Don Quixote, << don kih HOH tee or don KWIHK suht, >> is a novel by Miguel de Cervantes of Spain. Cervantes published the novel in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. Until the 1800’s, Don Quixote was thought of as a humorous story of a madman’s adventures. Then, it became a model for a new type of fiction with heroes who do not conform to their times.
The hero of Don Quixote is a Spanish landowner who enlivens his monotonous life by reading fictional tales about knights of old, which he believes to be true and accurate. Wishing to live like the knights, he takes the name Don Quixote of La Mancha, dresses in armor, and sets out to gain fame by performing heroic deeds. He attacks windmills he thinks are giants and flocks of sheep he mistakes for armies. The peasant Sancho Panza serves as Don Quixote’s squire (attendant) during the hero’s adventures. Small, round Sancho riding his donkey contrasts with the tall, thin Don Quixote on his scrawny horse Rocinante. Sancho stands for the real in life, Don Quixote for the ideal. Their conversations together make up a large part of the novel.
Although beaten and scorned, Quixote still believes in his heroic destiny. When part two of the novel begins, he is amazed to discover that the first part of his life has been published. He must now live up to his literary fame. He loses faith in his destiny, becomes a prisoner of his imagined reputation, and is forced to behave as if he really believed in himself as a hero. Quixote finally regains his senses before he dies.
