He is accompanied by his pragmatic, earthy squire, Sancho Panza, and rides an old barn horse named Rocinante. He dedicates his deeds to Dulcinea del Toboso, a peasant woman he envisions as a refined princess.

The narrative is episodic, most famously including the scene where Quixote “tilts at windmills,” mistaking them for giants.

After numerous defeats and a final duel with the “Knight of the White Moon” (a friend in disguise), Quixote is forced to return home. He eventually regains his sanity, renounces his fantasies, and dies peacefully.

The book gave rise to the term “quixotic,” meaning the foolishly impractical pursuit of ideals.