Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel -Book Review

Andrew Stutts

Francois Rabelais is the most celebrated French author of the sixteenth century. In fact, the term Rabelaisian, derived from his name, refers to an unpretentious spirit  and an impious approach to literary expression.  Furthermore, this term is employed to describe a certain demeanor and approach to life.  Rabelaisian is synonymous with lewdness, crudeness, gaudiness, boisterousness, and lust.  Additionally, Francois Rabelais and his name are forever linked with such vices.  This is fundamentally owing to his literary work Gargantua and Pantagruel, which perhaps stands out as an unsurpassable achievement in vulgarity and uncouthness.  Moreover, it is hardly a surprise that his characters have also contributed words to our vernacular, like gargantuan from Gargantua.  Words of this nature are, like Rabelaisian, typically applied to things larger-than-life, enormous, and ravenous.   This also describes when someone pushes to the boundaries and limitations of conventional societal norms.  In this regard, Rabelais is the benchmark and almost everything about Gargantua and Pantagruel attest to this standard of extravagance.  

It is ironic that Rabelais, a man of many vocations, created this raunchy piece of literature considering the fact he spent some considerable time with the Franciscans and the Benedictines monks.  However, the talent of this writer, doctor, humanist, monk and scholar are amply displayed in Gargantua and Pantagruel.  Rabelais's book is very verbose, crossing conventional boundaries of style and subject.  There are profuse amounts of fantasy, social commentary, parody, and lewd humor in Gargantua and Pantagruel.  Furthermore, it is progressive in relation to its outlandishness disregard of the rules.  It is amazing that this book was even published and that Rabelais suffered no repercussions.  Rabelais repeatedly confronts the ideas and institutions of society in the text of this book and pulls no punches while doing so.  

Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais is a collection of five novels describing the life and exploits of two giants, Gargantua and his son Pantagruel.  These giants perform extraordinary, often times ludicrous, deeds and have insatiable appetites.  Much of the adventures of the young giant Gargantua relate to the ridiculous nature of his education and his eventual development as a refined nobleman.  The sequel then continues with lampooned accounts of chivalry, law, religion, and education.  There is also this comical impetus in the series that renders Pantagruel’s maturation into some sort Renaissance sage.  The episodes presented are often preposterous and absurd, but Rabelais also infuses a copious amount of social commentary into his underlying storytelling.  Gargantua and Pantagruel is an entertaining and comical satire of the many aspects of education, religion and life in general.  The primary targets are some of the most notable groups and institution in society, even the clergy are not left unscathed.   In fact, no one is immune from criticism, ridicule, and the unique satire of Rabelais in Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Although Rabelais is unrestrained in his cynical disparagement, the tone of this book is far from being gloomy and is one of a boisterous and playful nature.  The majority of the book Gargantua and Pantagruel is dedicated to eating, drinking, and all sorts of revelry. Rabelais claims that he wrote this ode to carousing while feasting and boozing.  Well, he certainly pays homage to those pursuits as they permeate the entire story in Gargantua and Pantagruel

The author’s self-stated goal in this prodigal piece of literature is to entertain, amuse, and shock.  However, much of this intended purpose may avert many reader’s comprehension.  Still other features of this work are conspicuous and are especially appealing to the perceptive reader.  Rabelais demonstrates a freedom of vision that adds a plethora of interesting qualities to Gargantua and Pantagruel and makes it a disturbingly humorous read.  Also, the perverted fashion in which this book criticizes society and humanity make it undeniable genuine.  This book will certainly find admires from those that esteem audaciously eccentric and bizarre literature.  Gargantua and Pantagruel is entirely one of a kind, unrestrained, and addresses every kind of preoccupation from wine to excrement .  In conclusion, the vivaciously humorous tales of Gargantua and Pantagruel expose the absurdities of humanity with roguish and often obscene wit, encouraging the reader to re-examine the world.

 

 

 

Works Cited

Rabelais, Francois. Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete.. Project Gutenberg, 2012. eBook. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1200/1200-h/1200-h.htm Beaudry, Pierre. "What Does It Mean To Be Rabelaisian? ." Schiller Institute-Winter 2000 issue of FIDELIO Magazine . 2000: n. page. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_97-01/004_rabelaisian.html>. "Rebelaisian." Dictionarry.com. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rabelaisian?s=t>.