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Part 2, Chapter 27
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
Sancho is angry that Quixote did not defend him from the villagers, but Quixote explains that “courage which is not based on prudence is called foolhardiness.” Sancho is lonely for his family so he and Quixote determine the sum of his wages thus far, so that he can collect and leave, if he so chooses. But when Quixote harangues him viciously for his disloyalty and stupidity, calling him an ass and an animal, Sancho repents and decides to continue being a squire. They spend the night under some poplar trees.
Quixote’s friendship with Sancho in this section is very stormy. First, Quixote repeats something Sancho has said: this is both a compliment and an insult, because Quixote has learned from Sancho but does not realize it. He calls Sancho an animal for caring more about money than about ideals. Quixote’s notion of self-making is rising from animal to human, from materialism to beliefs.
Themes
