Cervantes' Don Quixote: Plot Summary and Literary Structure

The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha: A Satire of Chivalry

Miguel de Cervantes makes a satire of the romances popular in his time. It narrates the random adventures of a gentleman who lost his sanity because of his excessive fondness for books of chivalry. The work was published in two parts:

• Part I: The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605)
• Part II: The second part of the work (1615)

Part I: The Adventures of Don Quixote (1605)

The first part of Don Quixote recounts two major outings or trips.

The First Exit: The Birth of a Knight-Errant

This section is a relatively autonomous piece. It narrates how Alonso Quijano, the protagonist, decides to become a knight-errant. He chooses an appropriate name for a gentleman: “Don Quixote.” He selects a lady to offer his victories and love, baptizing a very attractive neighboring village woman with the name of Dulcinea del Toboso.

This idea guides the first steps and adventures of the protagonist, who always end up badly because he confuses reality, transforming it in his mind into a world of chivalry. After being beaten, he is collected by a neighboring farmer who recognizes him and takes him home to recover.

The Second Exit: The Partnership with Sancho Panza

Once recovered, the second outing is prepared. This time, however, Don Quixote looks for a squire: the neighboring peasant, Sancho Panza, whom he convinces after multiple promises. Among them, he mentions the possibility that Sancho becomes governor of an “island” (ínsula), a word that Sancho does not easily understand but that does not stop impressing him.

The immortal partnership, characterized by memorable dialogues, runs across La Mancha and reaches Sierra Morena. Together they live the famous stories, including:

• The episode of the windmills.
• The encounter with the goat herders.
• The “battle” between two herds.
• The episode with the galley slaves.

Part II: The Third Output and Final Defeat (1615)

Cervantes, aiming to contradict his imitator Avellaneda, refuses to let his characters take part in competitions in Zaragoza, as promised in the first part of the work. Don Quixote and Sancho leave their village, go to Aragon, and arrive in Barcelona.

The Dukes' Jest and Sancho's Governorship

The Dukes, having read the first part of Don Quixote and recognizing the characters, decide to play a joke. The whole court of aristocrats pretends to be a world of chivalry, and they even appoint Sancho governor of an ínsula for a few days.

The Return and Death of Alonso Quijano

Afterward, Don Quixote has a fight with the bachelor Samson Carrasco, who has been sent by the main character's family. Carrasco wins and forces Don Quixote to abandon his life of chivalry and go home. Shortly after arriving, the protagonist falls ill and dies. Sancho regains sanity and dies shortly before his master, whom he had encouraged to embrace pastoral life.