# Don Fernando — Don Quixote character guide

> Don Fernando in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Fernando, treacherous Don Fernando

**First appearance:** 0034-part-i-xxviii

## Snapshot

A highborn seducer whose charm and rank let him take what he wants and leave ruin behind him without a backward glance.

## Who they are

Don Fernando is a young nobleman of wealth and standing whose word carries weight in the inns and households he passes through. He pursues Dorothea with promises, then abandons her for a more advantageous match, treating affection as a game of rank and convenience. His presence in the later inn scenes forces the other lovers' tangled stories to collide, and his authority is what finally sets the stage for the reunions and confessions that resolve them.

## In the story

### [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)

The treacherous nobleman who betrays Cardenio by marrying Luscinda.

### [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)

Referenced as the younger son of a duke who seduced Dorothea with false promises, causing her flight.

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

Arrives at the inn with Luscinda; confronted by Dorothea and Cardenio; repents and embraces Dorothea as his wife.

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

Grateful for his rescue and the restoration of his honor; insists on continuing the deception to help Don Quixote.

### [Which treats of the curious discourse Don Quixote delivered on arms and letters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xxxviii)

Requests the captive to tell the story of his life after supper.

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

Present among the listeners; reacts with recognition upon hearing the name Don Pedro de Aguilar.

### [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)

Orchestrates the mock vote to settle the dispute and later intervenes to separate Don Quixote from the officer.

### [Of the end of the notable adventure of the officers of the holy brotherhood; and of the great ferocity of our worthy knight, Don Quixote](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/don_quixote_se/chapters/part-i-xlvi)

Pays the innkeeper's score and helps arrange the capture of Don Quixote.

### [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)

Perfumed and mistaken for a devil by Sancho, he helps hasten the departure and bids farewell to the curate.

## Links

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