The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive theoretical reflection on the criteria that organize Don Quijote¿s stylistic diversity. All the linguistic levels in this novel are related to the diversity of ¿worlds¿ under which events and characters are presented (and therefore interpreted by the reader). For every world of reference there is an attitude towards language, which is ultimately the consequence of a reception process I define as narrative stylization. I intend to demonstrate that the word style in Don Quijote (and therefore in this new framed study of stylistics) must be understood as a process that involves not only the use of language itself (its rhetorical praxis), but also the manner in which the text¿s world of reference is presented. This process will allow us to comprehend the underlying intention of the diverse styles present in Don Quijote, which is closely connected to the main problem of the novel: that of Alonso Quijano¿s belief in the continuity between the word of his experience and the worlds described in the literature of his time.