"'I put all these arguments to him, and many others that I don't remember, but they were powerless to make him change his mind: the man who never intends to pay isn't worried about any problems when he strikes his bargain'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 255). Dorotea says this when she is speaking about how she was deceived into marrying Don Fernando. However, I feel that it is representative of Don Quixote. He never thinks about the consequences before he rushes to attack someone. The hidalgo "isn't worried about any problems", because he feels what he is doing is right and for the greater good. He has continually shown that he has no regard for the safety and well-being of others, as he is always striking someone with a lance or knocking them senseless. He only realises the depth of what he has done when someone injures him.
"'But it's often said that misfortunes never come singly, and that the end of one is often the beginning of another still worse...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 258). Once again, Dorotea was speaking but I felt that it was more appropriately applied to Don Quixote's journey. It seems as though whenever he is done attacking or being attacked, another incident is right behind. For example, after he has scared the poor barber off to win his basin - 'Mambrino's helmet' - there is the incident with the chain-gang of prisoners. I understand that the misfortunes Don Quixote faces are part of the comedy of the story, but I'm starting to think that if he wasn't so brash and thought before he acted, he wouldn't always have his ribs stomped on or his teeth punched in.
"'...fortune doesn't always send the evil complete with its remedy...'" (Chapter XXVIII, pg 259). I saw this as another way to describe the hidalgo's misadventures. There is never a clear way to deal with the situation he puts himself into. If he hadn't meddled, then there would be no situation. But because he does, he gets himself into situations that have no clear way for him to get out. If he was still sane, and could reason like a normal person, he would be able to talk his way out. But because he is constantly bringing up chivalry and knighthood and the world in his imagination, he only angers his victims more, which ultimately leads to injuries on both sides. I think that this quote best describes the situation with the prisoners in the chain-gang. The 'evil' was in letting the prisoners go free, because they beat up Don Quixote and Sancho and stole from them. There was no 'remedy' that came with the situation - the hidalgo was warned not to let them go, but when he did no one was there to tell him how to handle the situation.
"'That's good searching and finding,' Sancho Panza interrupted, 'and even better if my master's lucky enough to redress the grievance and right the wrong by killing that bastard of a giant you just mentioned, and he will kill him if he catches up with him, so long as he isn't a ghost that it, because my master can't cope with ghosts'" (Chapter XXIX, pg 263). This quote doesn't entirely relate to a theme, but I thought it was funny and got a good laugh out of it. Don Quixote is obsessed with magic and enchanters, and I think Sancho's quote summed it all up: Don Quixote wants to believe that these things exist, but he can't handle them when he comes across them. He continually blames his defeat on sorcery and magic, when in truth he just can't handle the situation.
"'And there's something else, too,' said the priest. 'If we leave aside the absurdities that the good hidalgo comes out with concerning his mania, in conversations on other subjects he talks with great good sense, and shows himself to have a clear and balanced judgement. So long as you don't get him going on his chivalry, nobody would say that he wasn't an excellent man of excellent understanding'" (Chapter XXX, pg 279). I thought this quote was really important in the debate over whether Don Quixote is insane or if he is living in a child-like state of innocence and denial. As the priest points out, he is very intelligent with a clear judgement. It is only when he is ranting on about chivalry that he gets lost in his own world. I think it is particularly important that the priest pointed this out, because he was one of the people in the beginning who was set on putting an end to this madness. I also think being away from home has helped Don Quixote realise that yes, he is living in his imagination. In certain scenes, there is a level of self-reflection on his actions that was not there in the beginning (after the incident with the prisoners, for example). I think that Don Quixote is slowly coming back to a more sane sense of mind as he journeys, because he is not confined at home with only his books to keep him occupied.
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