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Abstract
Cardenio, a central figure in Part One of Don Quixote suffering from love madness, has frequently been studied, but little attention has been given to the impact of his story on the novel's protagonist. As the result of listening to Cardenio's narration of his inhibited and maddening love affair, Don Quixote resolves to follow his example to the extent of imitating a form of amorous derangement typical of chivalric and sentimental novels. But in justifying this decision he reveals for the first time that his Dulcinea is in fact the peasant Aldonza Lorenzo, transformed into an ideal lady only in his imagination, and to whom he has never summoned the courage to speak. He then takes a second step, also unprecedented for him, of sending Sancho to Aldonza in order to declare his love, and in so doing he dares to open the possibility of a real relationship. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]