes out, and wakes up
feeling better. Sancho drinks the balsam and nearly dies. The next day, knight and squire leave
the inn without paying. Quixote believes it to be an enchanted castle and he is offended by the
suggestion that he should pay. Sancho does not escape as easily as Quixote does. Indeed, the
squire is tossed in a blanket and his bags are stolen. In an arc of violence, Quixote murders some
sheep, loses some teeth, steals a barber's basin (believing it to be Mambrino's helmet) and sets
free a chain of galley-slaves who repay the knight's kindness with bruises.

Quixote befriends Cardenio, The Ragged Knight of the Sorry Countenance, who mourns the fact
that his true love, Lucinda, has married another man: Don Fernando. Cardenio has gone
mad with grief, running half-naked through the hills of Sierra Morena. Quixote imitates
Cardenio, pining for his beloved lady, Dulcinea del Toboso. Quixote sends Sancho with a letter
to deliver to Dulcinea but instead Sancho finds the barber and priest and leads them to Quixote.
With the help of Dorotea, a woman who has been deceived by Don Fernando, the priest and
barber make plans to trick Don Quixote into coming home. Dorotea pretends to be the Princess
Micomicona, desperately in need of Quixote's assistance. The final chapters of the novel
combine romantic intrigue with the comedy of errors surrounding Don Quixote. Dorotea is
reunited with Don Fernando and Cardenio is reunited with Lucinda. This takes place at the same
inn which Quixote visited earlier (where was boxed by Maritornes' lover). Numerous guests
arrive at the inn, as long-lost brothers are reunited, two other pairs of lovers are blessed and Don
Quixote is almost arrested. The Holy Brotherhood has an arrest for Quixote's arrest on account of
his "setting at liberty" a "group of galley-slaves." The priest begs for the officer to have mercy on
Quixote because the knight is insane. The officer assents; Quixote is locked in a cage and carted
home. Quixote believes the cage to be an enchantment, but when it is clear that he is going home
he does not fight back. Of course, in Book II, Quixote goes out on his third and final sally, so
Book I is not resolved.

Don Quixote Book I Character List

Cid Hamet Ben Engeli
the Arab translator of Don Quixote, Cervantes consistently accuses him of dishonesty.
Don Quixote (Señor Alonso Quixana, The Knight of the
Sorrowful Figure)
Alonso Quixana is an elderly gentleman who has read too many books of chivalry. He decides
that he will become a knight-errant and enjoy his own adventures, winning fame and honor. His
first sally into the world is aborted quickly. On the way home, intending to get money and clean
shirts, Quixote is attacked and left for dead. A peasant sees Quixote and brings him home. The
best efforts of Quixote's niece, housekeeper and friends (the barber and the priest) are to no avail.
Quixote leaves for a second adventure, this time bringing a squire with him, a commoner named
Sancho Panza.

Quixote's delusions get him into serious trouble with the law and the church. He baffles strangers
with his ability to alternate between states of lucid sanity and its exact opposite.
Dulcinea del Toboso (Aldonza Lorenzo)
Aldonza Lorenzo is a common woman who lives in the town of Toboso. Don Quixote sees here
and decides to call her Dulcinea del Toboso. Dulcinea means "sweetness" and Don Quixote
imagines Dulcinea to be his Lady. Quixote defends her honor, though she never appears in the
novel.

The priest-one of Quixote's friends, the priest does not behave as one would expect, considering
his ecclesiastical vocation. The priest regulates the book-burning early in Book I, but he saves as
many books as he can. The priest organizes the successful conspiracy to get Quixote back home
to La Mancha. When Quixote is on the verge of being arrested by an officer of the Holy
Brotherhood, the priest defends Quixote, attesting to the gentleman's insanity.
Sancho Panza
Sancho is Don Quixote's squire, having left his wife and daughter at home in the hopes of
becoming Governor of an island. A common peasant, Panza seeks fortune so that his daughter
can marry a nobleman. Sancho has a lot of common sense but he consistently defers to his master
and assents to dangerous schemes. As squire, Sancho becomes sincerely attached to Quixote and
he looks out for the knight as well as he can. At the end of Book I, Sancho is saddened to see
Quixote imprisoned in the cage. Sancho, alone, tries to convince Quixote that the cage is not an
enchantment. Alone, Sancho is unable to sway Quixote's opinion.
Cardenio ("The Ragged Knight of the Sorry Countenance")
a young man whose heart is broken when his lover, Lucinda, marries Don Fernando. He and
Dorotea apprehend Don Fernando at the inn, late in Book I. Cardenio ends up with Lucinda in
the end.
Dorotea ("The Princess Micomicona")
a woman who has been deceived by Don Fernando. Don Fernando promised to marry Dorotea
but he married Lucinda instead. Disgraced, Dorotea leaves her village disguised in men's
clothing. She conspires with Cardenio to hunt down Don Fernando, and she also helps the priest
and barber bring Don Quixote home. She pretends to be the Princess Micomicona, winning
Quixote's promise to slay a giant so that she might regain her kingdom. With the Princess' help,
the priest is able to get Quixote under his control.
Don Quixote's niece
she lives with Quixote and is concerned for his safety. She helps to hide the fact that Quixote's
books have been burned.
Don Quixote's housekeeper
a woman eager to burn Quixote's books of chivalry in hopes of preventing the gentleman
Rocinante (sometimes spelled Rocinante)
Don Quixote's old horse.
Innkeeper #1
the innkeeper performs a ceremony to knight Quixote. He also advises the knight to return home
for money and clean shirts to carry on the road.
Andres
a young laborer who is beaten by his master, John Haldudo the Rich. Quixote intervenes but only
makes matters worse.
John Haldudo the Rich
a wealthy man, while beating his servant-boy, he is apprehended by Quixote.
The barber
one of Quixote's friends, he is basically the priest's sidekick, participating in the efforts to
safeguard Quixote from knight-errantry.
Muñaton
the sage accused by Quixote's niece of stealing Quixote's library.
Friston
the "sage enchanter" who figures as Quixote's arch-nemesis. Quixote accuses Friston of stealing
his library and robbing him of a victory by transforming giants into windmills just as Quixote
was on the verge of victory against them.
Juana/Teresa Panza
Sancho's wife is called Teresa at the beginning of Book I, but at the end she is called Juana. In
Book II, she is called Teresa.
Dapple
Sancho's donkey. Whether or not Dapple is kidnapped by Gines de Pasamonte remains a point of
contention.
"The valiant Biscainer"
he battles Quixote, wounding the knight in the ear, though he loses the battle to Don Quixote
Antonio
a goatherd and friend of Chrysostom and Peter. He composes ballads and love songs.
Peter
a goatherd who brings the news of Chrysostom's death.
Chrysostom
a young shepherd who has died, heartbroken because of his unrequited love for Marcela.
Marcela
an incredibly beautiful shepherdess who comes from a wealthy family. She refuses to be married
or courted and lives in the wild, hoping to avoid the advances of men. She gives a rational
defense of her character at Chrysostom's funeral.
Señor Vivaldo
a random traveler who attends Chrysostom's funeral, accompanying Don Quixote, Sancho Panza,
and the goatherds.
Ambrosio
a friend of Chrysostom who officiates at the funeral service.
The Yangüesians
horse breeders who pelt Rocinante with stones when he attempts to mate with one of their fillies.
They also attack Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Innkeeper #2
Quixote enters patronizes this innkeeper in Chapter 16 and again in Chapter 32. The innkeeper
involves himself in the squabbles, arguments and concerns of his patrons. Quixote believes that
this inn is a castle and that Innkeeper #2 is the lord of the castle.
Innkeeper #2's daughter
a beautiful young woman who Quixote believes to be a princess. Quixote suspects that she is
romantically interested in him.
Maritornes
the hunchbacked and half-blind servant woman who works at Inn #2.
The mule carrier
Maritornes' lover. He attacks Quixote when Quixote embraces Maritornes, perceiving her to be a
beautiful princess.
Holy Brotherhood Officer #1
Lodging at Inn #2, he hears the fight between the carrier, Maritornes, Innkeeper #2, Sancho and
Don Quixote. He surveys the scene and initially suspects that Don Quixote has died from his
injuries.
Alifanfaron
"a furious pagan" who rides on horseback in the battle scene that Quixote imagines, though the
pagan soldiers are actually sheep.
Alonso Lopez
one of the mourners whose "walking lights" frighten Don Quixote. After Quixote attacks one of
the mourners, Alonso Lopez explains that they are only mourners, not devils.
A Barber
not Quixote's barber friend. "A man on horseback, who had on his head something which
glittered, as if it had been of gold," he is, in fact, wearing a basin on his head because it is raining
and he is on his way to work. Quixote attacks this barber and steals the basin. Quixote believes it
to be "the helmet of Mambrino."
Galley-slaves
a chain-gang of violent criminals who are on their way to execution when Quixote perceives
their distress and helps them escape. When Don Quixote suggests that the galley-slaves present
themselves to Dulcinea, the criminals beat the knight merciless and then escape in different
directions.
Gines de Pasamonte
one of the most violently ungrateful of the galley-slaves, he steals Dapple in the Sierra Morena.
A few chapters later, Dapple reappears. This discrepancy is discussed in Book II, though it is not
convincingly resolved.
Lucinda
a woman who Cardenio hoped to marry. She instead marries Cardenio's friend, Don Fernando,
who is the son of a Duke. Lucinda marries Don Fernando to appease her parents but she truly
loves Cardenio. Lucinda and Cardenio are reunited late in Book I.
Don Fernando
he betrays his friend, Cardenio, by marrying Cardenio's lover, Lucinda. Don Fernando has also
taken Dorotea's virginity, only to break his promise to marry her. Late in the novel, Don
Fernando is reunited with Dorotea and he vows to keep his promise to her. Don Fernando is the
brother of Don Pedro de Aguilar.
Tinacrio the Wise and Queen Xaramilla
father and mother of the Princess Micomicona.
"The captive"
a man from Leon who was a prisoner of war, held in Algiers. He escaped with the help of a
beautiful woman, Lela Zoraida, whom he plans to marry (once she has been baptized). "The
captive" is the brother of a judge, Licentiate Juan Perez de Viedma, who arrives at Inn #2 with
his daughter, Doña Clara.
Lela Zoraida
a beautiful woman who helps "the captive" escape from an Algiers prison. She leaves her father,
her religion, and her country seeking baptism in Spain and a happy marriage with "the captive."
Don Pedro de Aguilar
one of the captive's comrades, he is the long-lost brother of Don Fernando.
Licentiate Juan Perez de Viedma
a judge from Leon, he is the father of Doña Clara and the brother of the captive. The priest
reunites the two brothers.
Doña Clara
the beautiful daughter of Licentiate Juan Perez de Viedma, she is in love with a young man, Don
Louis, who has followed her to the inn.
Don Louis
a neighbor of the Viedma family, he is in love with Doña Clara. He asks the judge for permission
to marry Clara.
Holy Brotherhood Officer #2
near the end of the novel, he intends to take Quixote into custody for "setting at liberty" a group
of "galley-slaves." The priest dissuades the officer on account of Quixote's insanity.
A canon
a religious figure who appears near the end of the novel. He once tried to write a tale of chivalry
though he now condemns this literary art form. In conversation with Quixote, the canon marvels
at the knight's easy ramblings between lucid intellectualism and ridiculous foolishness.
Eugenio
a goatherd who gets in a fist-fight with Don Quixote, not long after the knight is (temporarily)
released from his cage.
Anselmo
the titular character of a story called "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent." The priest reads
this story, which has been hidden in a trunk, in chapters 33-35. Anselmo is married to Camilla.
To test Camilla's fidelity, Anselmo forces his friend, Lothario, to seduce Camilla. Anselmo
regrets this foolish idea once Lothario and Camilla commence an affair. Anselmo dies of grief.
Camilla
a character in "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent," Camilla is the wife of Anselmo. Anselmo
forces Camilla into Lothario's arms.
Lothario
Anselmo's best friend in "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent." To test Camilla's fidelity,
Anselmo forces his friend, Lothario, to seduce Camilla. Lothario accidentally falls in love with
Camilla and they begin an affair. Their romance blossoms as Anselmo dies of grief.
Leonela
Camilla's servant and confidante in "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent." Leonela helps
Camilla keep her affair secret. Meanwhile, Leonela has an affair of her own.
Leonela's lover
for a time, Lothario suspects that Leonela's lover, who he has seen leaving the house early in the
morning, is competition (Camilla's other lover).

