I don't think that Don Quixote has become completely un-quixoticized by the end of part one because as Cervantes tells us, he later goes on to pursue more adventures after he has recovered at home. However his willingness to be brought home to recover after being beaten by the penitent is uncharacteristic of him because no matter how many injuries he sustained before, he would not be dissuaded from his goal of adventure seeking. I could only imagine that his companions laughing at his misfortune and not taking him seriously had finally gotten to him. But this doesn't seem likely since he had been dealing with this throughout the entire novel so far. He ignored or beat those who laughed at him or scoffed and then he would continue on to the next mad adventure without batting an eye. But maybe this time just pushed him over the edge.
"These words made all those who heard them realize that Don Quixote must be some madman, and they burst into hearty laughter, which was like pouring gunpowder on to the fire of Don Quixote's wrath..." (470)
In this case it is the penitents laughing at him but I was thinking of how all his friends/companions/travel partners laughed at him as he was fighting the one penitent. I felt genuinely sorry for him which is strange because after all it was he who initiated the fight and the other man was acting in self defense. But the fact that his friends did not support him and even stopped Sancho Panza from helping seems cruel. Especially given they know, as the readers do, the unstable state of Don Quixote's mind in terms of judgment calls. As the readers, we often laugh at Don Quixote and his misfortunes because we know he's crazy but now I feel bad laughing at him, the same way I would feel bad laughing if a child fell and scraped their knee. I think as Don Quixote's character evolved, we the readers evolve with him and grow accustomed to his ridiculous antics.
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