Capítulo 46:

• Back at the castle with Don Quijote and his problems: cats and Altisidora.

Capítulo 47:

• Sancho and his doctor. Pedro (= rock) Recio (= tough, hard) of Tirteafuera (= scram, get out of here). Note how his name fits him. The Duke's letter (and the plot thickens).

Capítulo 48:

• Don Quijote and Doña Rodríguez. Note 1) the comical aspects of this encounter; 2) the reason why she comes to request Don Quijote's aid; 3) why the Duke doesn't help her in this dilemma.

Capítulo 49:

• Sancho making the rounds of his "Isle". How's he doing?

Capítulo 50:

• Note the last sentence of the second paragraph (revenge, as applied to women, or at least these two) and how it stands in contrast to the portrayal of the Duchess in most of the rest of the chapter. Also, consider the portrayal and contrasts of women in general in this chapter: peasant women, women of the (local) gentry, women of high nobility. (And with all this about women and the people from Don Quijote/Sancho's village, Don Quijote is completely left out of this chapter: the even-numbered chapters have been dealing with Don Quijote and the odd-numbered ones with Sancho.)

Capítulo 51:

• Sancho as governor: more tests or judgements. Any comparisons between Sancho and other governors (or the Duke)?

Capítulo 52:

• Doña Rodríguez publicly requests Don Quijote's aid. This has not been set up in advance by the Duke and Duchess, so they immediately arrange the settle the matter (in their own way). As regards the letters, note the second paragraph of Teresa's letter to her husband, where the problem of runaway inflation is mentioned.

Capítulo 53:

• Read the first paragraph very carefully (with the motifs of change and death). The battle in Sancho's isle. Does he suffer a defeat or enjoy a victory? If a victory, in what does his victory really consist? (Note especially the paragraph which starts in the middle of page 926.)

Capítulo 54:

• As an odd-numbered chapter, this perhaps should deal with Don Quijote; yet only the first paragraph deals with him. Sancho gets the rest of the chapter. Ricote is a Morisco (a Spaniard of Moorish descent); the Moriscos are in the process of being expelled from Spain as Cervantes is writing Part II. Ricote explain many details of this social/political/religious problem (starting on page 932). Is Cervantes in favor of or against the edict of expulsion???

Capítulo 55:

• Sancho falls into the pit. Compare/contrast this with his master's descent into the cave of Montesinos (and the "ascent" both of them made on Clavileño). For a political interpretation of the episode, note the words of the student (end of first complete paragraph on page 941).

Capítulo 56:

• As the first paragraph explains, duels --an almost intrinsic part of the code of honor-- were prohibited in Spain at this time, but apparently frequently took place all the same.
• Compare/contrast Parts I and II as regards the theme and treatment of love. Also as regards this Tosilos episode, note the actions of the Duke. Do you think Tosilos will ever get to marry the girl?

Fred Jehle jehle@ipfw.edu
Indiana U.-Purdue U. Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499
URL: http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/s450/p2-5-450.htm
Home page http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/
Works of Cervantes http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/cervante.htm