The book opens with a discussion of literary conventions and imitation strategies of the early modern period and continues with Cervantes's contributions to both. The remaining chapters explore ways in which Cervantes engages (or not) in imitation practices in the text and how elements of these specific classical characters influence the characterization, discourse, and thematic qualities ascribed to women in the main part of the text. The role of magic and how it exemplifies Cervantes's departure from imitative practices to focus both on his own invention and on a more contemporary framework for his readers completes the work. Conclusions point to how Cervantes's stance on imitatio and his stance on female identity share commonalities. He strives to release both writing practices and female identity from a repressive ideology of the self and focuses on their transformative nature.