Don Quixote Book I Glossary

Amadis de Gaul
Gaul is the Latin name for France but Amadis de Gaul is a Spanish tale of chivalry, written by
Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo in 1508, almost a century before Don Quixote was published.
Balsam of Fierabras
Prince Fierabras is a character from "Twelve Peers," an old Spanish epic. From the Saracens, a
tribe of fierce Muslim warriors, Fierabras gets the recipe for this all-healing balm.
Benedictine monks
An order of monks established by St. Benedict, a writer who died in 547.
Biscainer
A person from the region bordering the Bay of Biscay, a gulf defined by the coasts of western
France and Northern Spain.
Chivalry
the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood.
Holy Brotherhood
The Holy Brotherhood was formed in the 1470s as an alliance between the towns and the
monarchy, against the nobility. They began as armed guards and emerged as a nationalized
police force under Don Fernando and Isabella.
King Arthur
Founder of the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur is the illegitimate son of King Uther
Pendragon. He becomes king by pulling the sword Excalibur from its fixed position, with the
blade locked inside of a stone. King Arthur is deceived by his right-hand man, Lancelot;
betrayed by his wife, Guinevere; and murdered by his son, Mordred.
Knight-errant
a knight traveling in search of adventures in which to exhibit military skill, prowess and
generosity.
Leon
This was the first region of Spain that the Spanish re-conquered. Under King Don Fernando,
Leon grew in territorial size and untied with Castile to form one unified Spanish kingdom.
Mambrino's Helmet
This is derived from two old chivalric tales: Orlando Furioso, by Ariosto; and the more famous
Roland in Love, by Boiardo. Mambrino is much like King Midas of Greek mythology. He is
pagan, proud, and arrogant‹and he wears a helmet constructed of solid gold. While wearing the
helmet, Mambrino cannot be harmed, and so Quixote is eager to find this treasure.
Moors
Arabs from Northern Africa who captured Spain in the 700s. They were expelled from Spain in
1492.
Winnowing
a process of separating the chaff (waste) from grain by fanning the stalks in the air.

Don Quixote Book I Themes

Reliable Narration and the Aesthetics of Accuracy
From the beginning of the novel, the narrative's accuracy is called into question. In terms of
authorship, Cervantes tells us that he has found this story and translated it from the work of a
Moor named Cid Hamet Ben Engeli. Cervantes continually tells us that Ben Engeli cannot
be trusted because he is a Moor. In an exterior frame, the narrative is immediately destabilized.
Within the novel, Don Quixote, the priest, the innkeeper (#2), the canon and numerous others
weigh in on various chivalric tales and other literary works. The priest's aesthetics suggest that
the style of narration determines the "reliability" of a narrative‹not the accuracy of the details. If
the "facts" are properly arranged, the most improbable story can seem true.

Indeed, Cervantes' comic novel attests to this fact. Don Quixote is hailed as the first modern
novel and praised for its realism. Realism applies more to the style in which the details are
relayed than the actual narrative content. It seems highly unlikely that a man like Don Quixote
might actually exist. In Chapters 33-35, "The Novel of the Curious Impertinent" figures in the
exact same way. The priest says that he favors "the manner" in which the story was written
though he sees Anselmo as an implausibly, unrealistically naïve and idiotic character. The
story is realistic, but the character is unrealistic: How can this be so?
Part of what buttresses these reliable narratives (or perhaps, "reliably unreliable narratives") is
their fetish for textual, historical, and or literary documentation. Cervantes' novel incorporates
ballads, poems, oral narratives, editorial annotation and aesthetic commentary. Don Quixote
incorporates diverse forms from disparate sources: unless they are all lying, the story is sound.
"Curious Impertinent" is just as wily: the narrator reproduces the entire and unedited text
of Camilla's love letters, while Lothario recites whole stanzas of lyric poetry without
skipping a beat. These inner texts anchor the whole work. These inner texts become "evidence"
and these details are credited as accurate.
Edmundo Delgado is a literary critic who looks at how the word historía signifies both 'story' and
'history' depending upon the context. Quixote is candid about his desire for fame and he
continually discusses the history-historía of knight-errantry. The other characters largely read
chivalry as story-historía. Still, Quixote's focus on his personal history, combines with the
historiography of Cid Hamet Ben Engeli: when arguments about how the details should be told
become arguments about how the details actually occurred, story-historía subtly transforms into
history.

Book II complicates these issues in one major way. Avellaneda's "imposter sequel" (1614)
complicates Book II (1615) in a way that was not possible for Book I (1605). Book II has to
prove itself as the true sequel‹but when Avellaneda published his work, Cervantes was already
writing Chapter LIX (there are only seventy-four chapters in Book II). In "narratological" terms,
these final chapters get far more complicated than what preceded.
Delusion, Enchantment, and Imagination
The books of chivalry have left Don Quixote incapable of seeing "reality." When Don Quixote
believes that the inn is a "castle" or a "windmill" is a "giant," he is not merely deluding himself.
He has subverted his physical senses. While there are repetitions (inn = castle), not every
"enchantment" is predictable. Quixote sees festooned pagan warriors on horseback battling in a
field where there are only two herds of sheep.

To this day, the word "quixotic" is used to describe a person who is "foolishly impractical,
especially in the pursuit of ideals." Chivalry is a social order that was disappearing. Quixote's
delusions are not without philosophical underpinnings: he is deluded but also utopian;
imaginative and idealistic. Quixote is not just living out any delusion; he is living out his fantasy.
"Mad I am and mad I must be" is what Quixote tells Sancho. Delusion imprisons Quixote but the
knight's imagination secures him freedom. Caged and ox-carted, there is no Utopia for Quixote,
but his ideals are intact. "Mad I am," the knight exclaims, having fit himself into a role that has
already been written in the chivalric literature. The delusion is strict and Quixote practices
knight-errantry with orthodoxy. His imagination is expansive, however; every scene awards
Quixote to see the enchantments as he chooses. He must battle giants, but they need not have
been the windmills. He must search for Mambrino's helmet, but it need not have been a barber's
basin. Quixote reserves the right to locate the enchantment right before his eyes.
Deception, Manipulation, and Strategy
This theme is treated differently in Book II, where the Duke and Duchess deceive and abuse
Quixote. In Book I, Quixote is deceived by the priest, the barber, his housekeeper, his niece,
Cardenio and Dorotea, among others. Even Sancho lies to Quixote, claiming to deliver the letter
to Dulcinea. In the early chapters, the characters conspire to destroy Quixote's library and when
the knight-errant prepares for his second sally, there is an effort to prevent him from leaving. In
the second half of Book I, the priest and the barber enjoy numerous distractions but their primary
concern is getting Don Quixote home safely. Their strategy is to use Quixote's delusions as a
means of tricking him. Quixote believes that a cage is an enchantment to carry him to his next
adventure. Meanwhile, the barber disguises himself and pretends to be a prophet, foretelling
Quixote's triumphal return home. When Quixote speaks to the Princess Micomicona he does no
think to ask 'Where is Dorotea?' because he does not Dorotea. But when the barber disappears in
and out of costume, Quixote remains deceived. Indeed, the characters do not even bother
wearing their disguises at one point because Quixote is so deep within his fantasy that there is no
risk of him perceiving reality.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 1-6
Book I: Preface-Chapter 6 Summaries

Preface

Don Quixote begins with a preface by Cervantes. The author claims to be the "stepfather of Don
Quixote" (as opposed to the father) because he is sharing an old story that was told to him long
ago. At first, Cervantes decided that his book would have few allusions to classical or medieval
stories‹as was the custom of the day. In the end, however, his friend convinced him that these
allusions will make the book larger and will convince the readers that Cervantes is a well-
educated man.

Chapter 1

There is an older gentleman (named Quixana or perhaps Quesada) and he lives in a Spanish
village called La Mancha. As the story begins, this man has lost his wits. "His imagination was
full of all that he read in his books"‹stories of medieval knights, chivalry, and bloody battles. As
a result, he changes his name to Don Quixote and decides to become a knight-errant. Neither his
niece nor his housekeeper can persuade him from dressing his old horse and setting off to battle
giants.

Chapter 2

On the road, Don Quixote stumbles upon a very ordinary peasant woman. Quixote sees her as a
beautiful noble lady and so he calls her Dulcinea and vows to fight for her honor and glory.

Chapter 3

Upon reaching an inn, Quixote envisions that the inn is a castle, that two lingering prostitutes are
beautiful damsels, and that a dwarf opens the drawbridge to the castle. Quixote is crudely
dressed as a warrior (with a helmet made of pasteboard). The innkeeper and guests are frightened
by Quixote, but they soon become amused. The innkeeper plays along with Quixote's
imaginations and agrees to knight Don Quixote in the morning. But when Quixote violently
attacks one of the guests, the innkeeper hurriedly knights Don Quixote and sends him off.
The innkeeper advises Don Quixote that knights must travel with a few sets of clothing as well
as a good amount of money.

Chapter 4

Don Quixote returns to La Mancha to get the necessary supplies, and on the way, he hears crying
sounds from a bush. Don Quixote discovers a young laborer (Andres) being ruthlessly whipped
by his master, John Haldudo the Rich. The boy claims that the master owes him unpaid
wages, but the master claims that the boy is dishonest. Quixote sides with the boy against his
master, but then believes the master when he assures Quixote that the boy will be promptly
recompensed. Don Quixote perceives that justice has been done, and so he continues on his path.
Once Don Quixote is safely gone, the master continues to whip his servant.
Chapter 5

Don Quixote also suffers a beating soon after, when he forces an altercation with a group of
thirteen men. His body is bruised though his life is not endangered. A peasant from La Mancha
discovers Don Quixote and leads the gentleman back to his home, where his anxious niece and
housekeeper are waiting.

Chapter 6

While Don Quixote sleeps, the niece and housekeeper conspire with two of Don Quixote's
friends (the priest and the barber). In the end, they decide to burn almost all of the gentleman's
sin-provoking books‹those books that aren't burned in the hellish fire are removed from the
house altogether.

Analysis

Authorship is one of the central themes of this novel. In the Preface, Cervantes claims that the
story was originally recorded by a Moor. As "author," Cervantes has merely translated and
embellished the work. Of course, this is not true. Ironically, authorship does become a major
issue in terms of the publication of the sequel to Book I. Cervantes intended to publish a sequel
to Book I; it arrived on the scene ten years later, in 1615. In the intervening decade, an
"imposter" published a sequel to Book I. The book was denounced as a fraud, disclaimed by
Cervantes, but nonetheless read and enjoyed by a very large audience.

In Book II, Cervantes responds to the "imposter sequel" and he noticeably takes authorship more
seriously. These details certainly make Cervantes' Preface rather ironic, even if in retrospect. At
any rate, the reader should not take the Preface seriously‹especially Cervantes' claim that he is
publishing Don Quixote in order to "destroy the authority and acceptance" enjoyed by "books of
chivalry." Within the larger story of Book I, a number of smaller stories will be told‹and
questions of authorship will become one of Cervantes' favorite games.

As heroes go, Don Quixote gets off to a rather inauspicious start. In his attempts to become a
knight-errant, Don Quixote is really a parody: His suit of armor is composed of rubbish and
trash. His horse, Rocinante, is an old steed. Hardly a figure of renown, Don Quixote remains so
undistinguished that even those familiar with him are not sure exactly what is name is (perhaps
Quixana, Quesada or Quixana). Don Quixote's ambitions are as great and numerous as his
inabilities and he spends a lot of time thinking about how the story of his "famous exploits" will
be recorded.

Delusion is another major thematic concern of the novel. The books of chivalry have left Don
Quixote incapable of seeing "reality." Many of Quixote's deluded interpretations are rather
ironic. Perhaps Quixote is merely innocent and naïve when he mistakes the two prostitutes for
damsels. Later in Book I, Quixote will argue that the idealization of a person makes this person
ideal. True to the chivalric standard, Quixote idealizes women with little justification or
provocation. When Don Quixote believes that the inn is a "castle" and the swineherd is a
"dwarf," he is not merely idealizing. These delusions are self-serving; the castle and the dwarf fit
into the story that Don Quixote wishes were true. To this day, the word "quixotic" is used to
describe a person who is "foolishly impractical, especially in the pursuit of ideals." Certainly,
this is true of Quixote when he explains that he did not bring any money or changes of clothes
with him because he had "never read in the histories of knights-errant, that they carried any."

Don Quixote is definitely "in the pursuit of ideals," old chivalric ideals that were no longer the
mode in his society. At the same time, the characterization of Quixote is rather complex. For an
innocent, Quixote certainly causes a good amount of damage‹if Quixote is a hero, he is not an
ordinary hero. Andres suffers far more than he would have, had Don Quixote never 'come to the
rescue.' Throughout Book I, Don Quixote reveals himself to be both impatient and violent.

When Quixote causes a row at the inn, the innkeeper warns the other guests about accosting the
knight: "The host cried out to them to let him [Don Quixote] alone, for he had already told them
he [Don Quixote] was mad, and that he would be acquitted as a madman though he should kill
them all." If nothing else, this passage gives us social context. This is the age of the Inquisition
with its Index of forbidden books; these are years of law and order. As foreshadowed here, it will
not be long before Quixote seriously trespasses the law. Quixote commits crimes because he
pursues his ideals without giving any thought to the law; he does not take aim at the law.

In Don Quixote, deception functions as a parallel to delusion. Don Quixote suffers delusions of
being a knight-errant. His family, friends, and acquaintances consistently deceive Quixote
throughout Book I. Sometimes‹as we will see later‹these deceptions are intended to mock and
ridicule Quixote. In these early chapters, Quixote's niece, and Quixote's two friends‹the priest
and the barber‹seek to protect the would-be knight-errant from the books that have ravaged his
sensibilities. Quixote's sane compatriots will frequently deceive him in order to protect him.

Finally, the reader should also be aware of Cervantes' self-reference in Chapter 6. Cervantes'
work, Galatea, (published in 1585) is‹at least temporarily‹among the books that the priest and
barber spare from the fire. The priest argues that the book cannot be adequately judged until "the
second part" is published and critiqued. Only then, can Cervantes "obtain that entire pardon
which is now denied him." This is quite the parallel to Michelangelo's self-depiction in the
Sistine Chapel: a hollowed-out skin, dangling in the awkward space between heaven and hell.
Today, literary critics generally look at Don Quixote as the formative step, the germ of the
modern novel. Cervantes may not have used this language, but he knew that he was writing a
different type of work. And so, we might expect this exorcism of The Author's nagging fears‹the
demons of self-doubt and censorship; and we might have expected it to come early on in the
story.

