# Cardenio — Don Quixote character guide

> Cardenio in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0029-part-i-xxiii

## Snapshot

A gentleman undone by a friend's treachery and a lost bride, wandering the hills half-mad with grief and unfinished verses.

## Who they are

Cardenio is a well-born young man whose betrothal to Luscinda was destroyed by Don Fernando's interference, leaving him to roam the wilderness in tattered clothes and fractured speech. He veers between lucid courtliness and wild outbursts, a living emblem of how love and betrayal can unmake a mind. His encounter with Don Quixote and Sancho draws the novel's scattered romantic tragedies together, and his story becomes one of the threads that the inn's later reunions must untangle.

## In the story

### [Don Quixote Part I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/don-quixote)

A heartbroken young man whose story of love and betrayal is interwoven.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxiv)

The ragged knight of the Sierra, begins his tragic tale of love for Luscinda, but falls into a mad fit when Queen Madasima is mentioned.

### [Which treats of the strange things that happened to the stout knight of La Mancha in the Sierra Morena, and of his imitation of the penance of Beltenebros](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxv)

Referenced as the madman who told the story of Queen Madasima and Master Elisabad; Don Quixote defends the queen's honor.

### [Of how the curate and the barber proceeded with their scheme; together with other matters worthy of record in this great history.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxvii)

Tells the full story of his betrayal by Don Fernando and Luscinda's marriage, which drives him to madness.

### [XXVIII Which treats of the strange and delightful adventure that befell the curate and the barber in the same Sierra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxviii)

Present with the curate and barber, Cardenio reacts with visible emotion upon hearing the name Don Fernando, suspecting Dorothea's connection to his own misfortunes.

### [Chapter XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxix)

Follows at a distance with the curate, avoiding direct contact with Don Quixote due to their earlier quarrel.

### [Of the delectable discussion between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, his squire, together with other incidents.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxxi)

Puts on the clothes Dorothea was wearing when found.

### [Which treats of the heroic and prodigious battle Don Quixote had with certain skins of red wine, and brings the novel of The Ill-Advised Curiosity to a close.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxxv)

Helps drag the landlord off Don Quixote.

### [XXXVI Which treats of more curious incidents that occurred at the inn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxxvi)

Hears Luscinda's voice from the next room; emerges to confront Don Fernando and reunite with Luscinda.

### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxxvii)

Present and content with the happy resolution; proposes continuing the scheme to get Don Quixote home.

### [In which the doubtful question of Mambrino's helmet and the packsaddle is finally settled, with other adventures that occurred in truth and earnest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xlv)

Joins in the amusement, backing the delusion for entertainment.

### [Of the strange manner in which Don Quixote of La Mancha was carried away enchanted, together with other remarkable incidents](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xlvii)

Hangs the buckler and basin on Rocinante's saddle and participates in the farewells.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/characters/cardenio
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/characters