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 #7
"[But] a young lord, heir to a great estate, and has such a full possession of my heart, that if he does not slight it, it must be his for ever." (1.4.16.2)
For the first time, Dorotea mentions the man who has broken her heart by rejecting her. This man is none other than Don Fernando, the same guy who betrayed Cardenio. But for all of his poor treatment of Dorotea, Dorotea is still devoted to him, and she no doubt makes excuses for him because of his high social class.
Quote #8
"If young girls might always choose their own husbands, we should have the best families intermarry with coachmen and grooms; and young heiresses would throw themselves away upon the first young fellows, whose promising outsides and assurance make them set up for fortunes, though all their stock consists in impudence." (2.1.19.1)
Don Quixote is willing to admit that sometimes people should choose their own spouses. But he doesn't want this to become a widespread thing, or else the upper classes and the lower classes will start mixing too much, which will leave the country with no more well-bred people, just a bunch of mutts. It's interesting, though, that what Don Quixote is worried about isn't so much interbreeding in itself but the lack of education and refinement he thinks this will cause.
Quote #9
"[If] my government happens to last four days to an end, it shall go hard but I will clear the island of those swarms of Dons that must needs be as troublesome as so many flesh-flies." (2.1.45.4)
Sancho Panza has no time for people running around with fancy titles like "Don" in front of their names. He says that if it were up to him, he'd do away with these kinds of titles and make it so that everyone was treated equally. To people from 17th-century Spain, though, this sounds like too radical of an idea.