Don Quixote book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Part 1 to Chapter 35

1. How much blame should Don Quixote bear when Andrés says his rescue caused harm?
2. Is the household justified in judging Don Quixote's books while he sleeps?
3. What does Sancho Panza's attraction to promised government suggest about his reasons for serving?
4. What obligations, if any, should Marcela have toward people whose love she does not return?
5. How should Don Quixote weigh Sancho's warnings against his own belief when he sees armies rather than sheep?

Meeting 2: Chapters 36 to 24

6. What makes Zoraida's escape a success, and what makes that judgment difficult?
7. Can a staged capture be justified as a way to control Don Quixote?
8. How might hearing readers' praise and complaints change Don Quixote's sense of himself?
9. How should Sancho and Teresa weigh social ambition against family duties?
10. Is Don Quixote's challenge to the lions better understood as courage or poor judgment?

Meeting 3: Chapters 25 to 74

11. What responsibility does Don Quixote have for damage when he mistakes a puppet show for a real rescue?
12. How freely can Sancho agree to painful lashes when his governorship depends on accepting them?
13. What should count most when judging Sancho's fitness to govern: his decisions, his manners, or his intentions?
14. Is Sancho's decision to give up government a failure of ambition or a sound judgment about freedom?
15. What does Altisidora's admission change about how you judge the nobles' entertainment?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.