Don Quixote

Don Quixote is a classic Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes, originally published in two parts beginning in 1615 and concluded in 1620. The comic saga details the adventures of an elderly gentleman who, after years of consuming chivalric romances, decides to pursue the course of a knight (and hallucinates all manner of perils, most famously assuming a windmill is a giant). His earthy squire Sancha Panza sees the world more clearly, but can hardly prevent the inevitable.

The story has contributed to the language the word "quixotic" (foolishly impractical or idealistic) and inspired the expression "tilting at windmills" (to go after an imagined foe or a goal that cannot be reached). It has been adapted for famous artworks (by Picasso, Dali, and others), film, television, radio, opera, ballet, comic books, cartoons, and the popular stage musical Man of La Mancha.

Connections

 * for additional connections, see Man of La Mancha


 * Timothy Bateson played a monk in Don Quixote' (2000 TV movie)
 * Douglas Blackwell played the innkeeper in part five of the BBC serial version (1954, radio)
 * Ken Campbell played a puppet master in a two-part radio version (BBC Radio, 1980)
 * Robert Eddison played the Duke in The Adventures of Don Quixote (1973, TV)
 * Suzanne Farrell played Dulcinea in George Balanchine's ballet (1965)
 * Stephen Garlick played a stableboy (BBC Radio, 1991)
 * Tony Haygarth played the barber in Don Quixote' (2000 TV movie)
 * John Lithgow played Don Quixote in Don Quixote' (2000 TV movie)
 * Kermit Love built the giant in in George Balanchine's ballet (1965)
 * Murray Melvin played the traveling barber in The Adventures of Don Quixote (1973, TV)
 * Rudolf Nureyev co-directed and played Basilio in the ballet Don Quixote (1973 film)
 * Trevor Peacock played the innkeeper in Don Quixote' (2000 TV movie)
 * Paul Scofield played Don Quixote on BBC Radio in a Sunday play (1991) and again in a musical version (1995, radio)
 * Walter Sparrow played the second prisoner in The Adventures of Don Quixote (1973, TV)