Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Don Quixote, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Truth and Lies
Literature, Realism, and Idealism
Madness and Sanity
Intention and Consequence
Self-Invention, Class Identity, and Social Change
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Sancho and Quixote run into some falconers and a beautiful lady on horseback. Sancho introduces himself and his master, and the lady tells him that they are well-known in these parts and invites them to spend some time in her country house. The Duchess calls over the Duke, who had also read The Ingenious Hidalgo, and they decide to receive him as knights errant used to be received in the old chivalry books. They love the knight’s history and are delighted to meet the two friends in person. The Duchess especially “simply adored” listening to Sancho’s nonsense.
For the first time, Sancho and Quixote spend time with people who know them more as characters than as real people. The Duke and Duchess love the book and its protagonists, but there is something condescending about that love. They decide to recreate the world of chivalry books around their new guests – the world in which Quixote actually lives.
Themes
