Don Quixote

The fictional world depicted in the literary works brings forth the thinking and actions of the characters in setting which is created by the authors. The settings can be real, imaginary or illusory. In some works, the illusory world is incorporated with the real world. The novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is one such literary work, in which the author has depicted the illusory world along with the real world. The protagonist of the novel, Alonso Quixano is so fascinated by the illusory world depicted in the books of chivalry that he fails to realize that this world exists only in the books. Alonso Quixano, a middle-aged man living in La Mancha, regards himself to be a knight named Don Quixote de la Mancha. He acts and behaves like a knight whose sole aim is to restore order in his chaotic world by making people to live in accordance to the chivalric code.  In the end, Don Quixotes realizes the difference between the real world and illusory world of his imaginations owing to the efforts of his squire, Sancho and gives up his knight-errantry.

In pursuit of an adventurous world, Don Quixote travels to seek his illusory world in the real world surrounding him. He assumes that the people and the objects in the real world are equivalent to the characters and the objects presented in the world of chivalry. Don Quixote believes that he is a knight and attempts to locate his companions among the ordinary people surrounding him. After acquiring all the things possessed by a knight, Don Quixote thinks about his lady-love. So then, his armour being furbished, his morion turned into a helmet, his hack christened.. look out for a lady to be in love with for a knight-errant without love was like a tree without leaves or fruit, or a body without a soul. (Cervantes 47). For his Princess, he chooses the daughter of a farmer, Dulcinea del Toboso. It is in the imaginary world of Don

Quixote that Dulcinea is portrayed as the Princess. The real Dulcinea is never presented in the novel. The words and thoughts of Don Quixote make the reader to imagine Dulcinea as the Princess. For what I want of Dulcinea del Toboso she is as good as the greatest princess in the land. For not all those poets who praise ladies under names which .to imagine and believe that the good Aldonza Lorenzo is so lovely and virtuous. (Cervantes 48).  Although Don faces mockery wherever he goes, he ignores them and continues behaving like a knight. When Don Quixote enters an inn, he is ridiculed by the landlord for his behavior. The landlord told all the people who were in the inn about the craze of his guest, the watching of the armour, and the dubbing ceremony he contemplated. (Cervantes 53).  The real world contradicts with the thoughts and attitudes of Don Quixote but still he persists with his belief in the illusory world.

    It is only due to the efforts of his squire, Sancho that Don Quixote comes out of his illusory world. After a bout of severe illness, Don Quixote gives up his name of Don Quixote and his belief in the illusory world. He also disowns his books of chivalry and is repentant for his behavior as a knight in the past. My reason is now free and clear, rid of the dark shadows ofignorance that my unhappy constant study of those detestable books of chivalry cast over it. Now I see through ..me no time to make some amends by reading other books that might be a light to my soul. (Cervantes 105). He realizes his ignorance in believing in the illusory world of the books. The character of Alonso Quixano undergoes a significant change towards the end of the novel. Initially he comes across as an insane person who under the influence of books of chivalry regards himself to a knight but as he begins to comprehend the difference between the illusory world of the books and the real world around him, he relinquishes his life as a knight and expresses his regret for living in an illusory world.