This is, however, only the beginning of a very long discourse on literature in general, focusing
largely on aesthetics, poetics and criticism. Don Quixote is very much a book about reading and
its consequences. But Don Quixote is also a book about the experiences of authors and
storytellers.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 7-10
Book I: Chapter 7-Chapter 10 Summaries

Chapter 7

Don Quixote has been brought back to his home in La Mancha, but he has not let go of his
imaginations. Quixote still believes that he is a knight-errant and he will not be convinced
otherwise. Quixote's niece, his housekeeper, the barber and the priest are discussing which books
need to be burned when Quixote interrupts them. Specifically, Quixote is upset because they
have blocked his entrance to the library. After the gentleman is put to bed, the housekeeper burns
the books.

Don Quixote is looking for his books a few days later, but of course, he cannot find them. The
housekeeper sees Quixote searching for his library and she tells him that there is no point in
looking for the books‹because "the devil himself has carried all away." The niece explains that it
wasn't the devil, but a sage named Muñaton. The niece and the housekeeper have already
decided what they would tell Quixote. Don Quixote explains to his niece that the sage was
named Friston, not Muñaton. Friston has taken Quixote's books because of a rivalry between
Quixote and one of Friston's powerful knights.
Quixote's niece perceives that her plan has backfired: her uncle is determined to leave home
again and he will not be persuaded to do otherwise. Traveling into town, Don Quixote
meets Sancho Panza, a commoner, and convinces Sancho to serve as his squire. Sancho
Panza is hesitant to leave his wife, Teresa, but Quixote convinces Panza that there are treasures
to be won. At the very least, Panza will likely become the Governor of an island.
Chapter 8

On this, his second journey, Quixote is no less plagued by absurd imaginations. Traveling the
countryside, Quixote soon stumbles into "the dreadful and never-before-imagined adventure of
the windmills." Quixote prepares for "lawful war" against an army of giants, despite Sancho
Panza's urgent warnings. Sancho realizes that Quixote's "giants" are merely windmills. Quixote
insists upon charging at the windmills and he falls to the ground, when his lance jams into the
sails of the windmill. Quixote is not badly hurt, though his horse, Rocinante, is more seriously
wounded.
When it becomes clear to Quixote that this is a field of windmills, he argues that an evil
enchanter has transformed the giants into windmills in order to rob Quixote of a dashing victory.

Chapter 9

Armed with a tree branch (to replace the broken lance), Quixote continues on his quest. On a
side road, Quixote attacks two monks who are accompanying a lady. Quixote argues that the
lady has been kidnapped and is imprisoned in her carriage. Sancho tries to dissuade the knight,
but he is unsuccessful. Sancho then joins in the battle and attempts to steal the monks' clothes. At
this point, the monks' servants intervene and give Sancho a rather serious beating. Quixote is
wounded in the ear, but he nearly kills one of the lady's attendants, a man called "the valiant
Biscainer." Staying true to the code of chivalry, Quixote says that he will spare the attendant's
life if the man agrees to "present himself before the peerless Dulcinea, that she may dispose of
him as she shall think fit." The company of the lady, her attendants, the monks and their servants
are all bewildered by Quixote's request. Nonetheless, they enthusiastically agree to Quixote's
demands because they can see that he is dangerous.

Chapter 10

After the two groups part ways, Sancho asks to become governor of his island. Quixote cannot
yet make good on this promise, but he assures Sancho that their rewards and treasures will come
soon.

Analysis

The scene in Chapter 8, when Quixote perceives the windmills as giants, is perhaps the most
famous scene of the novel. Don Quixote's imagination turns the dull Spanish countryside into a
magical place. Jostling between Sancho and Quixote's point-of-view, the reader sees the
juxtaposition of an ordinary landscape and an absurd daydream. Because Cervantes shows us
what Quixote sees, it is easier for us to empathize with the knight. At the same time, we can also
understand why Sancho feels so confused by his irrational master.

Sancho Panza is described as "honest, poor, shallow-brained" and he becomes Don Quixote's
squire. Panza is not deluded, but he has too much faith in Don Quixote and the squire will suffer
for it. As a practical man, Sancho Panza fears the Holy Brotherhood once Don Quixote has
committed violence against the Benedictine monks. Quixote, an educated man, is unable to grasp
reality. On the other hand, Quixote is so well-versed in the nuances of chivalry and adventures
that he is able to correct his niece when she incorrectly names the evil sage: "Friston he meant to
sayŠ" This especially ironic because the niece is lying, simply repeating a story she has already
rehearsed. Literacy is also expressed as an issue of social "class' in the interactions between
Quixote and his squire. When Sancho raises a concern, Quixote can pose the question: "Have
you read in storyŠ?" This effectively silences Sancho and foreshadows the point in the novel
when Quixote commands Sancho not to speak.

Don Quixote is determined to follow the texts that he has read, even if that means breaking the
law and violating the religious codes and morals of his society. So far, Quixote proves to be
rather orthodox and unswerving in regards to following the text. There is tension between the
projects of the author-narrator and the main character. At one point, Quixote says to his squire:
"Sancho, let not that trouble you, which gives me pleasure; nor endeavor to make a new world,
or to throw knight-errantry off its hinges." In a sense, the hero only wants to duplicate and share
the glories of the previous knights. But this recalls Cervantes' own tongue-in-cheek explanation
of why he published Don Quixote. As stated in the Prologue, the novel is intended "to destroy
the authority and acceptance the books of chivalry have had in the world."

The two major themes in this section are delusion and deception. Quixote's experience with the
windmills is definitive of delusion and the motif of "mills" will recur several times in the novel.
The theme of deception is initiated once Don Quixote is deceived by his friends and family. This
will continue throughout Books I and II. Indeed, it will become important to separate the
"delusion" of Quixote from the "deception" of others, if only because both run rampant.
Quixote's friends and loved ones ultimately spend considerable time and energy deceiving
Quixote as a means of protecting our hero from himself.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 11-15
Book I: Chapter 11-Chapter 15 Summaries

Chapter 11

Looking for a place to sleep, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza stumble upon a group of
goatherds. The goatherds are immediately friendly‹and curious about Don Quixote. The
goatherds invite Quixote and Panza to sit around the fire and eat with them. Sancho declines the
offer because he thinks it is inappropriate to sit and eat alongside his master. After Quixote's
insists, Panza agrees to join the group. While Sancho indulges in the wine, his master begins a
very long lecture on the "jargon of squires and knights-errant." The goatherds do not understand
Quixote's speech, but having sensed that the gentleman means well, they appreciate his good
will. Quixote ends his speech by calling them his "brother goatherds."
Chapter 12

After the speech, the goatherds offer Don Quixote "some diversion and amusement"
when Antonio arrives on scene. Antonio is a goatherd who composes ballads and love songs.
Antonio sings a few of his songs to the group. After Antonio's song, another goatherd, Peter,
arrives with sad news: A young shepherd named Chrysostom has died, heartbroken because
of his unrequited love for Marcela. Marcela is a shepherdess who comes from a wealthy
family. Despite her fortune, she has refused to marry or be courted. This is very frustrating for
the men of the town because Marcela's beauty is unparalleled. Chrystostom's death outrages the
goatherds against Marcela.
When Don Quixote expresses his sadness and sympathy for Chrysostom, the goatherds invite
Quixote to attend the next day's burial service. Just as he did the previous night, Quixote spends
the night wide-awake while others sleep. He spends these hours thinking about his lady,
Dulcinea.
Chapters 13 and 14

Early the next morning, Don Quixote is full of alacrity: one would never guess that he had not
had any sleep. On the road, the group encounters Señor Vivaldo, who is traveling in the same
direction. When Vivaldo sees Don Quixote he asks him why he wears armor though he travels
though a safe and peaceful country. Quixote explains the order of chivalry and refers to the
English histories of King Arthur. Vivaldo seems impressed with the discipline and strictures of
Quixote's service, likening the knight to a monk. Quixote argues that "we soldiers and knights
really execute what [monks and priests] pray for, defending it with the strength of our arms and
the edge of our swords." As the company nears the funeral site, Vivaldo and Quixote continue
their discussion of the religious and spiritual aspects of knight-errantry. Chrysostom has given
instructions to burn his writings after his burial; Vivaldo pleads for Chrysostom's
friend Ambrosio not to do this. At Ambrosio's request, Vivaldo recites one of Chrysostom's
poems, "The Song of Despair." The poet mourns that Marcela never loved him. He also writes,
"No common language can express" his pain. The gathered mourners approve Chrysostom's
song, disparaging Marcela as a cold cruel torturer. When Marcela appears on scene, she flatly
rejects the mourners' argument. First, Marcela holds that not she, but God, is the accountable
creator of her beauty. Second, though Marcela's beauty may win the love of others, the fact of
being loved does not oblige Marcela to love her suitors, in return. Marcela says "I was born free"
and she intentionally secludes herself "that [she] might live free." Marcela has never led any
suitor to believe that she loved him and, for her chastity, Marcela offers no apology. Marcela
leaves abruptly, and Don Quixote defends the shepherdess, promising to slay any man who
follows her. Quixote then persists after Marcela, offering her the sturdy services of a knight-
errant. (She declines.)
Chapter 15

Knight and squire retire to a grassy field to enjoy their lunch. Don Quixote's horse, Rocinante,
sees a small herd of fillies and he trots towards them. The Yangüesian horse-breeders violently
chase off Rocinante, and they attack Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as well. Don Quixote is
seriously wounded and the knight asks Sancho to carry him to "some castle where [he] may be
cured of [his] wounds." Sancho becomes disillusioned but Quixote reiterates his promises: the
knight and squire will soon be "filling the sails of [their] desires" and Sancho will soon have the
"islands" that Quixote has promised. Don Quixote reflects on his previous adventures and gains
confidence by recalling the literary examples of valiant knights‹heroes who were similarly met
with obstacles. Self-assured, Don Quixote decides that he and Sancho Panza will continue along
their path. But Quixote cannot walk; indeed he can barely sit upon his horse. Rocinante has
suffered such a beating; the horse can barely drag itself down the road, let alone support
Quixote's weight. Quixote sits upon Sancho's donkey, and Rocinante, unable to lead, is tied (by
the head) to the donkey's tail. Fortunately, Sancho does not have to struggle for long as there is
lodging nearby. The two men arrive at an inn, which Don Quixote perceives as a castle. Sancho
argues with his master and refuses to capitulate.

Analysis

Pulling up to another inn, Don Quixote is convinced that the inn is a castle. In a sense, it is as if
Don Quixote's character is not developing at all. His delusions run deep but there seems to be a
logical structure. INN = CASTLE for Don Quixote and this equation does not change until much
later in the novel. The foreshadowing is usually grim: there will be accidents, confusion, and
violence. Don Quixote will cause some unintended damage. But these iterations become more
and more hilarious. What follows for the remainder of the novel, is almost entirely farce.

Unlike the tales of chivalry and medieval romance, Don Quixote is a novel full of commoners
and ordinary people. Within the narrative, we can attribute this to the fact that Don Quixote is
traveling the road: he is more likely to meet itinerants and rustics than landed gentry. In literary
terms, however, Cervantes contributions to the genre of the novel helped the form to evolve as an
expression of the "middle-class" as opposed to the upper classes. Along these lines, we see the
"pastoral" motif in this section of the novel. The "pastoral" refers to pastures, shepherds and
goatherds, and the idea that utopia exists outside of the town or village (outside of society). True
to tradition, these herders are a source of music and poetry, and they are devoted to love.

The goatherd named Chrysostom is named after a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

St. John the Chrysostom was a doctor who earned the moniker "Chrystostom," which means
"golden mouthed," because he was an eloquent preacher. There is irony in Don Quixote's
Chrysostom‹a love-struck poet who gives us the lyric: "For Ah! No common language can
express/ the cruel pains that torture my sad heart." The saint was eloquent in spreading the
gospel; the goatherd is inarticulate in expressing his pain, a pain that language is incapable of
expressing.

Don Quixote long rant alludes to the "prelapsarian" idea of Eden. "Prelapsarian" means before
(pre-) the fall (lapse), referring to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The idea, according to
literary critics, is that language functioned in a perfect way before Sin. After Sin, language also
lost its perfection and became corrupted. On one hand, the knight's ranting helps to confirm that
Don Quixote truly believes that he is doing well, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary.

It is also interesting to note that practically all of Don Quixote's model knights are originally
from Britain, France, or Italy. King Artús is simply a Spanish translation of King Arthur. The
importance of a national literature is discussed in passages of Book II. Considering Cervantes'
decision to write his novel in Spanish, as opposed to Latin or French, we can see Don Quixote as
a Spanish alternative to the unrealistic and foreign literary creations that prefigured him.

In terms of characterization, knight and squire are continually described through contrasts,
though there is frequently an irony involved. Sancho Panza likes to drink and he sleeps soundly.
Don Quixote consistently abstains from food and drink, and during the night, he remains wide
awake, as alert as a sentinel. But Sancho's drunkenness never gets in the way of his rational,
clear-headed thinking. And Quixote, though he is sharp and alert, is no less delusional.
Behavioral characteristics are in ironic contrast to character features that would suggest the
opposite.

