Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes is the story of a man who goes to absurd lengths in the name of chivalry. Unwavering and possibly insane, Quixote and his faithful sidekick, Sancho Panza, boldly struggle against imaginary evils, to prove their valor.
Don Quixote Heroic Journey: Identify elements of the Hero's Journey in Don Quixote with this fun activity!
Storyboard Text
ORDINARY WORLD
CALL TO ADVENTURE
MENTOR / HELPER
The story begins when the reader is introduced to Alonso Quijano, a middle aged man who enjoys reading books about knights and their deeds.
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD
After becoming so engrossed in these fantasies, he changes his name to Don Quixote and decides to become his own knight and set off on a ‘Knight's Errand’. He gets his nearly decrepit horse, Rocnante, and his ancient armor and sets out in the name of his fair lady Dulcinea, a peasant woman he’s never met.
TESTS / ALLIES / ENEMIES
Along the way he meets, Sancho Panza, his faithful sidekick and squire!
RETURN
On his quest, Quixote attacks a windmill with a lance thinking it’s a giant, his own delusions and his belief that he cannot return home until he’s done his Knightly deed show that there is a literal and metaphoric threshold. The point of no return might have actually come when he believed that he was a true Knight.
A majority of Don Quixote’s tales also deal with the other characters he meets along the way. Notable adventures include the funeral of the lovestruck student, the galley slave, the unifying of two bereaved couples, and his dream that he was battling a giant.
In the end, friends of Don Quixote come to bring Quixote and Sancho home. They inevitably have to drag him, to which Quixote deals with by believing his is under enchantment.