A discussion of the many facets of this reality-fantasy investigation throughout Don Quixote would fill many books, but some suggestions follow. The hero, as has been said, has the ability to change reality with the force of an idea. Fantasy and reality to the madman are aspects of a continuum which he does not have to lower himself to question; not so for Sancho, who is always in the throes of trying to understand the difference between the two qualities. The complete cynic, like Gines de Passamonte, is the supreme realist and can play upon the fantasy-reality confusions of others. It is, in fact, one source of his livelihood.
Gines' puppet-play is a suggestive device exposing another facet of this problem of truth-illusion. Don Quixote, his volatile imagination quickly fired, sees the play as reality and enters into the depicted fray. He easily realizes his mistake, however, and makes amends for the ruined puppets. The knight is just extending the possibilities of an ideal spectator, for the whole delight in stagecraft is this quality that illusion appears as life.
Once a work is identified as a play, the audience readily enters into the fantasy world and as easily retreats when the play is over. The difficulty arises, however, when the stagecraft goes unrecognized and is taken seriously, as when entire populations swallow the propaganda of their puppeteer leaders. Frequently throughout the novel, Don Quixote is made the puppet, with people like the duke and duchess or Don Antonio de Morena pulling strings to make him dance. These puppeteers, not having the control over their stagecraft as Gines de Passamonte, who does this for a living, are often themselves part of a larger jest set for the entertainment of the reader-spectator.