When Quixote does go to sleep, the next day, he decides to dream "in imitation of Marcela's
lovers." Don Quixote inhabits the role of "knight-errant" by imitating his predecessors. When the
knight finds contemporary love-sick medievalist fools, his foolhardy resolve is strengthened. The
goatherds supply Quixote with more examples for imitation. As characters go, Marcela is very
rational and prudent. She is a woman who is immune to the folly that seems contagious among
the company of men. The motif of the "tyrannical" female who spurns romantic advances is not
Cervantes' alone, having been established in the poetry of Petrarch, Shakespeare, and Edmund
Spenser, among many others. Here, Cervantes critiques the "Tyrannesse" motif by allowing
Marcela to respond with logic. This does not happen in the older works.

Finally, the motif of book burning recurs with the debate on whether or not to bury the dead
man's poetry along with him. Just as earlier in the novel, the words are spared. This tempers
Cervantes' claim of seeking to obliterate the books of chivalry. A dove-tailing takes place in Don
Quixote, the books of chivalry are reiterated for a final time‹the modern novel provides the
continuation. Books of chivalry do not need to be burned: modern novels need to be written.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 16-22
Book I: Chapter 16-Chapter 22 Summaries

Chapter 16

The innkeeper sees Don Quixote's wounds and he asks Sancho what has happened. Sancho says
that Quixote has fallen and injured his ribs. The innkeeper's wife, his beautiful daughter, and his
half-blind servant girl, Maritornes, all tend to Quixote's wounds. They suspect the wounds are
on account of a beating, as opposed to a mere "fall." Quixote is a marvel for the innkeeper and
company: they have never heard of a knight-errant and they surely do not consider the inn to be
an enchanted castle.
Chapter 17

Quixote imagines that the innkeeper's daughter has promised to come to his bed during the
knight. Quixote is titillated by the prospect though, of course, he will not be disloyal to his
Dulcinea. The innkeeper's daughter never enters the room where Quixote sleeps (along with
Sancho, and a mule carrier). The mule carrier is Maritornes' lover but when Maritornes
enters the room, looking for the carrier‹Quixote apprehends her, perceiving the servant to be the
daughter. Maritornes is bewildered; her lover is enraged, especially when he realizes that
Quixote's solicitude is unwelcome, indeed. The carrier attacks Quixote, crushes his jaw and
trampling his ribs. Maritornes is tossed from the bed-pallet, landing on Sancho. These two then
begin to fight with vigor. The innkeeper has heard the commotion and he enters the room,
bearing a light. He immediately chastises Maritornes and they begin exchanging blows.
An officer of the Holy Brotherhood, lodging at the inn, enters the room on account of the violent
noises. Quixote is an unconscious sprawl, the other four combatants doing well enough on their
own. Thinking that Quixote is dead, the officer leaves the room to seek assistance, shouting:
"Shut the inn door, see that nobody gets out; for they have killed a man here." This immediately
ends the fight: the innkeeper leaves with his candle; the carrier and servant retreat to their
separate sleeping spaces; Sancho retreats to his master's side.

Chapter 18
Revived, Quixote believes that he has suffered the evil of an "enchanted Moor." Sancho does not
interpret their calamity as an enchantment, however. The officer returns, astonished to see that
Quixote is alive. Quixote explains that he is in need of a healing tonic called "the true balsam of
Fierabras." He prepares the balsam, according to recipe, drinks the solution and then vomits.
Quixote then suffers convulsions, sleeps for three hours and then wakes up, feeling perfectly
healthy.

When Quixote gives the balsam to Sancho, Sancho suffers so terribly that those present fear that
the squire is going to die. Several hours later, Sancho has not fully recovered but Quixote insists
on leaving. The innkeeper wants Quixote to pay for lodging, but Quixote is insulted that the lord
of a castle (an enchanted one, no less) would ask a knight for compensation. Don Quixote and
Sancho leave but the innkeeper sends a gang of rogues after them, to collect his payment.
Quixote escapes but Sancho is captured, tied inside of a blanket, and tossed into the air
repeatedly. The rogues also steal Sancho's bags‹though Sancho does not realize this, at first.

Chapter 19

Sancho is angry because he has suffered and yet, Don Quixote neither defended nor avenged
him. The two travelers continue along their road and Sancho sees "two great flocks of sheep" in
the distance. Quixote, on the other hand, sees two opposing armies preparing for battle‹and he
aims to intervene and assist the weaker side. Sancho begs Don Quixote to abandon his plan and
refrain from attacking the harmless sheep. The knight sees two armies and, in fact, he is able to
name the various warriors who are marching into battle, Alifanfaron, "a furious pagan," chief
among them. Sancho cannot help but marvel at Quixote's ability to provide such an extensive
history of the knights, considering that the knights were sheep. Quixote intervenes and manages
to slay about seven sheep with his lance before the shepherds and herdsmen pelt him with stones.
His ribs are bruised and his teeth are knocked out.
The shepherds leave with their flocks and Sancho rushes to Quixote's side. Quixote says that his
enemy has transformed the soldiers into sheep. Quixote tells Sancho to be courageous because
they have many more adventures ahead. They continue riding, though Quixote is quite sore.

Chapter 20

Later in the night, the two travelers see a procession of "walking lights" heading towards them. It
is a funeral procession of over twenty people in white robes, and six more in black mourning
clothes. They are wearing funeral masks and they hum a sad plaintive song. Quixote is outraged,
believing them to be devils. Quixote demands that one of them give an account of their business
after he has already wounded one of the mourners. One of the mourners is named Alonso
Lopez and he explains that the group is traveling to bury the bones of a man who has died of
pestilential fever. Quixote allows them to continue without further harm.
In conversation with Sancho, Quixote expresses his concern that he has wounded a holy man and
so, he might be excommunicated from the church. This does not prevent the knight and squire
from enjoying the food that they stole from the holy travelers, upon apprehending the group. It is
late in the night, but there is no inn close by. Knight and squire decide to settle in the grass and
sleep outside, but their repose is disturbed by a loud sound, as if it were rushing water. Quixote
insists upon investigating but Sancho urges him to wait until morning. Sancho offers to tell
Quixote a story, but Quixote keeps interrupting Sancho‹who follows the storytelling custom of
his town by repeating everything that he says twice. Sancho does not like the questions that
Quixote asks, and he soon gives up.

Chapter 21

In the morning, Quixote stalks his new adventure, creeping closer and closer to the source of the
noise only to discover that the noise emanates from a set of fulling-hammers (large mills that
beat wool into a refined material). Sancho cannot suppress his laughter but he pays dearly when
Quixote gives him two whacks with the lance. Quixote commands Sancho to show more respect.

It starts to rain and so Don Quixote and Sancho try to move quickly, though their destination is
unclear. Quixote sees a man ahead who is wearing a gold and glittering helmet: the famed helmet
of Mambrino. The "helmet" is simply a brass basin‹the man is a barber on his way to work. The
barber is unprepared for Quixote's advance. He is knocked off his donkey but he soon
scrambles to his feet and flees, leaving his basin behind. Quixote concludes that the helmet must
have fallen into the hands of a man who clearly did not know its value. Sancho claims that the
helmet is a barber's basin and Quixote does admit that the helmet does resemble a basin.
Chapter 22

Quixote only creates more trouble when he comes across a chain of galley-slaves, criminals who
are chained together and are being led to their punishment. Sympathizing with the criminals as
victims of love, Quixote attacks the armed guard and in the chaos that ensues, the criminals are
able to escape. Sancho is worried that Don Quixote will surely be apprehended by the officers of
the Holy Brotherhood and arrested. Quixote asks that freed men present themselves to Dulcinea
and pay homage but the criminals refuse, fearing that they will be caught. They throw stones at
Quixote, slightly injuring him, before they escape. The knight is baffled to find himself so
mistreated by the very people he has assisted.

Analysis

In these chapters, Don Quixote becomes a more complicated character. He is not entirely
devoted and loyal. The scene in Chapter 22, when Don Quixote frees the enslaved prisoners is
bizarre. Quixote does not merely challenge the law and cause harm to society, but is questionable
whether the knight is truly defending his own values. In assessing the damages that Quixote
causes, "imagination" is held to be the culprit.

Sancho Panza wants the enchanted treasure but he disbelieves in the enchanted violence.
Sancho does not believe the inn to be a castle, and he perceives the criminals to be who they
are‹but Sancho persists in believing that Quixote will make him a governor. Don Quixote has an
"intrepid heart" and the "breast of Mars." Mars is the Roman name for the Greek god of war,
Ares. Sancho Panza is a naturally fearful man who serves in a submissive role to Quixote; Panza
was "born to sleep." Panza does not have heroic attributes but Panza does not cause trouble.
Quixote has heroic potential but his energy is too chaotic. Postulating on good and evil, the
knight unwittingly describes himself when he is in fact describing the devil as "the devil, who
sleeps not, and troubles all things." Quixote looks at the troubles that surround him‹troubles of
his own creation‹and he blames them on the devil.
The theme of delusion is demonstrated when Quixote mistakes the inn-keeper's daughter to be a
beautiful princess Just as an inn equals a castle, a basin equals a helmet‹though it is a dunce cap
for Quixote. The literal darkness of the room blinds Quixote to the fact that he embraces
Maritornes, and not another woman. But his delusion overpowers his senses: he ought to vomit
but instead he enjoys Maritornes despite her foul smells.

Don Quixote has not respected the law but the Holy Brotherhood appears on the scene just as
Don Quixote is need of assistance. The lantern is an object-symbol of light, representing law and
justice. We see human nature in action when the cry of 'murder' is sounded. The characters flee
even though there has been no murder. Later, on the King's Highway in Chapter 19, Don Quixote
expresses the idea that revenge is his law. Of course, this is not the sort of argument that can be
justified if applied universally. Quixote is bent on revenge and honor. Quixote disregards the law
in the hopes of achieving a sort of glory that justifies his adventurous breaches of the law. But in
the course of these adventures, Quixote comes to need the law and its protection. "The Knight of
the Sorrowful Figure" is merely an elder gentleman with his teeth knocked out. But give him a
lance, and see Quixote give insanity, chance, and chaos equal rein. Attacking a procession of
funeral mourners, Quixote risks excommunication from the Church and this would be sure
damnation to Hell. Having attacked two flocks of sheep (killing seven members), perceiving
them to be "pagan warriors" on horseback, Quixote has already committed a symbolic crime of
the highest order. The fact of Quixote's delusion cannot atone for his rather merciless assault on
persons and beings that represent peace, innocence, and the civil life. Quixote ultimately evades
all forms of legal prosecution and punishment, but the knight will lose a few more teeth and a
good deal more before the novel has ended.

It is difficult to empathize with Don Quixote when he commits blatant wrongs and then remains
unapologetic. A pattern emerges in the plot: Don Quixote kills the sheep because he is following
his delusion. Sancho Panza sees reality but Don Quixote discounts Sancho Panza's wise advice.
Sancho Panza impeaches himself by willingly following Don Quixote into sure disaster, only to
subsequently continue the argument.

Cervantes is being sarcastic when he describes the conversations between knight and squire as
"sage discourse." Quixote misdirects his own intellect while Sancho betrays his own common
sense. While traveling, Sancho Panza uses astronomy as his guide, whereas Don Quixote uses
his stories as maps. In one discussion, the knight says to Sancho: "I know not what kingdom, for
I believe it is not in the map." Sancho knows that the path of the knight is lined with "numberless
hardships," for the very same reason that he, Sancho, relies upon astronomy and the fixed stars as
his guide. Once Don Quixote has made up his own mind to plow ahead, Sancho can do little but
follow the knight into disaster.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 23-26
Book I: Chapter 23-Chapter 26 Summaries

Chapter 23
Don Quixote agrees with Sancho Panza's warning to leave the area, and they travel into a
nearby forest called Sierra Morena. This decision turns out to be ill fated, however, when one of
the freed prisoners steals Sancho's donkey. At this point, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza must
walk on foot. Along this route, Don Quixote discovers the belongings of a traveler who has
deserted the area. Sancho Panza is happy to take the traveler's money and Don Quixote reads the
traveler's notebook. Don Quixote opens the man's notebook and discovers a love letter. The
traveler has suffered from unrequited love‹and because he has been rejected, he has gone mad.
Soon after reading the letter, Don Quixote sees a half-naked man running in the distant hills. Of
course, the knight intends to seek the man out, though Sancho Panza disagrees with this plan.
Sancho Panza's obvious concern is that he suspects that the half-naked man is the traveler who
has left his saddlebag on the side of the road; Sancho is worried that the man will ask for his
money back.

A goatherd then explains to Don Quixote and Sancho Panza that the half-naked man is a stranger
to the region. He appeared one day, asking directions, because he intended to go to the most
craggy and thorny part of the wilderness. The Sierra Morena goatherds became concerned
because this wild man began hijacking villagers on the road and stealing their food. After this
occurred, they offered to leave food for the man.

A man called "The Ragged Knight of the Sorry Countenance" advances towards Don Quixote,
and the two men embrace "as if they were old friends." They are not old friends, however, and
Don Quixote has the man tell his story.

Chapter 24

The Ragged Knight of the Sorry Countenance agrees to tell his story but he warns that he will
immediately end the story if anyone interrupts him.

