Gargantua by François Rabelais (Book Analysis)
Gargantua by François Rabelais (Book Analysis)
Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
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This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of Gargantua by François Rabelais. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, including war, education and parody. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.
This clear and detailed 34-page reading guide is structured as follows:
- Biography of François Rabelais
- Presentation of Gargantua
- Summary of Gargantua
- Character study
- Gargantua
- The tutors
- Eudemon
- Ponocrates
- Gymnast
- Picrochole
- Friar John of the funnels and gobbets
- Analysis of Gargantua
- A mixed work: from a fairground character to a civilizing hero
- The promotion of humanist ideas and a critique of the medieval intellectual tradition
- Meaning behind the laughter
- Rabelais’ sense of comedy
- Utopia: the Abbey of Theleme
- Reception of the novel
About Gargantua
Gargantua was published under the pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier (an anagram of the author’s real name) in 1534, and follows on from the hugely successful Pantagruel, which had appeared two years earlier. In this novel, Rabelais follows Pantagruel’s father Gargantua as he receives his education and experiences a series of improbable adventures. Although Gargantua is more structured than some of Rabelais’ other books, it stands out due to its original, creative use of language and the verve with which the author defends his ideas.
About François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a French humanist writer who lived during the Renaissance but remains a towering figure of Western literature. He was a jovial, larger-than-life character and is best known for his novels Gargantua and Pantagruel, which are packed with comical situations, wild adventures and memorable characters, but which attracted the ire of the religious authorities of the time, in particular the College of the Sorbonne in Paris. Rabelais’ work stands out for its bawdy humor, lively parody and cutting satire, to such an extent that the adjective Rabelaisian has been coined to refer to things which possess these traits.
Product details
ISBN | 9782806296542 |
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Publisher | Plurilingua Publishing |
Collection | Brightsummaries.com |
Format | |
Pages | 34 |
File size | 1.2 MB |