Inns Symbol in Don Quixote

In this novel, inns are halfway points between civilization and the wilderness. They are places where travellers can take refuge from the dangers and weathers of the open road, places of sleep, nourishment, and some human order. They are miniatures of human society, with their own rules and customs. But they are changing, unstable structures, defined by the strange collections of people who pass through them. They morph to reflect the societies and that are formed and dissolved daily. When a judge arrives at an inn, it becomes like a court of law; when a priest arrives, it becomes a moral court; when a storyteller arrives, it becomes a stage; and so on. When Quixote arrives at an inn, it generally becomes a castle. In the novel, inns represent people’s power to change and recreate the society they inhabit.

Inns Quotes in Don Quixote

The Don Quixote quotes below all refer to the symbol of Inns. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

And since whatever our adventurer thought, saw, or imagined seemed to him to be as it was in the books he’d read, as soon as he saw the inn he took it for a castle with its four towers and their spires of shining silver.

Related Characters: Don Quixote de la Mancha

Related Symbols: Inns

Page Number and Citation: 32

Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t understand how that can be so, because to my mind there isn’t a better read anywhere in the world … at harvest time, you see, lots of the reapers come in here on rest-days, and there are always some who can read, and one of them picks up one of these books, and more than thirty of us gather around him, and we enjoy listening to it so much that it takes all our worries away.

Related Characters: The innkeeper (speaker)

Related Symbols: Inns

Page Number and Citation: 290

Explanation and Analysis:

Don Quixote was developing his arguments in such an orderly and lucid way that for the time being none of those listening could believe he was a madman.

Related Characters: Don Quixote de la Mancha

Related Symbols: Inns

Page Number and Citation: 355

Explanation and Analysis:

It is possible that, since you have not been knighted, as I have, the enchantments in this place do not affect you, and that your understanding is unclouded, and that you can form judgments about the affairs of the castle as they really and truly are, rather than as they appeared to me.

Related Characters: Don Quixote de la Mancha (speaker), The priest, The barber, Don Fernando, Barber 2

Related Symbols: Inns, Enchanters

Page Number and Citation: 420

Explanation and Analysis:

But one man had been plunged into the deepest depths of despair, and that was the barber, whose basin, there before his very eyes, had turned into Mambrino’s helmet, and whose pack-saddle, he was very sure, was about to turn into the splendid caparisons of some handsome steed.

Related Characters: Don Quixote de la Mancha, Barber 2

Related Symbols: Inns

Page Number and Citation: 420

Explanation and Analysis:

Inns Symbol Timeline in Don Quixote

The timeline below shows where the symbol Inns appears in Don Quixote. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Literature, Realism, and Idealism Theme Icon

After travelling all day, he arrives at an inn at nightfall. But since he sees everything as it would appear in his favorite books,... (full context)

When the innkeeper asks for his payment, Quixote explains that knights do not pay such fees and quickly... (full context)

The company makes their way back to the inn where the two friends had stayed previously. The innkeeper and his wife welcome them cordially... (full context)

...yelling that Don Quixote has been battling a heavily bleeding giant in his room; the innkeeper angrily deduces that Quixote has been slashing at wineskins in his sleep. The half-dressed knight... (full context)

Self-Invention, Class Identity, and Social Change Theme Icon

That night, another group of guests arrives at the inn: a judge, his beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter, and their servants. They are on their way to... (full context)

...for the night – everyone but Don Quixote, who decides to keep guard outside the inn to ensure the women’s safety. Just before dawn, Dorotea hears a beautiful voice coming from... (full context)

Meanwhile, the innkeeper’s daughter and the servant girl Maritornes decide to have some fun at Don Quixote’s expense.... (full context)

The innkeeper hears Quixote’s noise and runs outside. Maritornes hears it as well, so she runs to... (full context)

...won’t come home until he has settled his affairs. Nearly all the guests at the inn come out to listen to the argument. The judge recognizes the boy as his neighbor’s... (full context)

...judge tells him he must think it over. Just then, another guest arrives at the inn – barber # 2, from whom Quixote stole Mambrino’s helmet and Sancho stole a pack-saddle.... (full context)

...Don Quixote agrees and forgives Sancho on the spot, adding that most events at the inn take place via enchantment. (full context)

...As they ride along, the three travellers see a man carrying arms to a nearby inn for some important event, and they are so curious that they too decide to spend... (full context)

...people, but he pays Master Pedro what he owes him. He and Sancho leave the inn early the following morning. (full context)

...that will disenchant Dulcinea. They sleep most of the day and hurry to a nearby inn, which Quixote calls an inn and not a castle (and so does the author). They... (full context)

They continue talking over dinner. Don Jerónimo says that the second book depicts Sancho as an unfunny glutton. Sancho tells... (full context)

...days later, they arrive at a village near their own. People are celebrating at the inn when they arrive, and the villagers ask the two travellers for their advice. One very... (full context)

Finally Quixote stops him and they ride on to a nearby inn, which to Quixote definitely looks like an inn and not a castle; ever since he... (full context)

The following day, Quixote and Sancho overhear a servant address a guest at the inn with the name Don Tarfe – a name Quixote remembers seeing in the false second... (full context)

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

Inns Symbol Analysis

Inns Quotes in Don Quixote

Inns Symbol Timeline in Don Quixote