Doña Rodriguez

Also known as: Doña Rodriguez de Grijalba / Rodriguez / Señora Doña Rodriguez / Señora Gonzalez / the Rodriguez · Family: the duke's household · Role: duenna · First appears: Part 2, Ch. 31.1

In Part 2, Chapters 31 and 33, Doña Rodriguez served as a duenna in the duke’s household, employed by the duke and the duchess. She was at odds with Sancho Panza, though she was also asked to care for him when he came into the castle.

In Chapter 48, she revealed herself to Don Quixote as “Doña Rodriguez, duenna of honour to my lady the duchess” and sought his help with a grievance. After her husband died, following his dismissal from service by Doña Casilda, the duchess took Doña Rodriguez and her daughter into service in Aragon. There, the duke repeatedly refused to order the farmer to marry her daughter, and Doña Rodriguez exposed the duchess’s leg issues. Altisidora became her enemy, and silent attackers assaulted her and Don Quixote; afterward, the duchess and Altisidora tormented Don Quixote and flogged Doña Rodriguez in revenge.

By Chapter 52, Doña Rodriguez placed her claim for justice in Don Quixote’s hands, and he promised to obtain redress for her daughter and challenge the seducer. The duchess then ordered that Doña Rodriguez and her daughter no longer be treated as servants, but as “lady adventurers who came to her house to demand justice.” By Chapter 66, Doña Rodriguez had returned to Castile.