Don Quixote Chapters 19-27

One scene that really seemed important was in Chapter 20, “I do not deny,” replied Don Quixote, “that what has happened to us is worth laughing at; but it is not worth telling, because not all people are intelligent enough to see things in the right perspective” (164). It is ironic that Don Quixote would say this because it seems he is on to something when he says that people are not intelligent enough to see things in the right perspective. This goes along with the theme that Don Quixote may not be able to distinguish fact from fiction, but maybe the way he sees the world is the right view. Maybe there is some truth behind what he says and he is actually the intelligent one. Don Quixote’s perceived madness could actually be revolutionary.

Another important scene was in Chapter 25, “At least, Sancho, I want you, because it is essential – what I mean to say is that I want you to see me naked, performing a dozen or two dozen mad deeds, which will only take me half an hour, so that having seen them with your own eyes you can safely swear to any others…” (218). Here Don Quixote has “gone mad” because of his love for Dulcinea. He is imitating Cardenio and how was pushed into madness. Don Quixote admits that he has gone mad, but it was not until now that he has realized this. He has been separated from her for so long that he questions her fidelity, pushing him over the edge. Again, Sancho knows her to be a peasant, but Don Quixote says she is a princess and what the knight says always goes.