Gargantua and Pantagruel is a 5-volume novel by the French writer Francois Rabelais, which tells the story of the life of 2 funny and kind giants, a glutton, father and son. The work is filled with satire aimed at modern vices of the society, church and state.
Heretical Satire
The main object for the sharp satire of Rabelais in this work is the church, monasticism and the clergy. The creator of Gargantua and Pantagruel in his youth was a monk, but he did not like life in a monastic cell, and thanks to the help of his mentor Geoffrey d'Etissac, he managed to leave the monastery without any consequences.
A characteristic feature of the novel is the abundance of extremely detailed and at the same time comical transfers of meals, books, sciences, laws, money, animals, funny names of warriors and the like.
In his novel, Rabelais ridicules the vices and modern satirics of the state and church inherent in many people. The various claims of the church, laziness, and the ignorance of the monks go to the most. The author clearly and vividly shows the sins and vices of the clergy who were condemned by the public during the Reformation — exorbitant greed, righteous hypocrisy, covering up the depravity of church ministers and political ambitions of the higher clergy.
Some Bible passages have also been ridiculed. For example, the moment of the resurrection of Epistemon Panurg, parodies the well-known biblical legend about the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ, and the story of the giant Khurtali ridicules the tale of Noah's ark. Blind faith in a divine miracle and spiritual fanaticism are reflected in the episode of the birth of Gargantua from the mother’s ear, all who do not believe in the possibility of a child from the ear, by the will of the almighty Lord God, Rabelais calls heretics. Thanks to these and other blasphemous episodes, all 5 volumes of Gargantua and Pantagruel were recognized as heretical by the Sorbonne's theological faculty.
