Man of La Mancha

Analyze the thematic importance of the framing device of an imprisoned Cervantes putting on a play for the prisoners. How does this framing device reflect the musical’s key themes and ideas?

Closely examine some of the songs in the play. How does the play use music to help create characterization, advance the plot, and/or illuminate key themes?

Irony can be associated with a cynical attitude, but frequently appears here in a play known for its idealism and rejection of cynicism. What are some of the uses of irony and its effects in this play?

Analyze the use of “madness” in the characterization of Don Quixote. How do different characters conceive of the idea of his “madness”? How does Don Quixote challenge some of the assumptions and stigmas associated with that label?

Analyze the character arc of the Padre. What is his wider significance in the text?

Analyze the tensions between fact and fiction within the play itself and in Man of La Mancha as a work of literature based on a real author and his famous novel. How does the play toy with the lines between fact and fiction? How does it blend fact and fiction to illuminate its key themes and ideas?

Don Quixote places his idealized “Dulcinea” on a pedestal while the muleteers approach Aldonza as a sex object. How do these differing perceptions reflect the gender dynamics of both Cervantes’s time and the world of the play? In what ways does Aldonza conform to, or challenge, some of these dynamics and assumptions?

How does the play depict the nature of storytelling? What is its wider significance?