Don Quixote Book I Lesson Plan

Students should be encouraged to give considerable thought to the source of Don Quixote's madness. Although Cervantes tells us that he read too many books about knights and lost sleep over them, which caused a mental breakdown, other factors were likely to have been important as well. Cervantes tells us that Quixote is about 50 years old, which does not make him particularly old by contemporary standards, but likely placed him among the elderly population in an age when people died of diseases that are now curable. Also, Quixote's lack of family relationships and close friendships meant that he was likely very isolated, which may have also contributed to his breakdown. Students should...