Explain the destruction of Don Quixote's romantic dream in Don Quixote.

Don Quixote maintains his illusion that he is a knight errant through many adventures and dangerous encounters during his journeys, always managing to keep reality at bay. He suffers hunger, goes without sleep, and endures numerous physical injuries while pursuing his romantic dream. Quixote leaves his home upon his horse Rocianante with great eagerness:

. . . so many were the wrongs that were to be righted, the grievances to be addressed, the abuses to be done away with, and the duties to be performed.

These noble desires formed the foundation of Quixote's romantic dream: to make the world a better place through selfless acts of courage and honor.

His great dream is destroyed, finally, through the intrusion of reality. At the conclusion of the novel, Quixote is a tired old man who has worn himself out. When his friend Carrasco, disguised as the Knight of the White Moon, defeats him in battle, Quixote is honor bound by their previous agreement to give up his life of knighthood, return to his village, and remain there for a year.

Back in his home and cut off from his life as a knight errant, Quixote falls into depression, but he does not give up his dream. He plans to live as a shepherd until he can leave home once again. However, his health fails, his doctor is summoned, and Quixote takes to his bed as his death draws near. Awaking from a long sleep, Don Quixote cries out:

Blessed be Almighty God who has given me so many blessings! Truly his mercy is boundless and is not limited or restrained by the sins of men.

Quixote's niece senses a change in her uncle; he seems more rational, and his words differ from his previous, often disjointed ramblings about the illusionary world of chivalry in which he has lived. As his niece listens, Quixote continues:

My mind now is clear, unencumbered by those misty shadows of ignorance that were cast over it by my bitter and continual reading of those hateful books of chivalry.

Don Quixote has returned to reality; his romantic dream has been destroyed. He is once again Alonso Quixano. He will never again ride forth to free the oppressed, to protect the innocent, or to bring justice to an unjust world. He dies shortly thereafter.

In Don Quixote, which passages indicate Don Quixote's romantic dream was destroyed?

Don Quixote leaves his comfortable home to pursue a great romantic dream. He has lost touch with reality and fallen under the illusion that he is, in fact, a knight-errant of bygone days. His romantic dream is to right the wrongs in the world, protect the defenseless, and act with courage and honor as he faces danger and adversity.

In his adventures, Quixote does not recognize ordinary people and situations for what they are. At various times, he believes that windmills are giants, that herds of sheep are armies, and that a woman traveling to Seville to meet her husband is a princess being held captive by "certain enchanters," who are simply two priests who happen to be traveling on the same road. In each instance, reality asserts itself, but Don Quixote explains it away by various means and maintains his world of illusion.

His romantic dream is finally destroyed, however, when he loses in his battle with the Knight of the White Moon, an opponent who is really his friend Carrasco from Quixote's village:

Being mounted upon the swifter horse, the Knight of the White Moon met Don Quixote two-thirds of the way and with such tremendous force that, without touching his opponent with his lance . . . he brought both Rocinante [Quixote's horse] and his rider to the ground in an exceedingly perilous fall.

After this loss, Quixote is honor-bound to give up his life as a knight-errant and return to his village. Sancho Panza observes the effect this turn of events has on Don Quixote:

He saw his master surrender, heard him consent not to take up arms again for a year to come as the light of his glorious exploits faded into darkness.

Don Quixote is carried home in a litter born by his friends, his body battered, his faithful horse too injured to even stand, and his romantic dream finally destroyed by a reality he could not overcome.

Once he is returned home, Don Quixote still clings to his identity as a knight-errant until he awakens one morning, miraculously restored to sanity:

I am no longer Don Quixote de la Mancha but Alonso Quijano, whose mode of life won for him the name of "Good" . . . I am in my right senses now . . . .

Don Quixote is no more, and his great romantic dream will not live again.