Feast of Saint George

The Feast of Saint George serves as a calendar anchor for Don Quixote’s proposed next expedition: the Bachelor directs him toward the jousts in Saragossa, where he expects the knight to seek renown. The festival is presented not through its ceremonies but through the chivalric opportunity attached to it.

The Feast and the Proposed Sally

After Sancho Panza speaks of setting out again to right wrongs, Rocinante neighs. Don Quixote takes the sound as a favorable omen and resolves to make another sally within three or four days. Asked where to begin, the Bachelor recommends the kingdom of Aragon and the city of Saragossa, where solemn jousts are to take place at the Feast of Saint George.

A Measure of Chivalric Ambition

The proposed jousts give Don Quixote a public arena in which to pursue the renown he associates with knight-errantry. The Bachelor presents success there as a way to surpass the knights of Aragon—and, by extension, those of the world—while also urging greater caution: Don Quixote’s life, he argues, belongs to those who need his protection and aid. The festival therefore frames both the attraction of the expedition and the danger that accompanies the knight’s ambitions. The passage identifies a planned occasion, not a joust that the account here shows taking place.