Do Quijote III

I'm going to steal a little from sparknotes on Don Quijote just because I feel like sometime when they explain quotations they do it so very well.

“For what I want of Dulcinea del Toboso she is as good as the greatest princess in the land. For not all those poets who praise ladies under names which they choose so freely, really have such mistresses. . . .I am quite satisfied. . . to imagine and believe that the good Aldonza Lorenzo is so lovely and virtuous...”

In this quotation from Chapter XXV of the First Part, Don Quixote explains to Sancho that the actual behavior of the farmer’s daughter, Aldonza Lorenzo, does not matter as long as he can imagine her perfectly as his princess, Dulcinea del Toboso. This idea of Dulcinea figures prominently in the novel, since we never actually meet Dulcinea, and she likely does not even know about Don Quixote’s patronage. Don Quixote’s imagination compensates for many holes in the novel’s narration, providing explanations for inexplicable phenomena and turning apparently mundane events into great adventures. Dulcinea gains renown through Don Quixote’s praise, and regardless of whether she is even real, she exists in fame and in the imaginations of all the characters who read about her. In this way, Don Quixote’s imaginings take on the force of reality and he becomes, effectively, the narrator of his own fate.

Here we see this idea of chivalry again as well as the “level” of Don Quijote's insanity. He has created this alternate view of reality that allows him to give his life some meaning and purpose. He has this women, who may or may not be real and whom we never meet, and yet he does all things in her name and honor. He has “devoted his knighthood to her and she may not exist but in his mind. In this we can see that Don Quijote has created his version of reality and his truth so that his life both has meaning and direction. The existence or lack there of of this Dulcinea drives him and raises praise to her through him. Even the name he has given her tells something about her. (Dulcinea...dulce...sweet and innocent, that maiden that needed protection of the knights). He's created his “ultimate woman” and around this a world in which he does everything for her and in her honor.