It is a well-known maxim that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Cervantes' Don Quixote documents the misadventures of the good-willed but insane Don Quixote in his crazed quest to save a world afflicted by imaginary perils and bests and restore chivalric honor once again while inadvertently wreaking havoc across Spain. Though relentlessly pursuing his ideal dream, Don Quixote nevertheless cannot triumph over the oppressive forces of reality, grounding the world in its flaws and imperfection.
Despite being far past his prime, Don Quixote's head is spellbound by all sorts of whimsical and heroic ideas. Traveling across the country, he and his squire make quite a comical sight; a tall, lean emaciated beanpole of a man clad in armor riding a bony horse and a short, stocky squire on a donkey. However, the single desire that distinctively characterizes Don Quixote is his monomania in reviving chivalric tradition, changing the world to his standards of morality. In his first failed sally, Quixote establishes his name by having himself unceremoniously knighted at an inn, but his gallant voyage is quickly cut short after he is beaten up by a crowd of traders when they refuse to praise the imaginary Dulcinea. Fully believing that the romantic world in the chivalric novels is indeed reality, Quixote takes on the responsibility of protecting the innocent and ensuring justice, but the sheer disparity in what he perceives and reality creates comical misunderstandings. Perceiving a hostile giant, he runs his lance into a windmill in an attempt to vanquish evil from the world. Similarly, he attacks two religious monks he perceives as holding a princess hostage and steals an alleged legendary helmet, which is nothing but a simple basin, from a poor barber. In addition, as a knight-errand, the last preserver of dignity in society, Don Quixote adheres to a strange sense of honor, through which Cervantes mercilessly satirizes romantic chivalric novels. At the inn, he beats up two innocent people at the well who only moved aside his armor to water their horses. Feeling slighted at such a minor incident, Quixote reacts with violence; similarly, he impulsively attacks a group of muleteers to defend the honor of his horse, whatever that means. Quixote's impulsive decision to attack a procession of priests carrying a corpse and taking off with spoils (their food) and his refusal to pay the innkeeper due to his knightly tenets heightens the dichotomy between Quixote's ideal world and reality, where the flaws of chivalry become blisteringly apparent.
While Quixote's world of chivalry and that of reality are fundamentally incompatible with one another, he nonetheless displays his personal honesty and honor even in his wildest adventures, an admirable feat by itself. In contrast, "sane" men prove to be even more immoral than Don Quixote, like the priest and barber, Sansón Carrasco, and the Duke and Duchess. Don Quixote's kindness shines through even in his first voyage; he treats the prostitutes in the inn like royal ladies, earning their admiration for him. His honesty is pure to the point of naivety, like how he trusted the evil farmer to abide by his oath to pay the shepherd boy wages and treat him well, which results in Don Quixote exacerbating matters for the innocent boy. Genuinely believing that his work is for the benefit of the entire human race, Quixote makes an impassioned speech to the shepherds, vowing to return the world to a period without class divisions, one full of equality, fraternity, and kindness. If he is a madman, at least he has a purposeful dream, unlike the priest and barber (not the one whose basin was stolen) who have always been scheming to return him home. At first, the two seek to bring the knight-errand home out of concern for him and his family, but later that sense of responsibility erodes into nothing but amusement. Indeed, in the second sally, the priest and barber actively encourage a recovering Quixote to set off on another adventure so that they would have some excitement and entertainment in their lives again. The priest's hypocritical view of chivalric novels juxtaposes with Don Quixote's fervent passion for them; despite condemning the novels as unrealistic and romantic, the priest seems to be quite familiar with them and even spares a couple of volumes from the flames if he knew the author. Similarly, Sansón Carrasco set off with good intentions, seeking to bring Don Quixote back home by defeating him in a duel. However, after his loss, Carrasco's sole focus shifts to revenge, and thus spent a great deal of time planning to reencounter Quixote; as the Knight of Mirrors, he vanquishes Quixote and achieves his petty vendetta. Likewise, the Duke and Duchess are also enthralled in pettiness, spending vast amounts of resources to poke fun at Sancho's stupidity and Quixote's naive sincerity. Investing so much effort into making fools out of an insane man and a stupid man, who overcome all obstacles with morality and honor, the Duke and Duchess make fools out of themselves. In contrast, the morality and honor displayed by Don Quixote through his chivalric adventures emphasize that despite being a madman with no grip on reality, Quixote is nonetheless a good person at heart.
In following his most profound, irrational dreams, Don Quixote resonates with the viewer, not as a madman, but as a man with a dream. His insanity stems from his underlying philosophy, his genuine belief in the imaginary world of the chivalry novels, a utopia free of the social ills plaguing Spain at the time. The knight-errand is judged not by his birth but by his values and merit; such revolutionary notions transcended the current social system, where one's wealth or status dictated one's worth. Consequently, he takes up his suit of armor and lance to convince himself that this world is a reality, embarking on several wild adventures in an attempt to change the world for the better. However, the chivalrous moral code to which Quixote devotes himself proves ineffective, if not completely useless, in its application in the world of reality. In trying to become a knight-errand, Don Quixote has caused substantially more harm than good; he has unwittingly robbed countless individuals of their possessions, physical health, and liveliness. An egalitarian society run on chivalric principles is impossible; human beings are far too self-centered creatures to be altruistic to such degrees. Instead, benevolence and goodness in society can exist without notions like chivalry, such as through the kind shepherds who feed him and dress Don Quixote's wounds after a crowd of muleteers beats him up. As his adventures progress, the notions of Quixote's imagination begin to fall apart in the face of reality. Finally, at the conclusion of the novel, Quixote recants all his chivalric conjectures on his deathbed, declaring that he has become sane once more. Nevertheless, his tragic death highlights the death of his honorable dreams, a change so drastic from the status quo that he is labeled an insane man. A frail, aging man can only physically endure so much; Don Quixote was able to stand up once more with his armor and engage in yet another brawl due to his dream of a utopian chivalric world, a dream that kept him up and kicking. Losing sight of that dream, he slipped back into an unsatisfying reality, back into sanity, death, and defeat.
Despite causing mischief all over the country in his fantasy-fueled adventures, Don Quixote nevertheless is resolute in his unwavering honesty and honor, to the point of naivety. Though his adventures may have been short-lived, Don Quixote has left a significant impact on the literature of all ages. In dreaming of a better society, one without class distinctions and strife, he dons a suit of armor and sets off on grand adventures in an impassioned attempt to convince himself that he would bring about a change in reality. Ultimately, while his journey amounts to a tragic end with his death, his legacy transcends the pages of fiction into reality, whether through the notion of "quixotry," or through inspired, fanciful literature like Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
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