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Part 1, Chapter 35
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
Just after the story ends, the innkeeper announces that a strange party has arrived: four men in black masks on horseback, a sad woman in white, and two servants. When the woman and one of the men let their masks slip off, Cardenio recognizes the faces of Don Fernando and the beautiful Luscinda. Luscinda begs Don Fernando to let her go to Cardenio, and Dorotea implores Fernando to honor his promise and marry her; her low birth, she says, should not be an obstacle to the noble marriage because of her virtue and beauty. Don Fernando is so moved by Dorotea’s speech that he lets Luscinda go and promises to marry Dorotea.
All of a sudden, several plotlines are resolved at once in this magical inn, which throws all the characters together in a sort of cramped carnival. The two happy love stories form a counterpart to the tragedy of “The Tale of Inappropriate Curiosity.” If the Tale contrasted Quixote’s idealistic love with its emphasis on desire, this subplot contrasts idealistic love by dwelling on money and status – prosaic, worldly concerns.
Themes
