Don Quixote

            
             TIME: In the spring of 1580 in Spain. However bookkeeping was a complicated and arduous procedure and Don Miguel Cervantes was twice imprisoned for owing money to the treasury from a shortage in his accounts. Cervantes disagrees whether or not the Seville prison was the proper place to begin writing Don Quixote. Each act is about a two days journey with each scene taking place in the morning, afternoon, and night.
             PLACE: La Mancha, Spain. The luminosity of the rocky wilderness of the Sierra Morena in La Mancha serves to separate the various scenes that take place there- Don Quixote's penance, Cardenio's meeting with the curate and barber, Dorothea's story- and it provides, as well as safe refuge from the police force. The scorched July morning shows what a madman it takes to begin knight-errantry when it is so hot; the dusty road serves to block the two flocks of sheep which the hero thinks are armies; and a verdant meadow; the scene of Rosinate's skip with the mares, provides the adventure of the Yanguesian carriers. .
             SOCIETY: Family relationships.
             Dorothea.
             Dorothea is the daughter of a farmer who is seduced by the son of a duke (not the same duke that hosts Don Quixote in the second part of the text). In a familiar theme, the duke's son, Ferdinand, refuses to marry her even though he has promised to. In order to avoid bringing more shame upon her family, Dorothea escaped to the mountains of the Sierra Morena. There she meets up with the priest and the barber, who tell her of their plans for convincing Don Quixote to return home. Dorothea agrees to help them by pretending that she is Princess Micomicona of the kingdom of Micomicon, which at present is ruled by an evil giant. She asks Don Quixote to slay the giant so that she may regain her kingdom. The search for the supposed giant will lead the party back to Don Quixote's village. On the way there, they stop at an inn for the night, where Dorothea is happily reunited with Ferdinand, who agrees to honor his promise of marriage to her.