The article develops the analysis of Cervantes’s masterpiece according to the metaphorical component present in the novel. First, it examines the chivalric metaphors and the semantic transference operation through which the protagonist realizes his desire to ‘represent’ the chivalry books in the real world. Then, the analysis will be divided into two sections, referring to the ‘endogenous’ and ‘exogenous’ metaphor processes. The ‘endogenous’ process concerns the metaphors created by don Quijote, who resemantizes the reality through his imagination, while the study of ‘exogenous’ metaphors investigates the fake chivalry adventures forged by other characters (Sancho, the Duke and the Duchess and the Dr. Sansón Carrasco), who submit the protagonist to a metaphorized dimension.