Quixotization and Sanchification in Don Quixote
Quixotization is the process by which Sancho Panza gradually adopts some of Don Quixote’s idealism, imagination, and desire for glory. Sanchification is the opposite process: Don Quixote slowly becomes more practical, more aware of reality, and closer to Sancho’s earthly common sense.
Both terms are commonly associated with Salvador de Madariaga’s reading of Don Quixote. Madariaga saw master and squire not as fixed opposites, but as two characters who transform each other throughout the novel.
In Spanish, this essay is available as Quijotización de Sancho y sanchificación del Quijote.
By Jéssica de la Portilla Montaño, Mexican writer and author of TodoMePasa.
What is the quixotization of Sancho Panza?
The quixotization of Sancho Panza means that Sancho, who begins the novel as a practical, materialistic, and down-to-earth character, gradually absorbs part of Don Quixote’s imagination.
At the beginning, Sancho follows his master for concrete reasons: promises, rewards, food, money, and the possibility of becoming governor of an island. He does not share Don Quixote’s chivalric madness. He is skeptical, hungry, talkative, and very attached to the material world.
But after traveling with Don Quixote, listening to him, suffering with him, and becoming part of his adventures, Sancho begins to change. He starts to believe that their story matters. He starts to imagine himself as a figure worthy of fame. That change is what Madariaga called Sancho’s quixotization.
Sancho Panza’s transformation
Madariaga takes as an example the beginning of Chapter V of the Second Part of Don Quixote, where the narrator comments on Sancho’s unexpectedly elevated way of speaking:
When the translator of this history reached the fifth chapter, he declares it apocryphal, for in it Sancho Panza speaks in a style unlike what might be expected from his limited wit.
This moment matters because Sancho no longer sounds only like the rustic squire of the First Part. He has begun to enter Don Quixote’s world of rhetoric, fame, storytelling, and literary self-awareness.
Another important moment appears in Chapter III of the Second Part, when Sansón Carrasco tells Don Quixote and Sancho that a book about their adventures already exists. Sancho hears that his name is now part of a written story, and he proudly calls himself one of its principal characters.
That pride is part of his transformation. After hearing Don Quixote speak so often about glory, memory, and future fame, Sancho begins to believe in the same narrative. The squire becomes, in his own way, a little more quixotic.
What is the sanchification of Don Quixote?
The sanchification of Don Quixote is the opposite process. Don Quixote, who begins as a man completely absorbed by chivalric illusion, gradually becomes more practical and more aware of the real world.
In the First Part, Alonso Quixano abandons everything to become Don Quixote de la Mancha. He wants to revive knight-errantry, serve his lady Dulcinea, defend justice, and earn eternal fame. His imagination transforms inns into castles, windmills into giants, and ordinary people into figures from chivalric romance.
As the novel progresses, however, reality begins to enter his world. Don Quixote travels with money, pays for lodging, listens to practical advice, and becomes increasingly aware that the world does not always obey his fantasies.
Don Quixote’s return to reality
The sanchification of Don Quixote does not mean that he suddenly becomes completely sane. It means that Sancho’s practical world slowly affects him. The knight’s idealism weakens as reality interrupts his heroic vision.
One example appears when Don Quixote and Sancho travel to El Toboso to find Dulcinea. Instead of encountering an ideal lady, Don Quixote sees a peasant woman. Unable to accept the truth directly, he blames enchanters for transforming Dulcinea’s appearance.
Sancho, dost thou see how I am hated by enchanters? And mark how far their malice and the grudge they bear me extend, for they would deprive me of the joy I might have in seeing my lady in her true form.
The scene is important because Don Quixote’s illusion now requires defense. Reality is too visible to ignore, so he must explain it away. That tension shows how his fantasy world is no longer as absolute as it once was.
Quixotization and sanchification: two opposite movements
Madariaga’s interpretation can be summarized as two opposite movements: Sancho rises from reality toward illusion, while Don Quixote descends from illusion toward reality.
This does not mean that the characters simply exchange personalities. Sancho remains Sancho, and Don Quixote remains Don Quixote. What changes is their inner balance. Each one absorbs something from the other.
That is why the relationship between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza is so powerful. They are not only master and servant, knight and squire, madman and realist. They are two human beings transformed by traveling together.
Why these terms matter
The terms quixotization and sanchification help to explain why Don Quixote is not just a comic novel about madness. It is also a novel about influence, friendship, storytelling, and the way two people can change each other over time.
Sancho becomes more imaginative because he lives inside Don Quixote’s story. Don Quixote becomes more human because Sancho’s practical presence constantly pulls him back toward the world.
This mutual transformation is one reason Cervantes’ novel still feels alive. The characters do not remain fixed symbols. They move, contradict themselves, learn, fail, dream, and return changed from their adventures.
Source
Madariaga, Salvador de. Guía del lector del Quijote. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1981. Chapters VII–VIII: “La quijotización de Sancho” and “La sanchificación de Don Quijote”.
For the Spanish version of this analysis, read Quijotización de Sancho y sanchificación del Quijote.
Related readings
- Quijotización y sanchificación en Don Quijote de la Mancha
- Jéssica de la Portilla Montaño, author bio in Spanish
- Gerardo de la Torre and literary workshops in Spanish
- Alberto Chimal and Alebrije de palabras in Spanish
Frequently asked questions about quixotization and sanchification
What does quixotization mean?
Quixotization means the process by which Sancho Panza becomes more like Don Quixote: more imaginative, more idealistic, and more aware of his place inside a heroic story.
What does sanchification mean?
Sanchification means the process by which Don Quixote becomes more like Sancho Panza: more practical, more grounded, and more affected by reality.
Who created the terms quixotization and sanchification?
The terms are commonly associated with Salvador de Madariaga’s interpretation of Don Quixote in Guía del lector del Quijote.
How does Sancho Panza become quixotized?
Sancho Panza becomes quixotized by traveling with Don Quixote, listening to his ideas about fame and adventure, and gradually accepting that their story may have literary and heroic importance.
How does Don Quixote become sanchified?
Don Quixote becomes sanchified as reality increasingly interrupts his chivalric illusions. He becomes more practical, more vulnerable, and more aware of the ordinary world around him.
Why are quixotization and sanchification important?
They are important because they show that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are not static opposites. Their friendship transforms both of them: Sancho moves toward imagination, while Don Quixote moves toward reality.
