"Dulcinea del Toboso" (real name Aldonza Lorenzo) is a fictional character who is unseen in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. Seeking the traditions of the knights-errant of old, Don Quixote finds a true love whom he calls Dulcinea. She is a simple peasant in his home town, but Quixote imagines her to be the most beautiful of all women. At times, Quixote goes into detail about her appearance, though he freely admits that he has seen her only fleetingly and has never spoken with her.
Don Quixote describes her appearance in the following terms: "... her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess, since she is my queen and lady, and her beauty superhuman, since all the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her; for her hairs are gold, her forehead Elysian fields, her eyebrows rainbows, her eyes suns, her cheeks roses, her lips coral, her teeth pearls, her neck alabaster, her bosom marble, her hands ivory, her fairness snow, and what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare." [Volume 1/Chapter XIII]
Dulcinea is an album by Toad the Wet Sprocket released in 1994. It is their fourth studio album with Columbia Records and the follow-up to their popular album fear, which was released in 1991. Two songs from Dulcinea reached Top 40 designation on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts: "Fall Down" and "Something's Always Wrong". Dulcinea was RIAA Certified Gold on September 1, 1994 and Platinum on July 31, 1995.
The album's name is a reference to the love interest in Miguel de Cervantes' classic Spanish novel, Don Quixote. At least two songs on the album allude to themes found in the novel. "Crowing" is a song about a person who does not know how to hold on to a lover. "Windmills" is a metaphorical song about how people spend much of their lives chasing absurd or impossible pursuits (the allusion being to a specific scene in Don Quixote where the title character uselessly attacks a windmill).
Dulcinea also delves into some spiritual themes. "Fly from Heaven" is sung from the perspective of James, who is portrayed as Jesus' literal brother and is upset by Paul's manipulation of Jesus' word. "Begin" and "Reincarnation Song" each explore questions about death and the afterlife.
Dulcinea is a character in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
Dulcinea may also refer to:
He is not mad
His thought is clearer than
The saner man
For in her he saw
Beauty overflowing
Through the tattered clothes
She was his queen
She is a queen
In dreams he
Wanders the dark