The Duke and Duchess Timeline and Summary

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• The Duke and Duchess first meet Don Quixote and Sancho in a forest clearing while the Duke is playing with his pet hawk.
• After realizing that Don Quixote is the same guy they've read about in a book, they invite him and Sancho to stay at their castle and have dinner. It becomes obvious that the Duke and Duchess plan on having a little fun with Sancho and the Don.
• The Duchess takes a special shining to Sancho, finding him cute and dumb like a dog.
• The Duke and Duchess flatter Sancho and the Don as much as they can. The Duke even promises Sancho that he'll give him the island he's been dreaming about throughout the book.
• The Duke and Duchess start taking their fun up a notch when they take Don and Sancho out into the forest and put on a huge show with demons and wizards. They get their servant to dress up as Merlin the wizard and say that the only way to lift the curse on Don Quixote's beloved Dulcinea is for Sancho to give himself 3,300 lashes on his bum.
• After they've played this little game, the Duke decides to send Sancho to his fake "island" kingdom, which is actually just a town.
• Before letting Sancho leave, though, the Duke and Duchess decide to send Don Quixote and Sancho on one last adventure together. They dress their male servants up as women and have them say that they've been given beards by an evil giant, whom Don Quixote needs to kill.
• To bring Don Quixote to the giant, the Duke and Duchess construct a supposedly magical wooden horse that will whisk Don Quixote and Sancho through the air while they're blindfolded. As a grand finale, the Duke and Duchess fill the horse with firecrackers and blow it up while Sancho and the Don are still on it. Sancho and the Don go flying off and hurt themselves in the fall.
• When Sancho and Don Quixote come to, they look around and realize that they're back at the Duke's castle. It seems the evil giant has given up and there's no need to battle anymore.
• With that, the Duke sends Sancho to his island, asking his servants to report back on all the entertaining stuff that happens.
• While Don Quixote stays with the Duke and Duchess, one of the servants, named Doña Rodriguez, asks him to go against the Duke's wishes and force a local boy to marry her daughter. Don Quixote agrees, but not before the Duchess has overheard their plans and spanks Doña Rodriguez on the bum for her disobedience.
• The Duke schedules a duel between Don Quixote and the young man who's supposed to marry Doña Rodriguez's daughter. But he swaps the young man with one of his servants.
• The servant takes one look at Doña Rodriguez's daughter and decides he wants to marry her. He refuses to fight, and Don Quixote rides away with Sancho Panza, who has recently returned after giving up his role as governor.
• The Duke has his servant beaten for his disobedience, and Doña Rodriguez's daughter ends up living in a convent.
• As one last prank, the Duke and Duchess catch Don Quixote and Sancho while they are on their way home. The Duke and Duchess set up an elaborate performance with a dead girl in the center of it, then say that the only way for her to be resurrected is for Sancho's beard to be pulled. The Duke and Duchess have their last bit of fun, then finally let Don Quixote and Sancho go for good.