The story of Don Quichotte was beautifully suited to Massenet's talents, strongest in creating exotic color, carefully blending pathos and comedy, and depicting charming sirens who can twist men around their dainty fingers. (This last was allowed in this opera by the transformation of Dulcinée into a seductive courtesan instead of a farm girl whose charms exist solely in Quichotte's eyes.) It has long been a star vehicle for basses and bass-baritones, particularly singing actors such as Chaliapin (for whom the role was created), Christoff, Ghiaurov, Raimondi, and Ramey. (However, Massenet was largely unimpressed by Chaliapin's portrayal; in one famous episode, Chaliapin burst into sobs as he was reading through the death scene, greatly annoying the composer.) The other lead roles are almost as rewarding, even though they tend to be overshadowed; Sancho Panza gets to shine not only in his comic moments but in his passionate defense of his idealistic master's dreams, and Dulcinée's spirited "Spanish" songs are sure crowd-pleasers.

Though he lived for two more years after writing it, Massenet was already ill during its composition, and given his habit of becoming infatuated with his leading ladies (in this case, Lucy Arbell), it seems quite likely that he felt some identification with the lead role.

Even if he had no such feelings, certainly Massenet knew how to go for the audience's heartstrings, and he did so with a precision worthy of a surgeon, particularly in such moments as the death scene and Dulcinée's and Quichotte's final meeting. However, he also gave the character enough dignity that the role is still one of pathos rather than bathos, though an overindulgent performer can easily disrupt that balance. Similarly, while the Spanish flavor is synthetic, and not as memorable as that in Carmen, it is nonetheless infectious.

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