Don Quixote, Chapter 47 summary

What happens

1. Don Quixote explains away the cart’s unusual slowness and Sancho’s evidence that the supposed demons have ordinary bodies.
2. The party leaves the inn after farewells, and the priest receives another story found among the abandoned papers.
3. A canon and his companions overtake the procession and ask why Don Quixote travels inside a cage.
4. Sancho recognizes the disguised priest and barber, disputes the enchantment, and protests the loss of his hoped-for governorship.
5. The priest privately explains Don Quixote’s condition and their plan to bring him home and seek a cure.
6. The canon condemns implausible romances but argues that skillful writers can use their freedom to teach and entertain.

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What to notice

The canon’s closing claim expands his argument beyond condemnation. He allows prose fiction the scope and artistic possibilities associated with poetry.

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