In this room, the museum presents a scenographic display using the characters, scenery and a dramatized recording of one of the most renowned passages from Don Quixote, Master Pedro’s Puppet Show (Don Quixote, II, Ch. XXV et seq.), in commemoration of the author’s fondness for puppet theatres.
The episode staged by Master Pedro in his puppet theatre or play is a chivalric theme derived from the romancero (Spanish ballads): the rescue of Melisendra (captive at Almanzor jail in Sansueña, Zaragoza ), by her husband, Don Gaiferos.
Don Quixote follows the action of the play with quiet attention, aptly interjecting comments on these scenes of things chivalric that he finds so attractive; then, when the lovers are put to flight, Don Quixote violently “enters” the storyline, fearful that they will be captured, and destroys the entire puppet show.
The three sets in the room correspond to: the scenery for the court of Charlemagne (alleged father of Melisendra); the Aljafería of Zaragoza, which is Almanzor’s fortress; and the scene of the flight, which incorporates aspects of Alcalá de Henares’ architecture and landscape.
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- Las tropas de Marsilio persiguen a los fugados
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- Melisendra cautiva en Zaragoza
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- Melisendra y Gaiferos huyen a caballo
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- Episodio del Retablo de Maese Pedro, (Quijote, II, fragmento cap. XXVI)
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- Don Quijote ataca a los perseguidores
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- Carlomagno y Gaiferos en el salón del palacio
