With a wealth of fancy and an irrepressible high spirit, this beloved adventure story satirizes the exaggerated social and literary conventions of Cervantes' day. Driven mad by reading too many chivalric romances, Don Quixote decks himself out in rusty armor and a cardboard helmet, determined to become a knight-errant and roam the world righting wrongs. Offering the governorship of an island, he persuades the practical Sancho Panza to become his squire. His inspiration on his quest is the peasant girl Aldonza, whom he idealizes as his queen of love and beauty, Dulcinea. From his first fighting encounter with a score of windmills, to his climactic confrontation with a victorious enemy, Don Quixote's feeble mind and heroic heart have earned him a place as one of the best-loved characters in fiction.
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