The Ragged Knight is an aristocrat, named Cardenio, and he intended to marry a woman
named Lucinda. Unfortunately, Cardenio is called away from home to work for the Duke and
he is separated from Lucinda. Cardenio begins a very complicated explanation of how the Duke's
son, Don Fernando, becomes infatuated with Lucinda. Don Quixote interrupts (and ends) the
story, when he comments on Lucinda's interest in the same books that he enjoys. Cardenio and
Don Quixote begin arguing about chivalry. Cardenio then attacks the group and runs back into
the mountains.
Chapter 25

Don Quixote decides that he will emulate Cardenio's example by going mad because Dulcinea
has been unfaithful to him. When Sancho Panza points out that Don Quixote does not know this
to be true, Don Quixote argues that what he imagines is more important than what has actually
happened. Don Quixote gives Sancho a letter to deliver to Dulcinea and Sancho is repulsed:
Sancho has just realized that "Dulcinea" is a common woman, not a princess. Don Quixote
argues that Dulcinea is a princess because he has decided that she is a princess.

Don Quixote wants Sancho to go home and tell Dulcinea that he has gone mad because of his
love for her. "Mad I am and mad I must be," Don Quixote says and Don Quixote proves his
madness by taking off most of his clothes, rolling around on the ground, jumping up and down,
and attempted a rather feeble headstand. Quixote thinks about the stories that he has read, so that
he can be sure to go mad in the proper way. The knight wanders through the trees, saying prayers
and carving love songs into the tree trunks.

Chapter 26

Sancho encounters the priest and the barber and they ask about Don Quixote. Sancho Panza
explains Quixote's condition but Sancho still believes that Don Quixote will keep his promise to
make him governor of an island. The priest and barber see that Sancho has been following Don
Quixote but they do not realize that Sancho is gullible. Instead, the priest and the barber decide
that Sancho Panza has gone insane!

The priest and the barber are worried about Don Quixote but they do not take Sancho very
seriously, telling him jokes to make him think that his island is in jeopardy. At the end of
Chapter 26, the priest and barber begin planning a disguise that will help them trick Don Quixote
into coming back home. Sancho Panza, however, is not included in these plans.

Analysis

When they meet each other for the first time, Don Quixote and the Ragged Knight are "old
friends" because they are part of the same delusion. Both "knights" are locked into the world of
chivalry and so it is easy for them to recognize each other, misfits in an increasingly hostile
world. This foreshadows some of the encounters that Quixote has in Book II with various
"knights" who range in friendliness, integrity, and adherence to the chivalric ideals.

In these chapters, the idea is expressed that the common poor tend to be sensible people. On the
other hand, the upper classes, nobility and gentlemen are prone to various forms of insanity. The
crazy mountain man, for example, was once a noble‹making his fall from grace all the more
dramatic and severe.

Dulcinea is a peasant and Sancho Panza now knows her history, but this history conflicts with
Don Quixote's story. In one sense, lineage is necessary for establishing the distinctions between
the characters of the novel (principally, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza). Nonetheless, Don
Quixote gives Dulcinea nobility without lineage.

There is social commentary in the scene when Don Quixote silences Sancho. He gives the squire
two options: serve as lackey or go home and rule his own house. It never occurs to Quixote (or
Sancho, for that matter) that the two men are equals. When Don Quixote takes his clothes off,
there is an allusion to the drunkenness of Noah, in the Biblical book of Genesis. Sancho Panza
forbids himself from viewing his lord and is motivated to assist the older man on account of
compassion, sympathy and genuine concern. As we see in Chapter 26, Sancho Panza is
compassionate but also gullible. The barber and priest suspect that Sancho is also mad.
The narrative structure of the novel is developed with more nuances and variations in these
chapters. Because the Ragged Knight is interrupted in the middle of his story, he tells no more.
This recalls Sancho Panza's complaint, in Chapter 20, when Don Quixote chastises him for
repeating several details. Sancho Panza replies that he is simply telling his story in the same way
in which stories are told in his town. Don Quixote is a novel full of interruptions, but the story
always continues where it left off. Here, we read a story within a story. The story is cut off when
Don Quixote interrupts to discuss chivalry. (We will get the continuation of the Ragged Knight's
story later on in the novel).

Dapple the mule was stolen by the thief in Chapter 23, but Sancho Panza has Dapple in
Chapter 25. This has led some modern readers to erroneously conclude that the novel was
originally serialized. Most literary scholars conclude that Cervantes simply made a mistake
here‹but this only reaffirms this nuanced idea of the faulty, inaccurate text.
Don Quixote parallels Hamlet as we explore the question of whether or not his madness is
feigned. On one hand, we might argue that part of Quixote's madness is the very fact that he now
articulates a plan to appear insane. On the other hand, there is the argument that Quixote is
simply playing a role, with a heavy focus on having witnesses attest to his performance. Quixote
says: "Mad I am and mad I must be." It sounds as if madness where Quixote's vocation, but at
the same time, these words don't make sense. These are words that only a mad man would say.
Already suffering from delusions, Quixote has decided to coax himself into a sham lunacy. The
barber and the priest decide to trick Don Quixote for his own good. This takes up the second half
of Book I.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 27-29
Book I: Chapter 27-Chapter 29 Summaries

Chapter 27

Sancho Panza gives the barber and the priest more information about Don Quixote's madness
and the three men travel towards Sierra Morena. The priest and barber hope that they will not
have to resort to trickery in order to bring Don Quixote back home. Sancho Panza is to lie to Don
Quixote, claiming that he has delivered the letter to Dulcinea and as a result, Dulcinea demands
that Quixote present himself to her. Sancho goes ahead of the barber and the priest, and the latter
end up meeting Cardenio, the madman of Sierra Morena. Cardenio is singing a song that beings
"What causes all my grief and pain?" referring, of course, to his failed relationship
with Lucinda.
We now get the full story from Cardenio because Don Quixote is not present to interrupt the
storytelling. When Cardenio served the Duke, he befriended the Duke's son, Don Fernando.
On one occasion, Don Fernando visited Cardenio's house and within the leaves of Cardenio's
copy of the book Amadis de Gaul (a classic tale of chivalry), Don Fernando found a letter that
Lucinda had sent to Cardenio. The letter expressed Lucinda's love with such clarity and energy
that Don Fernando found himself in love with Lucinda, and he resolved to have her. Don
Fernando sends Cardenio back to the Duke's palace and, in Cardenio's absence, befriends
Lucinda's parents‹ultimately forcing her hand in marriage. Cardenio has gone mad because he
feels that both Don Fernando and Lucinda betrayed him.
Chapter 28
In the next part of the story, Cardenio joins the barber and the priest and after walking a short
distance, they encounter Dorotea‹a woman dressed up as a man. They ask Dorotea if she is in
some sort of trouble, and her answer exceeds their expectations. Dorotea is the daughter of a
farmer who has been hired to do work for a wealthier man. Complications arose when this
manager's son became fond of Dorotea and ultimately coerced her into having sex with him. This
debacle ruined Dorotea's reputation and she was run out of town in disgrace. The man had
promised to marry Dorotea but in fact, he was already married and after having sex with
Dorotea, he returned to the town where his wife lived.

As it turns out, Don Fernando is the man who has deceived Dorotea. When Cardenio and
Dorotea compare stories, Cardenio learns that Lucinda continued to love him even when she was
forced to marry Don Fernando. Cardenio and Dorotea join forces, hoping to punish Don
Fernando and reunite the true lovers, Cardenio and Lucinda.

Chapter 29

Sancho Panza hurries back to the scene, informing the (significantly larger) group that Don
Quixote feels that he has been dishonored. Don Quixote requires of himself some arduous task in
which he can redeem himself and regain his honor. Ultimately, Don Quixote refuses to present
himself to Dulcinea until he has appropriately regained his honor. The group begins plotting a
way to bring Don Quixote home, but Sancho Panza is kept in the dark because he is too loyal to
Don Quixote to agree to deception. Hence, even Sancho Panza is fooled into believing that
Dorotea is actually a Princess who goes by the name of Micomicona. Her official title is "the
mighty Princess Micomicona, queen of the great kingdom of Micomicon in Ethiopia."

Coincidentally, Princess Micomicona is need of the services of just such a knight as Don
Quixote, to "kill a great lubberly giant." The giant has chased the Princess away, but with Don
Quixote's help, she might be restored to her kingdom. Two promises are extracted from the
knight: first, that he will agree to assist the Princess and second, that he will decline to accept any
other missions until he has fulfilled this one. Sancho Panza is worried that he will become
governor of a territory in Micomicon and this displeases him because his subjects will be black
Africans. After the Princess has won Don Quixote's assent, the priest approaches Don Quixote
but Quixote does not seem recognize his good friend. The priest complains that he has been
robbed by an escaped convict. This worries Sancho Panza because he is aware of Don Quixote's
guilt in this matter.

Analysis

Here we find females who resist idealization and the nonsense of chivalry. Lucinda,
like Marcela (the shepherdess in Chapter 14) refuses to play a "Juliet" role. Though Lucinda is
romantically involved, she is practical and decidedly non-suicidal. Dorotea is supposedly in need
of rescue but in the end, she assists in the deception of Don Quixote. Dorotea helps rescue Don
Quixote by pretending that she needs assistance.
As in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the characters' storytelling becomes part of the narrative
structure. Here, the novel's plot is interrupted by Cardenio's story of his relationship with
Lucinda. Aspects of the inner (Cardenio) and outer (Quixote) stories are similar. The refusal to
come home, for example, is a motif that punctuates both Cardenio and Quixote's life.
In terms of narrative structure, we get a story within the story within a story, when Don Fernando
and Lucinda begin plotting and story-telling. Coincidence plays an incredibly overbearing role in
the story about Cardenio, contributing to parody and plot. Cervantes mocks this convention, but
he uses it anyway. The plausibility of the narrative is tested by the storytelling process itself. One
of the characters recounts a love letter that was exchanged, and he repeats the text verbatim: "He
said he remembered it perfectly well." But how well do we trust a fictional character? Even the
"author" is a character in this novel, with Cervantes constantly at odds with the Arab interpreter
of the work, Cid Hamet Ben Engeli. Chapter 27 marks the end of Cid Hamet's 3rd part.
Even if the characters are telling the truth, Cid Hamet Ben Engeli might be lying.
As characters of the modern novel, these men and women engage in strategy, cooperation,
vengeance. As if a combination of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Cervantes actually
prefigured both writers in crossing the "novel of strategy" with the "comedy of errors." The
logistics of romantic warfare (as in Austen) are derailed by the often comedic misfortunes of
day-to-day life (as in Dickens). By chapter 29, there is clearly a hierarchy among the characters:
we can divide them into the storytellers and the deceived. Storytelling and deceit become the
strategy of the successful. The deceived and deluded characters stumble through life and love,
providing comic entertainment for the reader. In Cardenio and Don Quixote's friends, we see the
theme of deception in terms of abused trust. This foreshadows violations of trust that are still to
come. Both in Cardenio's story and in Don Quixote's travails, we see masks, shields and
transvestitism are the props and devices of dramatic comedy, modes of deception that are sturdy
enough for 'strategy' but flimsy enough for 'comedy.'

In Book II, Don Quixote comments on Book I (which has already been published, though the
knight has not read it) suggesting that the focus on minor characters was gratuitous and
unnecessary. Plenty of literary critics have agreed. What remains significant is the fact that the
novel's primary mode of characterization is the successive introduction of new characters. The
main character, Don Quixote, is not developed in the latter half of Book I. In fact, Don Quixote
is often off-stage, and while on stage he varies little. Don Quixote shocks us with his actions, but
his character does not surprise us.

Delusion might be considered as a form of psychological escape from reality. In these chapters,
nostalgia is treated as another theme representing "escape." For Cardenio, Memory is cursed as
"mortal enemy of my repose" because the past is a personal tragedy. Cervantes juxtaposes grief-
stricken Cardenio with Don Quixote, who poses in grief. Don Quixote does not truly suffer the
memory of lost love. As a parallel to "memory," Don Quixote remembers his books‹and this
becomes nostalgia for the medieval era, an era that the knight has never seen. The medieval
period was more welcoming of the chivalric ideals. Still, the reader should be clear on the fact
that the knight-errant was a literary trope. This aspect of culture was celebrated by a very small
group of people and was never the political reality of a society. Not knights-errant but rogue
thieves roamed and prowled the unpaved highways and fringes of medieval European town life.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 30-32
Book I: Chapter 30-Chapter 32 Summaries
Chapter 30

In the course of leading Don Quixote to "the great kingdom of Micomicon," Dorotea and the
others intend to lead Don Quixote back to his home in La Mancha. At several points, the priest
has to intervene and help "Princess Micomicona," as she is telling her story to Don Quixote.
Though Princess Micomicona offers her hand in marriage, Don Quixote is entirely devoted to his
lady, Dulcinea. Quixote demands that Sancho give him the details of the trip to deliver the letter
to Dulcinea.

