full rein during his exploits, and as a result, his hold on reality becomes a tenuous one. As Quijada, ourprotagonist isn't especially heroic. After all, he spends the majority of his time reading period romances about knights-errant and beautiful maidens. Besides reading, he also spends time arguing with others about who the most heroic knights in fiction are.

As Don Quixote, however, our protagonist can be considered a hero of sorts. Yes, his heroic actions may exist only in his mind, but at every stage of his adventure, he strives to display all the characteristics of a classic hero. Here are some examples from the story:

1) Don Quixote is childlike in his boasting of his skills, and he is especially obsessed with his reputation as a knight-errant. Like any hero, he wants to be remembered for his valiant exploits, long after he dies.

"Peace, I say again, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "for let me tell thee it is not so much the desire of finding that madman that leads me into these regions as that which I have of performing among them an achievement wherewith I shall win eternal name and fame throughout the known world; and it shall be such that I shall thereby set the seal on all that can make a knight-errant perfect and famous."

2) Don Quixote faces danger without flinching and, like any classic hero, believes himself to be superior to his enemies in terms of physical strength and ability. In chapter 7 of part one, he charges ahead and attacks some windmills he believes are giants in disguise.

"Look, your worship," said Sancho; "what we see there are not giants but windmills, and what seem to be their arms are the sails that turned by the wind make the millstone go."

"It is easy to see," replied Don Quixote, "that thou art not used to this business of adventures; those are giants; and if thou art afraid, away with thee out of this and betake thyself to prayer while I engage them in fierce and unequal combat."

3) Like any classic hero, Don Quixote fights for the sake of a woman who is both virtuous and beautiful. The woman is like a Madonna figure to him, and he worships her from afar. In the story, Don Quixote makes Aldonza Lorenzo (Dulcinea) his "princess," the woman who supposedly inspires all his great works.

"Against men in their senses or against madmen," said Don Quixote, "every knight-errant is bound to stand up for the honour of women, whoever they may be, much more for queens."

Later, Don Quixote decides that he will follow the example of Amadis of Gaul, who "conspicuously showed his prudence, worth, valour, endurance, fortitude, and love" by doing "penance upon the Pena Pobre" after he was rejected by the Lady Oriana. By fashioning himself after the valiant knights of his stories, Don Quixote believes that he will also perfectly display all the attributes of a hero.

So, Don Quixote does not content himself with just "cleaving giants asunder, cutting off serpents' heads, slaying dragons, routing armies, destroying fleets, and breaking enchantments." He believes he must also act out the part of a lovelorn knight in order to prove himself worthy of the title of "hero."

You can probably find more examples for the three points I've mentioned. However, I hope that the above goes some way towards explaining how Don Quixote's actions may be seen as heroic (whether in his eyes or ours).