Essay Database

food but also corruption and greed, since many innkeepers in the novel are devious. Sancho often longs to stay at an inn rather than follow Don Quixote's chivalric desire to sleep under the stars. These opposing preferences show Sancho's connection with reality and society and his instinctive desire for comfort, in contrast to Don Quixote's alienation from society and its norms. Even when he does stay at inns, Don Quixote is noticeably alienated from the …

…conceptions of honor can be taken to an extreme, dominating one's life and leading to ruin. Sancho initially exhibits such a fascination, confusing honor with social status, but he eventually comes to the realization that excessive ambition only creates trouble. In this sense, Cervantes implies that personal honor can be a powerful and positive motivating force while socially prescribed notions of honor, which are often hollow and false, can be destructive if adhered to obsessively.