This request puts Sancho in a situation much like Dorotea's, for he is forced to create a hopefully
plausible story without extensive preparation. Quixote asks whether Dulcinea was stringing
pearls or embroidering something for him, but Sancho replies that Dulcinea was merely
"winnowing two bushels of wheat in a backyard of her house." Quixote keeps demanding
fanciful and romantic details, but Sancho denies Quixote his pleasure. In the end, Sancho
Panza explains that not only is Dulcinea illiterate, but she is also far too busy to pause in the
middle of the day to read a love letter.
Chapter 31

In Chapter 4, a young man named Andres was severely beaten by his master, John Haldudo

the Rich. Don Quixote threatened to kill Haldudo for severely beating Andres and also for
refusing to pay Andres for his labors. Haldudo promised to repay Andres, but when Quixote
continued down the road, Haldudo beat Andres even more severely and then fired the boy, as
opposed to paying Andres for his labor. At the end of Chapter 30, Andres crosses paths with Don
Quixote and he does not have pleasant words. Indeed, Andres mocks Quixote as an incompetent
knight. For his part, Don Quixote vows to kill Haldudo once he has learned what has happened.
Andres assures Quixote that he need not waste his time because he will only "cause more harm
than good." Don Quixote chases Andres down the road, intending to chastise the young man for
his insolence. Andres easily escapes and Quixote is sorely embarrassed because his reputation
has been tarnished.
Chapter 32

In Chapter 32, the group of six travelers (Cardenio, Princess Micomicona, Sancho Panza, Don
Quixote, the barber, and the priest) arrive at the same inn that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
hurriedly exited at the close of Chapter 17. Don Quixote is removed to sleep in a quiet room, for
the innkeeper remembers Don Quixote's madness. Don Quixote is the topic of conversation and
nearly every one participates (including the innkeeper, his wife, his daughter,
and Maritornes the half-blind hunchbacked laborer). Sancho Panza does not offer much of a
defense of his master's behavior and the group is generally disapproving of Quixote's frivolity.
Most of the individuals do believe that Quixote's madness is the result of reading too much‹and
specifically, too much chivalry. The chapter ends when the innkeeper discloses that a guest has
left an antique trunk of books and papers. The priest is intrigued and he begins to read a story
from the collection.
Analysis

Don Quixote does not understand the impropriety of his decision to free the galley slaves. Is Don
Quixote a hero? He helps the unfortunate with no respect to their crimes. The re-appearance of
Andres in Chapter 31, reminds us of Don Quixote's ignorant error in Chapter 4. Don Quixote is
unable to render justice. In chapter 32, Don Quixote is asleep, all others convinced of his
insanity. In terms of the immediate plot-drama, Quixote is almost a non-entity. Even when he is
awake, it is as if Quixote is sleeping or has his eyes closed. The "players" can shed their
disguises and yet Don Quixote does not perceive this fact upon sight.

In terms of genre, the novel increasingly resembles a cycle of stories, like The Decameron or
Canterbury Tales. Unlike those works, this novel does not feature storytelling characters on a
pilgrimage. In chapter 32, the inn assumes the traditional literary role (symbol of hospitality). At
the same time, it represents a microcosm of Don Quixote's society. Here, the characters have
separate destinations and not all of them are travelers. Several, though not all of the characters
get the opportunity to display their storytelling talent, and this group ultimately includes
individuals who might not have been given a voice otherwise: women, the poor, young people,
Moors (non-Christians).
The theme of storytelling intersects with ideas of truth-telling and deception. "This, gentlemen, is
my history" is a suitable statement for a character to make when presenting her autobiography;
Dorotea, however, tells a false autobiography. She hesitates at the beginning and cannot
remember her name (Princess Micomicona, daughter of Tinacrio the Wise and Queen
Xaramilla). The priest prompts Dorotea and corrects the errors throughout her story. We can
wonder about the logical repercussions here, and the semantics of Dorotea's factual error within
her lie, within a fictional work. It seems somewhat paradoxical that Dorotea could make a
genuine mistake in the middle of telling a made-up lie. The priest's correction was no truer than
Dorotea's original erroneous claim.
All the same, Don Quixote believes what stories "resemble the style and manner of his foolish
books." The priest's correction is more correct in a stylistic or aesthetic sense. For further clarity,
the reader can consider two similar quirks of the work. Recall that in Chapter 7, Quixote's niece
lies and tells the knight that "the sage Muñaton" has wrested away the library. Quixote replies
that it was not Muñaton, but Friston. We can also consider the return of Sancho's
mule, Dapple. This is a discrepancy within a work of fiction, the error of the humans who
produced the book, not the error of a fictional being. (In Book II, however, this discrepancy will
be accounted for and explained away, though not in the most convincing manner.)
These details are important because of the context of the novel. Cervantes' work, published in
1605, was already sensitive to a number of meta-literary concerns. On a primary level, we can
say that Book I is concerned about books: Don Quixote loves literature; literature affects
Quixote's life. But these levels are increasingly complex: Quixote wants to become like literary
characters; literary ideals conflict with the real world; books are burned. And Quixote is not the
only character for us to focus upon: Cid Hamet Ben Engeli has translated a fictional work
and injected his own opinions. The author, Cervantes, has invented Cid Hamet Ben Engeli, a
"straw man" with whom to argue. Cervantes says that he wants to eradicate the influence of the
anti-realism of chivalric books. Characters argue about the aesthetics of realistic portrayal and
what makes a book good or bad. Numerous characters tell stories, write letters, compose poems,
and debate the merits of literature as well as literary characters.
In between the publication of Books I and II, an imposter sequel is published: a man only known
today as "Avellaneda" created his own Book II, published it as Cervantes' own, and reaped
profit. As a consequence, Cervantes' sensitivity to meta-literary concerns is greatly heightened in
Book II, and these "quirks" of Book I are discussed in the sequel.

In these chapters, premature literary criticism takes the form of a critique of the novel as a
potential genre. Remember that the novel was not an established writing form at this point. It
matters when the characters discuss a story's claim to present the whole truth. It matters that the
novel is able to allow different characters to speak and that letters, arrest warrants, and elegiac
poems can be read out aloud 'into the record,' so to speak.

The book fetish is intended to be a simple motif. The book is mysterious and potentially
dangerous: a manuscript has been left in a trunk and abandoned. The trunk implies travel and
foreigners or perhaps, a foreign land. Travel suggests wanderlust and imagination, like
Quixote's‹an open door. The danger of foreignness occurs even as the narrative warns about Cid
Hamet's literary treachery‹a closed door. We are left to wonder: Is one of these books Don
Quixote? In his "Preface," Cervantes set out to blast the books of chivalry but now there is
empathy with almost every text portrayed.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 33-35
Book I: Chapter 33-Chapter 35 Summaries

Chapter 33

Chapters 33, 34, and 35 consist of the story that the priest reads to the group: "The Novel of the
Curious Impertinent." The story takes place in Florence, Italy and largely involves two friends
named Lothario and Anselmo. Anselmo is married to Camilla and, for no good reason,
Anselmo decides to test Camilla's fidelity. When Anselmo insists that Lothario help him,
Lothario says that "the enterprise itself is downright madness." Anselmo wants Lothario to
attempt to seduce Camilla, to see whether or not she will succumb to the advances of another
man. Lothario finally agrees, and he soon returns to Anselmo, telling him that Camilla has
remained faithful.
Not much later, Anselmo finds out that Lothario has been lying: Lothario never attempted to
seduce Camilla. Anselmo then makes Lothario pledge to make good on his promise to seduce
Camilla. Anselmo leaves town to make the seduction easier, and Camilla soon writes letters
urging him to return. Lothario has truly fallen in love with Camilla; in her letters, Camilla warns
Anselmo that Lothario is trying to seduce her. Camilla does not realize that Anselmo is aware of
Lothario's advances. Anselmo does not realize that Lothario is truly in love with Camilla.

Because Anselmo does not return, Camilla grows weary under pressure and she falls in love with
Lothario. The two continue their affair when Anselmo returns home. In part, this is easier
because Camilla's servant, Leonela, keeps Camilla's secret.
Chapter 34

Complications arise because Leonela has a secret lover of her own. One day, Lothario sees
Leonela's lover exiting Camilla's house just as he is arriving. Lothario concludes that Camilla has
found yet another lover. Lothario then tells Camilla's husband, Anselmo, that he has finally
seduced Camilla. Lothario gives Anselmo a time and place where Anselmo will see Lothario
seduce Camilla; then, Anselmo can judge the situation on his own. Anselmo is now distraught.

Later in the day, when Lothario and Camilla meet, Camilla discloses Leonela's secret lover.
Lothario then realizes his jealous error and he confesses everything to Camilla. Camilla and
Lothario then create a plan to be rid of Anselmo, once and for all. When Camilla and Lothario
meet, Camilla pretends that she does not know that Anselmo is watching. When the time comes
for her to kiss Lothario, Camilla states that she would rather die than commit infidelity, though
she does love Lothario.

Camilla eloquently states "since fortune denies a complete satisfaction to my just desires, it shall
not, however, be in its power to defeat that satisfaction entirely." Camilla then struggles to keep
her dagger away from Lothario and ultimately, she stabs herself in the chest and falls to the
ground.

Lothario is immediately shocked because Camilla was only to pretend to stab herself, but when
he looks closely he sees that Camilla has only wounded herself slightly. Lothario then begins to
grieve loudly and with Leonela's help, he carries Camilla's body away. Anselmo is now
convinced of Camilla's honesty. As a result, Camilla is able to continue her affair once she
recovers from her minor stab wound.

Chapter 35

Sancho Panza interrupts the story to announce that Don Quixote has just killed the giant. This
is madness and the group fears the worst, when they enter Quixote's room. Quixote is thrashing
in his sleep and what Sancho thought to be the giant's head is actually a set of valuable wineskins
owned by the innkeeper. Don Quixote's has destroyed them while thrashing because of his
violent dream. The characters return to the common room, where the priest concludes 'The Novel
of the Curious Impertinent.' In the last section of the story, Anselmo suffers for his excessive
curiosity.
Leonela's lover accidentally reveals himself and Anselmo confronts Leonela. Leonela fears that
Anselmo is going to kill her and so she says that she has a valuable secret to disclose to him the
next day. Anselmo recounts the incident to Camilla‹and Camilla fears that Leonela will disclose
her (Camilla's) affair with Lothario. With few options before them, Lothario and Camilla run
away that very night. Unsurprisingly, Leonela runs away the next day. Anselmo searches for all
three of them in vain, and accidentally discovers (from a stranger) that Camilla and Lothario
have been deceiving him for some time. Anselmo begins writing an account of his own sad story,
but Anselmo's sadness is so profound that he actually dies before he finishes writing his account.

The 'Novel of the Curious Impertinent' starts a discussion on the merits of the story. The priest is
very well read and everyone listens to his critique of the story. In the end, he decides that he likes
"the manner" in which the story was written, though he sees Anselmo as an implausibly,
unrealistically naïve and idiotic character.

Analysis
The aesthetic argument made by the priest is that the manner in which the story is told is more
important than the content's probability. Certainly, this is true for Don Quixote. Is Don Quixote a
"more accurate" novel because the priest's narrated story includes the text of the letter? The
Priest's narrated story starts in Chapter 33 and continues at the start of Chapter 34 without
interruption. Ultimately, the narrative structure combines Don Quixote's story with Anselmo's.
The "Conclusion of the Novel of the Curious Impertinent" is integrated with Don Quixote's
"battle."

The battle is a critical moment but not the climax. If the characters of Don Quixote stray too far,
the novel becomes discredited not realistic. The novel's characters can create the most far-fetched
and outrageous characters for their stories‹and so, they will seem more realistic by contrast. Don
Quixote battles in his sleep not in his delusion. It is Sancho Panza who has misperceived,
mistaking some wineskins to be a giant's head. It seems that Don Quixote has contaminated
Sancho Panza and the very fact of Quixote's madness being contagious justified the book-
burning in the early chapters.

Don Quixote expresses paternalism in his over-protection of women and his domination of
Sancho Panza. The Priest's story alludes to Eve as "woman is an imperfect creature, and that one
should not lay stumbling-blocks" before her. This story provides a foundation for paternalism.
Ironically, Don Quixote is in no position to function in the paternalistic mode, as paternalism is
reversed upon Quixote himself. Because Quixote is "an imperfect creature," his books have been
removed and his friends now surround him. The weak need to be protected‹and Don Quixote is
weak.

In exchange for the common sense of common people, Sancho Panza is adopting "the absurdities
of master and man." Sancho grieves "my earldom will melt away like salt in water" and the irony
of logic recalls Dorotea's error and Quixote's correction "Friston." Sancho never had an
earldom. His earldom is as secure as it never was. Because of Quixote's dream, Sancho's dream
has become a less durable fiction‹but it is still no less a fantasy.
Lothario resembles Don Quixote's friends and just as we read in the previous stories within the
story, the theme of deception continues to loom. Don Quixote and Anselmo are both tempting
fate and looking for trouble. Often, the distance between the story and the story-within is used to
create a foil, a character whose contrasts to the main character offer more clarity and distinction
to the main character. Here, Anselmo is not a foil for Quixote; he is a parallel, a co-definer. We
realize that Quixote is also a "curious impertinent." Both men become rejected outsiders;
Quixote will suffer sadness and confusion just as Anselmo has. Both men adhere to a strict and
private ideology. Their ideas are different from the ideas held by their friends. As ideological
purists, these men are too stubborn to enjoy positive, meaningful social interactions.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 36-41
Book I: Chapter 36-Chapter 41 Summaries

Chapter 36
It is late at night, but the inn is still receiving more guests. Old friends and lovers are reunited in
the process. Lucinda and her husband, Don Fernando, are disguised when they arrive on
scene. They have traveled with men wearing black masks on their faces. This provokes Dorotea
to veil her face. Cardenio and Lucinda are reunited and Don Fernando apologizes to Dorotea for
deserting her. Don Fernando promises to marry Dorotea and she is satisfied with his promise.
Sancho is upset because he has just realized that Dorotea is not the Princess Micomicona‹and so
he will not become a governor of her territory.
Chapter 37

Sancho awakens Don Quixote and confronts him with this news, but Quixote does not believe
Sancho. Don Quixote argues that Sancho has been deluded by one of the castle's enchantments.
Sancho's words backfire because Dorotea continues with the plan to bring Don Quixote home.
When Dorotea confirms to Don Quixote that she is, in fact, the Princess Micomicona, Quixote
becomes angry with Sancho.

