A lion is they symbol for a king and for power. The lion is known as the king of the jungle. And don Quixote decided to fight this king. Don Quixote made the man who was transporting the lion let them go so that he could fight them. When the lion was freed, the lion was disinterested with don Quixote. This could mean a lot.

“The first thing the lion did was to turn around in the cage, where he’d been lying, extended his claws, and stretched all over.”

The lion didn’t even look at the man who was confronting him. This might represent that the lion, who is the symbol for the king of the land, doesn’t find don Quixote de la Mancha as a threat. Don Quixote doesn’t do enough damage for the king to mind him. Another idea that this could represent is that the king doesn’t even care about the self-proclaimed knight that is running amok in his land. The king doesn’t pay any attention to don Quixote because he doesn’t care about such things.

Don Quixote did not like that the lion would not fight him. He ordered the man transporting the lion to provoke him in order for him to come out and fight the knight, but the man refused to do it.

In order to to talk don Quixote down, the man said “Be content,  your grace, señor knight, with what you’ve done since nothing more can be said of your bravery.”

Don Quixote accepts this and believes that the bravery to stand in front of the lion is enough. I think that this is true, although I also believe it was foolish and reckless of don Quixote to do it. I think that don Quixote could have proven his bravery in a different way than the lions. However, in my opinion this proves that don Quixote is not afraid of the king and will stand in the presence of the king.

“…tell him it was the Knight of the Lions, for that’s what I want my old name, the Woebegone Knight, to be changed, altered, transformed, and made over into from now on…”

Don Quixote changed his name, I believe, because he felt as though confronting the lions was the greatest deed that he could have accomplished. He wished to be known for his greatest accomplishment up to date.

However, there could be another meaning to the name change. Don Quixote could be trying to show that he believes that he is fighting for the king. It might also help him think that what he is doing is right, if he ever gets doubts in his mind.

In my opinion, trying to fight the lions was a reckless fight that don Quixote tried to pick. It could have resulted in dangerous consequences. However, it gave don Quixote more confidence than he had before and resulted in him changing his name. With the lions symbolizing the king, don Quixote had confronted politics for the first time and won.