the housekeeper

Also known as: Mistress housekeeper / his housekeeper / housekeeper / mistress housekeeper / our adventurer’s housekeeper · Family: Don Quixote's household · Role: housekeeper · First appears: Part 1, Ch. 1.1

In Part 1, the housekeeper served in Don Quixote’s household. After Don Quixote was carried to bed, she joined the niece in demanding that his books be destroyed. With the curate and the barber, she threw the condemned books into the yard, carrying out their orders “with great delight,” and that night burned all the books in the yard and house. Two days later, she told Don Quixote that the devil had carried away both the books and the room.

Later, the housekeeper and the niece put Don Quixote to bed and watched over him to prevent another escape. In Part 2, they were charged with caring for his health, and they initially kept Sancho Panza from entering; afterward, the housekeeper hid from him because she abhorred him. When Don Quixote prepared to leave home again, she and the niece recognized his intention, while Don Quixote kept the plan secret from them. Samson Carrasco told her to prepare his breakfast and say the prayer of Santa Apollonia.

When Don Quixote returned home in Part 2, he was left in the care of his niece and housekeeper. He later gave her direct advice: “stay at home, look after your affairs, go often to confession, be good to the poor,” and ordered payment of her wages, with twenty ducats for a gown.