How we cite our quotes: (Part.Book.Chapter.Paragraph) We use the P. A. Motteux translation from 1712 for our quotes. Some familiar character names appear differently in this edition (Sancho Panza is Sancho Panca here, Rocinante is Rozinante, and Doña Rodriguez is Donna Rodriguez). We preserve Motteux's spellings in our quotes but use the more familiar versions of these names in our analysis.
Quote #1
Let death then quickly be my cure. / When thus we ills unknown endure, / 'Tis shortest to despair. (1.3.9.5)
When Don Quixote and Sancho first encounter Cardenio's notebook, they find a poem in it in which Cardenio says he wants to die because he has lost the love of his life. The poem, though, doesn't make death sound like a noble decision as much as an easy decision. Basically, it says that death is a shortcut for dealing with pain.
Quote #2
"Just such a comedy," said Don Quixote, "is acted on the great stage of the world, where some play the emperors, others the prelates, and, in short, all the parts can be brought into a dramatic piece; till death, which is the great catastrophe, and end of the action, strips the actors of all their marks of distinction, and levels their quality in the grave." (2.1.12.1)
In a poetic moment, Don Quixote says that al of life is just one big stage where people perform their roles. (Sound familiar?) But when people die, he adds, these roles are forgotten, because everyone is equal in death. It's a bit different from some of our modern ideas, where we might think people are equal at birth. But yeah, for Don Quixote, people are equal in death.
Quote #3
"He pays me very well, he has given me three colts, and I am so very true and trusty to him, that nothing but death can part us." (2.1.33.3)
When it comes time for Sancho to profess his loyalty to Don Quixote, he says that only death will be able to separate him from his master. And these words are accurate, because in the end, it really is only Don Quixote's death that separates them.