Chapters 38-39

Another set of travelers arrives at the inn, including a man referred to as "the captive" and a
beautiful Moorish noblewoman named Lela Zoraida. She wants to become baptized into the
Catholic faith with the name Maria. After Don Quixote gives a speech praising the glories of
knighthood, the captive tells his story. The captive grew up "in the mountains of Leon," one of
several sons born to a gentleman with a penchant for squandering his money. Worried that he
would leave his sons penniless, the father summoned the young men and told them that he would
soon give them their inheritance, lest he spend it and leave them with nothing. He advises them
to pursue a career in one of three fields: "the church, the sea, or the court." The captive chose the
latter of these three options, serving in the king's army.
The captive fought in a number of wars that took him to Genoa, Milan, Flanders, Algiers, Malta,
and Constantinople. In Constantinople, one of the captive's comrades, a man named Don
Pedro de Aguilar, escaped from prison and presumably "recovered his liberty." Indeed, Don
Fernando explains that he is Don Pedro de Aguilar's brother.
Chapters 40-41

The captive was imprisoned in Algiers, which is where Lela Zoraida fell in love with him. She
had never met the captive, but she saw him and fell in love with him nonetheless. One day,
Zoraida goes to the prison window and slips a small bundled package to the captive. She has
given him money to escape and a letter. She professes her love for him, her conversion to
Christianity, and her desire for him to marry her and help her escape to Spain.

The captive frees himself and also frees some of his fellow captives. After the captive makes
preparations for the passage to Spain, he "kidnaps" Lela Zoraida. Unfortunately, Lela's father
wakes up in the middle of the kidnapping and the captive and his friends have no alternative but
to carry Lela's father onto the ship. Realizing the extent of his daughter's willing betrayal
(conversion, escape) Zoraida tries to jump off the ship and drown himself. The Spaniards on
deck are Christians and they will not allow Zoraida to commit suicide. Instead, the Spaniards
deposit Zoraida on shore once their ship is a safe distance away from Algiers.
Safely in Spain, the captive hopes for Lela to be baptized so that they can be wed. The captive
also says that he would like to find his father.

Analysis

The narrative structure of these chapters relies upon "uncommon accidents" much like those of
the stories told by the characters themselves: the likelihood of Don Quixote's giants, Sancho
Panza's island, the numerous lovers joined, the "Curious Impertinent." The reunion motif is
exploited to excess‹not only with lovers, but with Don Pedro de Aguilar and Don Fernando, as
well. The novel of Strategy wins out over the comedy of Errors, so long as Quixote is kept at
bay. The characters work out their problems and entanglements without Don Quixote's active
assistance‹indeed, the plot accelerates when Quixote is not present to "interrupt." When Dorotea
tells Don Quixote that she "never would have found this happiness except for you," she refers
more to chance occurrences and not to a chivalrous act that the knight-errant might have
performed. It is not often that a titular and central character (Don Quixote, in this case) is
excluded from the novel's drama, as a means of bringing about the denouement (climax and
conclusion) of the plot.
Don Quixote is deluded but his delusions are consistent. Just as INN = CASTLE, BEAUTIFUL
WOMAN = NOBLE LADY. Sancho Panza should have recognized the parallel between Dorotea
and Dulcinea. Quixote contended that Dulcinea was a noble lady, simply because he imagined
her to be one, and Dorotea is similarly commended. When Sancho argues against Dorotea's
nobility, Don Quixote accuses Sancho Panza of being a base, low-class "liar." Sancho, alone,
expects Quixote to distinguish between true and false. Quixote is not capable of this task. True to
character, Don Quixote believes the lie and punishes the truth-teller.

Zoraida is a rather empowered woman, though she does not tell her own story. She has rejected
both her father and her religion. She is considered as an "ideal" woman and she has a suitor.
Zoraida and the captive were once like Dulcinea and Quixote, in that there was no actual contact
or communication between them. But unlike Dulcinea, Zoraida has actually performed on the
captive's behalf. And unlike Quixote, the captive has now enjoyed contact with his beloved.
Zoraida had the money to release the captive from prison, but she did not have the freedom to
free herself. The baptism symbolizes a new life after the alteration and transformation that
religious conversion brings. Lela Zoraida wants to change her name to Maria. This parallels Don
Quixote's own self-renaming when he donned a basin and pursued a new calling.

In Chapter 37, Don Quixote begins a lucid discussion, and these scenes are in high relief‹such a
contrast from Quixote's mania. This recalls Don Quixote's early philosophical reflections and
gives us hope that Don Quixote is salvageable. At one point, Don Quixote argues that "what
costs most attaining is, and ought to be, most esteemed." Sadly, this is not true in reality. At the
conclusion of Book I, Quixote is not kindly rewarded for his expensive attempt at grandeur. In
Book II, he fares little better. Quixote's words foreshadow the conclusion. In discussing the
balance of fame, fortune, and glory, Quixote seems to invite his incipient judgment.

Finally, Don Quixote argues that a warrior is superior to a man of letters. We should keep
Cervantes' autobiographical details in mind. Cervantes was a soldier before he began writing.
Cervantes was also held captive as a prisoner of war and this adds to the autobiographical detail
of this section. The wars that the "captive" describes are not actual wars, however; they do not
correspond with the historical or political context of the novel.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 42-46
Book I: Chapter 42-Chapter 46 Summaries

Chapter 42

The captive finishes his story as the inn receives another group of guests. A judge
named Licentiate Juan Perez de Viedma arrives with his daughter, Doña Clara, and
their attendants. Not long after Viedma explains that he is from Leon, the captive realizes that he
is Viedma's brother. The priest intervenes and speaks to Viedma to determine whether or not the
captive should confront Viedma with the truth. The priest learns that the judge loves his missing
brother very much; furthermore, Viedma's father is still alive‹but ailing. The aging father offers
"incessant prayers," hoping to live long enough to see his missing son (the captive) again. When
the brothers are reunited, there is great jubilation.
Chapter 43

Don Quixote exits the inn and stands outside as a "sentinel at the castle gate"‹just as he promises
to do. In the middle of the night, a young man approaches the inn and sings love songs. Cardenio
sneaks into the room where the women are sleeping and he wakes Dorotea. Once Dorotea hears
the song, she wakes Doña Clara because the singer has a beautiful voice. Doña Clara recognizes
the voice as soon as she hears it. The young man is in love with Doña Clara, and he has followed
her in disguised pursuit. Clara has never had a conversation with the young man, and they have
maintained their courtship at a distance and without any form of communication. Nonetheless,
Clara wishes to marry this young man, who once lived next door to her. Dorotea
and Maritornes decide to intervene on Doña Clara's behalf: perhaps tonight, the two lovers
might speak to each other for the first time.
Chapter 44

Maritornes securely fastens Don Quixote's wrist to a doorpost‹just to insure that the knight will
not cause trouble. Quixote's posture is uncomfortable and awkward. Quixote is still on
Rocinante's back, but his arm his tied so high upon the post that the knight is forced to stand-up
in his stirrups. When four horsemen approach the inn, they deride Quixote because he looks
ridiculous. Vulnerable and out-numbered, Quixote is in a worse situation when Rocinante
moves: Quixote's feet slip out of the stirrups and the knight remains suspended by his tied arm.
Quixote's feet almost reach the ground; stretching towards the ground, however, only tightens the
pain in Quixote's choking wrist. The knight lets out a terrible roar that rouses the innkeeper to
investigate the scene.

Chapter 45
The young man who would be Doña Clara's lover is Don Louis. The four horsemen, in the
service of Don Louis' father, bid Don Louis to return home. Doña Clara's father, the judge, now
sees through the disguise and recognizes his neighbor's son. The judge listens to Don Louis tell
of his love for Doña Clara and he considers the marriage proposal. Two guests attempt to leave
the inn without paying and, despite the innkeeper's insistence, Quixote abstains from intervening.
The knight has sworn to abstain from "new" adventures until he has completed the terms of his
service to Princess Micomicona. Nonetheless, when the two guests begin beating the innkeeper,
Quixote successfully reasons with the rogues and bids them pause.
Towards the end of these chapters, justice finally catches up with Don Quixote. First, the barber
from whom Quixote has stolen a basin now returns to the inn. Quixote stands by his original
premise that the basin is actually "Mambrino's helmet." The barber defies Quixote, accusing
the knight of blatant theft. The crowd of guests enjoys the bickering between the barber and the
knight, mockingly defending Quixote's claim that the basin is truly Mambrino's helmet.
When the barber and his friends become violent, both the judge and Quixote's friend, the priest,
call for peace and calm the crowd. As could be expected, a few members of the Holy
Brotherhood make themselves visible, having been attracted to the commotion. Surveying the
scene, one officer realizes that they have a warrant for Quixote's arrest: the "knight-errant" stands
accused of "setting at liberty" a group of "galley-slaves."

Chapter 46

The officer intends to take Quixote into custody but the knight rebuffs the officer. Quixote
launches into a hilarious speech, arguing that it is illogical and inane to subdue a knight with a
warrant. Referring to the author of the warrant, Quixote asks: "Who was he that knew not that
knights-errant are exempt from all judicial authority, that their sword is their law, their bravery
their privileges, and their will their edicts?" The priest intercedes on Quixote's behalf, explaining
that Quixote is merely a deranged gentleman: the gentleman's insanity fairly exempts the knight
from punishment. After the priest guarantees that Quixote will behave, the Holy Brotherhood
agrees not to arrest the knight.

Sancho tells Don Quixote that the Princess Micomicona is not a princess; Sancho has seen her
kiss Don Fernando. Quixote is enraged, believing that Sancho is lying. Dorotea insists that
she is the Princess Micomicona but, sympathizing with Sancho, she suggests that Sancho has
been enchanted‹duped into believing that she kissed Don Fernando. The barber and the priest
decide to convey Quixote home immediately. The knight is captured and bound; his friends then
put him inside of a cage that is fastened to an ox-cart. The barber dresses up as a sage, issuing
prophesy that Quixote will win great honors at home. And so, Quixote believes that he is
traveling inside of some enchantment‹not a cage.
Analysis

The narrative structure returns to the inn and the plot action has been precipitated by new
entrances (it has been a very long night). The novel describes these scenes as the "continuation of
the unheard-of adventures." There is a sentimental parallel between the two triangles: Beautiful
Clara is wooed by the singer, hoping to appease her father, the judge. Beautiful Zoraida was
wooed by the captive, unable to appease her father, an obstinate Muslim. The lover who has
never spoken to Clara (but loves her nonetheless) is much like Quixote, who has no substantive
relationship with Dulcinea. Though the plot is very simplistic in these chapters, there is some
variety of outcomes. We see the happy reunion of a Catholic Spanish family juxtaposed with the
permanent rift between a convert, Zoraida, and her Muslim ("infidel") father.

As in the previous chapters, Don Quixote remains outside of the fabric of young lovers and
storytellers. When Don Quixote stands as a sentinel outside the inn, he becomes a parody of
himself. Physically, he is incapable of mounting a defense. Throughout the novel, Quixote has
played the role of a knight. Quixote never played the role convincingly. Once fettered and
disarmed, Quixote is another level removed from the ideal of the knight. Realistically, he insures
the safety of the others by keeping his distance. He stands‹away‹as a guard against himself. In
Chapter 44, Don Quixote does not use his prowess as a knight to ward off the thieves. He uses
plain talk to fend them off.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are criminals, as the presence of the judge reminds us. Don
Quixote cannot escape the law forever. When the Holy Brotherhood appear on the scene, in
Chapter 45, with a warrant for Quixote's arrest they are long foreshadowed. The priest's role
becomes more complicated as he is forced to mediate between the religious authorities and the
best interests of his friend. Quixote receives mercy only because he is convincingly insane.
Just as Quixote is tied to the post, he is soon trapped in a cage and carted home. The imagery of
fire expresses the burning of books as a quasi-medical means of eliminating a contagious threat.
Here, the cage is a prison for Quixote, designed to impose spatial limitations on a man who has a
dangerously expansive imagination. Don Quixote claims to be of an order that is "exempt from
all judicial authority" and adds "that their sword is their law." He punctures the law, violates the
rights of others, and has wandered miles from home. If Quixote holds that the "sword" is his
"law," his cage-prison is the parody and consequence of his suit of armor. Quixote has dressed
himself as the law, but without legitimate power, his armor was pure symbol and costume.
Quixote is insane and so he is exempt from the law, but his friends lock him inside the cage with
the express permission of the Holy Brotherhood. Indeed, it is required.

The priest says "in matters of chivalryŠyield him the preference," but he does not argue that
Quixote should have free rein. Rather, Quixote can define his delusions however he pleases, but
the sane and rational outsiders should contain Quixote's delusions without destroying them. Put
Quixote in a cage, but let him call the cage an enchantment.

