Basilio

Also known as: Basilio’s / Basilio’s pots / poor Basilio / the despairing Basilio / the gay Basilio · Role: enamoured shepherd · First appears: Part 2, Ch. 19.1

From his earliest years, Basilio loved Quiteria, who answered his passion with modest proofs of affection, making their love the talk of the town. When he learned that she was to marry Camacho, however, he became crushed by despair: he was no longer seen to smile, and went about moody and dejected. As Quiteria prepared for the wedding, Basilio was called the rejected suitor, though it was said that, if he were not poor, he would marry her.

At the bridal scene, Basilio threw himself upon a concealed rapier and appeared mortally wounded. He asked Quiteria to marry him before he would confess, saying, “If thou wouldst consent, cruel Quiteria, to give me thy hand as my bride in this last fatal moment, I might still hope that my rashness would find pardon.” Don Quixote declared his request just and reasonable, while the curate urged him to think first of his soul and seek God’s pardon. Camacho consented to postpone his own wedding fulfillment if Quiteria was willing, and she freely gave Basilio her hand, declaring, “And I give myself to be thy wife,” whether he lived or was carried to the grave.

After the vows, the priest discovered that the blade had passed through a hollow iron tube filled with blood rather than Basilio’s body. Quiteria confirmed the marriage despite its fraudulent appearance, and Basilio was revealed to have devised the sham wound to secure their union. When Camacho and his supporters attacked him, Don Quixote took the lead in protecting him; afterward, Basilio and Quiteria entertained Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as newly married hosts. Don Quixote also urged Basilio to abandon accomplishments that brought fame but no money and pursue wealth through legitimate industry.