Chivalry In Don Quijote's Contrastive Parallel

Evidently, our author is establishing a contrastive parallel between Maritornes and her young mistress: if the latter stands out for her beauty, the former excels in her unloveliness. The analogy continues shortly hereafter: we are first informed that Maritornes has agreed to an amorous rendezvous with a muledriver for that night (pp. 425-26), and then we learn that Don Quijote —who is sharing accommodations with the muleteer in the loft— has become infatuated with the daughter and lies awake in the dark, imagining that she returns his passion and will come to “yacer con é1 una buena pieza” (p. 429), just as sometimes happened in his beloved books of chivalry. (Don Quijote's lasciviousness is emphasized in the phrase “tenía los ojos abiertos