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Part 1, Chapter 49
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
Quixote goes on to describe the pleasures and splendors of chivalry books: the magical places, the beautiful princesses, the horrible monsters and exquisite palaces. He tells the canon that these books cure sadness and improve one’s personality: he himself has become gentler, braver, and more polite. A poor man like him cannot show his generosity except through valiant deeds, so he hopes to become an emperor so that he can help his friends – for one thing, he’ll be able to give Sancho an island.
The canon and the priest agreed earlier that chivalry books and frivolous plays are too unlifelike and absurd to be morally beneficial. But Quixote explains clearly that chivalry books have made him into a better person, despite their implausibility. The other men’s theories are full of holes.
Themes
As the group eats lunch, a goat and its goatherd leap out at them from the bushes. They invite him to sit and eat with them and tell his story. Sancho decides to go off and eat a pie all by himself, while Quixote declares he needs spiritual sustenance more than he needs food.
Despite Quixote and Sancho’s gradual transformations, the book insists on their basic types: Sancho is short, plump, gluttonous, and practical, while Quixote is tall, skinny, and dreamy.
Themes
