Act 5, Scene 1 Summary

Chimene encounters Roderick, and immediately demands that he leave, saying, "This boldness will cost [her] honor." Roderick says that before he dies he needs to see her again. Chimene angrily asks why he, who conquered so many invaders so handily, believes he's going to die at the hands of a weak warrior like Sancho. Roderick says that because Chimene desires his death so much, he loves her to the point where her desire is his, and is therefore prepared to die. Chimene tells him that if he dies, his brilliant victory in the war will quickly be forgotten, and his honor will be destroyed. She then suggests that he should be as determined to defend his own honor as he was to defend his father's by killing her father. Roderick says that after he dies, people will say only that he...