Don Quixote: who's who, timeline and places

Everyone in Don Quixote, what happens when, and where, without spoilers: tell us how far you have read and we show only what you already know.

I have read up to chapter

1of 129

Don QuixoteDon Quixote is the subject of a book the narrator hesitates to present.First seen in chapter 1
the priestThe priest inspects Don Quixote’s library with the barber while the household urges them to destroy books.First seen in chapter 7
the barberThe barber helps the priest inspect the books blamed for Don Quixote’s illness.First seen in chapter 7
Sancho PanzaSancho Panza accompanies Don Quixote and warns him when he mistakes windmills for giants.First seen in chapter 9
MarcelaMarcela refuses to marry, frustrating her many suitors.First seen in chapter 13
CardenioCardenio tells Don Quixote about his love for Luscinda and his growing mistrust of Don Fernando.First seen in chapter 25
LuscindaLuscinda is the woman Cardenio loves, whose attraction for Don Fernando alarms him.First seen in chapter 25
Don FernandoDon Fernando admires Luscinda, causing Cardenio to mistrust him.First seen in chapter 25
DulcineaDulcinea is the person to whom Don Quixote sends Sancho with a letter.First seen in chapter 26
DoroteaDorotea is a woman disguised as a farmhand who recounts Don Fernando’s broken marriage promises.First seen in chapter 29
Sansón CarrascoSansón Carrasco tells Don Quixote and Sancho that their adventures appear in a widely read history.First seen in chapter 58
the duchessThe duchess recognizes Don Quixote and Sancho from their printed story and welcomes them to her lands.First seen in chapter 85

Chapter 2
A gentleman in La Mancha loses his judgment through reading and decides to become a knight-errant.
Chapter 4
Don Quixote asks an innkeeper to make him a knight and injures two muleteers while guarding his arms.
Chapter 9
Don Quixote mistakes windmills for giants and ignores Sancho Panza’s warnings.
Chapter 16
Galician muleteers beat Don Quixote and Sancho after Rocinante approaches their mares and Don Quixote attacks.
Chapter 23
Don Quixote attacks the guards of men condemned to the galleys, allowing the prisoners to escape.
Chapter 26
Don Quixote chooses a mountain retreat for penance and sends Sancho to Dulcinea with a letter.
Chapter 30
Dorotea pretends to be a dispossessed princess to draw Don Quixote out of the mountains.
Chapter 37
Don Fernando arrives at the inn with Luscinda, whose reunion with Cardenio follows recognition and confrontation.
Chapter 48
Don Quixote travels in a cage, believing himself enchanted, while Sancho challenges the priest’s deception.
Chapter 53
Don Quixote mistakes a religious image for a captive woman and suffers a blow that sends him home.
Chapter 58
Sansón Carrasco tells Don Quixote and Sancho that their adventures appear in a widely read history.
Chapter 65
Sancho presents a passing peasant woman as Dulcinea and persuades Don Quixote that enchantment disguises her beauty.
Chapter 69
Don Quixote defeats a challenging knight and discovers a face identical to Sansón Carrasco’s beneath the helmet.
Chapter 76
Basilio pretends to stab himself at Quiteria’s wedding and secures her hand as an apparent dying wish.
Chapter 81
Don Quixote mistakes a puppet pursuit for a real attack and destroys Master Pedro’s stage.
Chapter 85
A duchess recognizes Don Quixote and Sancho from their printed story and welcomes them to her lands.
Chapter 96
Don Quixote and Sancho mistake artificial wind and heat for flight before firecrackers throw them from a wooden horse.
Chapter 100
Sancho takes office in Barataria and surprises the townspeople with his practical judgments in three disputes.
Chapter 108
During a staged invasion, Sancho falls between tightly bound shields and suffers trampling before the pranksters announce victory.
Chapter 116
Don Quixote and Sancho reach Barcelona, where the sea, ships, music, and gunfire astonish them.
Chapter 120
Sansón Carrasco reveals that he defeats Don Quixote to make him return home and recover his reason.
Chapter 128
Don Quixote returns to his village and proposes spending his required year at home as a shepherd.
Chapter 129
Don Quixote falls ill, declares his sanity restored, rejects books of chivalry, and makes his will as Alonso Quijano the Good.
Hidden until you have read that far.

Free for 3 months

Get the full summary of Don Quixote, free

200,000+ classics as eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and print and large print at cost
Up to 5 readers in your home on one plan

Start freeNothing to pay today. USD 0.14 a day in the first year, then USD 0.27 a day.

200,000+ classics to read, hear and hold

15-minute summaries today, eBooks and audiobooks as each book opens, and printed books, large print included, at cost.

Start free

Back to the Don Quixote study guide · Quiz and flashcards