In terms of aesthetics, this is a rephrasing of the form vs. content argument raised by the priest in
Chapter 35. Now we can sum up the Priest's argument: The author of the madness is right about
the details, regardless of whether it is madness or not (Friston, not Muñaton). The details of a
lie can be right or wrong, regardless of the truth of the lie (Dorotea may have forgotten her name,
but the Priest is right to remind her that she is called the Princess Micomicona).
The irony and humiliation of Quixote's fall create a somber mood. Quixote created real dangers
but the law easily managed to survive Quixote's rebellion. On the other hand, the humor of
Quixote's imagination does not survive the cage. When the barber pretends to be a prophetic
sage, he is only speaking to Quixote and he predicts the precise opposite of what is true. There is
no glory. Some argue that Don Quixote's friends are simply making mockery of Quixote for their
own amusement. However, their persistent deception provides a mechanism to get Quixote to go
home‹and it also gives him a fair amount of emotional comfort. Mercy and efficiency do not
necessarily go hand in hand, though. The barber's own words remind us how important glory and
honor are for Quixote. Being carted in a cage in broad daylight is far crueler than the efforts of
the laborer in Chapter 5. Even though he is not a close acquaintance of Quixote, the laborer waits
for the cover of night before carrying the gentleman's abused body back into town.

The cage marks the climax of Book I because Don Quixote is definitely going home now. The
cage is a plot device to secure Don Quixote so that this narrative thread can end. The cage seals
off the possibility of any further complications. Some critics argue that the climax should have
occurred earlier in the novel, but we have already read that the story continues beyond Book I.
This is the resolution of Quixote's second expedition.

Don Quixote Book I Summary and Analysis of Book I,

Chapters 47-52
Book I: Chapter 47-Chapter 52 Summaries

Chapter 47

Cooped up in the cart, Don Quixote says that he has never read of enchanted knights being
transported in this form, and so it must be a new form of enchantment. Sancho argues with the
knight and tries to explain, logically, that there is no enchantment. The barber threatens to
throw Sancho inside the cart and so, the squire is quiet.
Chapter 48

Meanwhile, the priest is interested in reading a manuscript that he had obtained from the
innkeeper, just before leaving.

Chapter 49

While traveling, the group encounters a "canon" who serves a religious function. The canon is
not a fan of the books of chivalry, though he once attempted to pen such a story himself.

Chapters 50-51

Later, the group has lunch and the priest opens the cage and permits Don Quixote to exit.
Quixote discusses chivalry with the canon and he manages to be both brilliant and ridiculous in
his arguments. Besides recounting his own adventures to the canon, Quixote also tells the tale of
the Knight of the Lake. During lunch, a goatherd named Eugenio approaches the group.
Chapter 52

Eugenio, the goatherd, ends up fighting with Quixote, much to the amusement of the group. Don
Quixote causes more trouble by attacking a group of holy pilgrims. They are carrying an icon of
the Blessed Virgin Mary within a cart: Quixote believes that they are criminals who have
kidnapped and imprisoned a good lady. Holy or not, the group defends itself and Sancho is
convinced that Don Quixote has received his last beating. Panza offers a very moving elegy for
his dead master, but Quixote is not dead, of course. Quixote has been beaten so severely that he
now goes home willingly.

Sancho returns home to his wife, Juana (at other points, her name is "Teresa"). "Juana" wants to
know what Sancho has brought home as justification for his long time away from home. The
squire says that he has won a governorship. Cervantes, as narrator, tells us in the final pages of
Book I that even though Don Quixote is quietly taken in at home, his housekeeper and niece are
right to fear that the "knight-errant" will soon grow restless.

Finally, Cervantes discusses the manuscripts of Quixote's adventures, telling us that he has found
additional texts that he will prepare for translation and subsequent publication. We have more of
Don Quixote's stories to look forward to, then: a third expedition.

Analysis

In Chapter 48, yet another religious figure (the canon) offers literary criticism. The canon argues
that works of comedy appeal to the masses but offend serious literary critics, whereas, serious
works that disengage the masses are acclaimed by the critics. The canon's remarks are amusing
in light of Cervantes' literary output: the novelist's early works were both less comedic and less
acclaimed than Don Quixote. As Book I comes to a close, the canon's references to government
censorship and literary taste, recall the novel's earliest chapters.

In conversation, the canon is amazed that Don Quixote integrates reason and foolishness. If
Quixote has gone mad, he has not gone completely mad. In the canon's eyes, Don Quixote
parallels Don Quixote, as seen through our eyes. Like the character, the novel presents the
plausible and the absurd, with little regard for the distinctions between them.

The enchantment constitutes a change in Don Quixote's environment, but this enchantment does
not resemble what Quixote knows from his stories. Still, he concludes that the relevant passage
of text must have been lost. This enchantment cannot be a new thing. Don Quixote remains
devoted to his orthodoxy.

Sancho Panza stands out as the one character willing to reason with Quixote, in part, because
Sancho knows that he will not win his island if Quixote returns home. In Chapter 49, Sancho
Panza expands upon the theme of delusion and truth-telling by incorporating forms of logic,
evidence and proof. Using deductive reasoning, Sancho argues that Quixote is not suffering from
an enchantment because Quixote needs to relieve himself. The storied descriptions of
enchantment make no mention of the enchanted suffering the urgency of bodily functions.
Quixote replies that the omission of this detail does not preclude the possibility. In Chapter 3,
Quixote follows the (first) innkeeper's advice to carry shirts and money with him, even though
Quixote "never read in the histories of knights-errant, that they carried any." The innkeeper's
logic is that with "the authors thinking it superfluous to specify a thing so plain, and so
indispensably necessary to be carried, as money and clean shirts, it was not therefore to be
inferred, that [the knights] had none."
The larger question involves the form and function of the modern novel, and the extent to which
the novel can and ought to capture the details of everyday life. Critics enjoy pointing out that
Cervantes introduces a question that remains controversial three centuries later. Virginia Woolf
railed against James Joyce's 1922 novel, Ulysses, because the fourth chapter narrates a
character's minutes in the outhouse.

Don Quixote illustrates the fear that man might revert into a beast without social structures and
constraints. Set free from his cage, Quixote battles a goatherd, and enacts a parody of his own
story of "The Knight of the Lake." He attacks a pilgrimage, perceiving an icon of the Virgin
Mary to be the hostage of the penitents. He is a hostage, newly freed, and he seeks glory by
freeing a perceived hostage.

The end leaves very much undone: Sancho returns home, persistent in his belief that he will
become governor of an island. Quixote has made no decision regarding Dulcinea. Quixote has
not been arrested, nor has there been an exorcism, nor a conversion. Indeed, Quixote has said
precious little to suggest an alteration in his future plans.

Don Quixote Book I About the Medieval Romance

Medieval Romance: What is It?

Don Quixote of la Mancha is a parody of the 'medieval romance' genre: a type of literature that
flourished from the 12th to the 14th centuries. Don Quixote was written when this genre was
already in decline (15th century) but a detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the 'medieval
romance' are necessary for a profound understanding of the work.

What does 'Medieval' Mean?: A Brief History of the Middle Ages

The Roman Empire started declining towards the AD 300's and its crumbling gave rise to the
Medieval Ages, or Middle Ages. This period lasted from AD 500 to 1500 and is referred as
"middle" because it was the time when the European nations began to form. Since the borders of
present-day European nations were being set, the Middle Ages was a period of great warfare.
The initial lack of strong government divided the people into feudal states. Because of the
constant warfare between these states, the concept of the knight came into being. A knight is
simply a mounted warrior. Young men were taught to wear heavy armor, ride a war-horse, and
fight with sword and lance . With the rise of the knight came the rise of chivalry, the knightly
code of behavior. The chivalrous knight was supposed to be loyal to his feudal state, virtuous,
brave, selfless, and protector the weak.

What does 'Romance' Mean?: The Beginnings of the Genre

In the beginning of the Middle Ages, the word "romance" (in Old French "romanz") was a term
used indiscriminately to any kind of long narrative in French verse. "Romanz" meant "the speech
of the people" or "the vulgar tongue." For instance, the "Roman de la Rose," a chronicle of
aristocratic courtship and "Roman d'Alexandre," a semi fantastic chronicle of the adventures of
Alexander the Great, are two romances that were known by the vulgate. By the end of the
Middle Ages, the term "romance" had been narrowed down to describe a tale of knightly
prowess, usually set in remote times or places, and involving some element of the supernatural .
Several factors contributed to what "romance" meant during the Middle Ages: legends of now
deceased Roman Empire, the curriculum of rhetoric used by the Catholic Church education
system, and the transformation in perception that man was not a static object but a mobile one in
a continuous spiritual journey. The classical Roman poet Ovid had postulated during his lifetime
that love was a "restless malady." Medieval writers took this concept of love and interwove it
into romantic classical stories by such greats as Virgil and Homer. Virgil's The Aneneid was
transformed into the Roman d'Eneas and Homer's tale of Troy was transformed into the Roman
de Troie. Professional writers of the time, known as "clerks," would be trained in rhetoric in
cathedral schools. They in turn would copy classical stories, like the ones mentioned above, into
the medieval romance format (described below). Where exactly these writers got the idea to
interweave them with classical stories is still a mystery.

Finally, there occurred a change in perception about man during the Middle Ages. Towards the
end of the Roman Empire, man had been perceived as a static object, hit upon by life events, and
from these "hits" he would accrue spiritual meaning. During the Middle Ages, man was
perceived as a mobile object, one that would be in a constant journey to find spiritual meaning.
Instead of being "hit" by random life events, man would be in search of these "hits," therefore
becoming the architect of his own spiritual world. For this reason, the imagery of "journeying"
and the "knight errant" became popular during the Middle Ages. The knight is in search of
spiritual meaning. In Arthurian romances, this spiritual meaning is usually portrayed as the
unattainable Holy Grail. It is for this reason that Don Quixote leaves his home: by emulating
medieval knights, he is in search of spiritual meaning. In the Middle Ages, action was only a
means to a spiritual end .

The Characteristics of a Medieval Romance

We have talked much about the origins of medieval romance, but we have not touched upon the
common characteristics which make up such a work. Here are then, the characteristics and
themes that you will find in most medieval romances:

Journeying: The journey is a metaphor for the spiritual quest of man during the Middle Ages. In
Arthurian romances, all of King Arthur's knights are in search of the Holy Grail, a metaphor for
spiritual fulfillment. In the medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde, a story of young star-crossed
lovers, Tristan and Isolde are in a continuous journey trying to escape situations that try to keep
them apart and therefore of fulfilling their romantic destiny.

Love: The medieval knight usually swears his undying love to a beautiful maiden. (Don Quixote
swears his undying love to Dulcinea del Toboso.) It is this love which keeps the knight alive in
the course of his wanderings and also keeps him from entering any relationships with women he
encounters along the way. The maiden may sometimes submit the knight to "tests" so that she
can be sure that he loves her. For instance, in Arthurian romances, Lady Guinevere, King
Arthur's wife, is actually in love with one of her husband's knights, Sir Lancelot. In Sir Thomas
Malory's romance Le Morte D'Arthur, Guinevere makes Lancelot undergo perilous tests at a
tournament to see if he really loved her.

Virtue: A medieval knight has to prove his virtue, specifically his purity of heart and purpose,
time and time again during his journey. This purity of heart will give the knight fame and respect
back at home. But most importantly, it will make it easier for him to find spiritual fulfillment. In
the romance Queste del Saint Graal, we learn of Sir Galahad, the perfect knight. His perfection
lies in his perfect morality and physical virginity, two Christian values. It is his perfection in
virtue that allows him to find the Holy Grail and soon after die in ecstasy. No other knight had
ever or will ever achieve this accomplishment in medieval literature.

Man and God: In their journeys, knights have to prove that they are pure of heart, specifically by
not succumbing to any temptations or spells they encounter. It is only abstinence which will save
the knight's soul when he dies. This theme of abstinence becomes more and more prevalent as
medieval romances came to be influenced by Christianity. For instance, when Arthurian
romances became impregnated with Christian ideals, the illicit love affair between Lady
Guinevere and Sir Lancelot came to be seen as the ultimate sin of adultery. It is this sin which
leads to a falling out between Lancelot and King Arthur, a breakdown between the knights of the
Round Table, and finally to the destruction of King Arthur's kingdom. It also puts Sir Lancelot's
soul in a perilous position with God.

Supernatural: Medieval romances are ridden of supernatural beings such as dwarves, fairies,
magicians, and giants, to name a few. These beings were created by the authors themselves to
add excitement to the story but also to test the knight's virtue. In Don Quixote, the protagonist
encounters some windmills, which he believes to be giants. Although funny, this scene shows
that elements of the supernatural are an integral part of medieval romances.

Amadis de Gaula: The Spanish Medieval Romance

In reading Don Quixote, you have probably already encountered the continuous reference to
Amadis de Gaula. Many people have never heard of this man and usually continue reading
without paying much attention. But sure enough, the name pops again and attention much be
given to understand why Gaula is always being mentioned and why Don Quixote is always
comparing himself to him.

Amadis de Gaula is the product of Arthurian romances. Gaula is the Spanish medieval knight,
who like any Arthurian knight encounters supernatural adventures in his journeys. For Spain,
Gaula was the epitome of what a perfect knight should be. This work first appeared towards late
13th century. But it was finally published in 1508 by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo. This work
revolved around the concept of chivalry and the exercise of such a concept. After being
published it was translated into many languages and it is said to have affected the concept of
chivalry which we have today. Don Quixote adopts many of Amadis's habits because he wants to
become a perfect knight. Today, the term chivalry connotes virtuousness, honor, and gallantry.