ABSTRACT
Don Quixote has clearly entered a domain where good faith no longer relies only on “words and deeds”, but on “all the formalities required in such cases”. Don Quixote, the hunted hunter, identifies with hare, and believes that these words are signs telling him he will never see Dulcinea again. In order to ensure that omens are “broken and destroyed”, Sancho buys the cage with the cricket for his master, as if this gift could also restore his access to Dulcinea. But Don Quixote no longer takes words for things. Lacking our postmodern remedies, Don Quixote remembered the old lessons of stoicism, and heard the doctor’s words calmly. He then asked them “to leave him to himself, as he had a wish to sleep a little”. When Don Quixote wakes up with a clear mind, those around him take his words for another fit of madness, when in fact what they are witnessing is a complete return to his senses.
