# XXVI explained — Don Quixote

> Chapter companion for Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

## What happens

Don Quixote, alone in the Sierra Morena, debates whether to imitate the furious madness of Roland or the melancholy madness of Amadís, ultimately choosing the latter. He makes a rosary from his shirt, writes verses in praise of Dulcinea, and performs penance. Meanwhile, Sancho Panza meets the curate and the barber, recounts his master's actions, and loses the notebook containing Dulcinea's letter. The curate and barber devise a plan to disguise themselves as a damsel and squire to lure Don Quixote home.

## Themes in this chapter

### Reality vs. Illusion

Don Quixote's deliberate imitation of chivalric heroes blurs the line between his imagined world and reality, as he constructs a penance based on literary models.

### Chivalry and Idealism

Don Quixote's choice to emulate Amadís of Gaul highlights his commitment to chivalric ideals, even in solitude.

### Literature and Metafiction

The chapter explicitly references Roland and Amadís, showing Don Quixote's life as a performance of literary tropes.

## Character check-ins

### Don Quixote

Performs penance in the Sierra Morena, imitating Amadís of Gaul; writes verses on trees and sand in praise of Dulcinea.

### Sancho Panza

Meets the curate and barber, recounts Don Quixote's adventures, and loses the notebook with Dulcinea's letter.

### The Priest

Along with the barber, devises a plan to disguise himself as a damsel to trick Don Quixote into returning home.

### Master Nicholas

Assists the curate in the plan, agreeing to disguise himself as a squire.

### Dulcinea del Toboso

The object of Don Quixote's devotion; Sancho carries a lost letter addressed to her.

## Key lines

> What wonder is it if Roland was so good a knight and so valiant as everyone says he was, when, after all, he was enchanted, and nobody could kill him save by thrusting a corking pin into the sole of his foot, and he always wore shoes with seven iron soles?

Don Quixote reflects on Roland's invulnerability due to enchantment, noting that only a pin in the foot could kill him, and he wore shoes with seven iron soles.

_Don Quixote compares his own situation to Roland's legendary invincibility._

> Long live the memory of Amadís and let him be imitated so far as is possible by Don Quixote of La Mancha, of whom it will be said, as was said of the other, that if he did not achieve great things, he died in attempting them.

Don Quixote resolves to imitate Amadís of Gaul, hoping to be remembered for striving after great deeds even if he fails.

_This shows Don Quixote's conscious choice of a model for his penance._

> I have lost the notebook that contained the letter to Dulcinea, and an order signed by my master in which he directed his niece to give me three ass-colts out of four or five he had at home.

Sancho Panza laments losing the notebook with Dulcinea's letter and the order for three colts, which he was to receive from Don Quixote's niece.

_Sancho's distress over the loss reveals his practical concerns amid the chivalric drama._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_quixote_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters