Gargantua And Pantagruel

How does Gargantua and Pantagruel subvert the traditions and tropes of heroic and/or chivalrous literature? How do these subversions relate to key themes and ideas in the novel?

Compare the characters of Pantagruel and Gargantua. How are they similar or different? What is the significance of the role each plays in the text?

The critic Mikhail Bakhtin says Rabelais deliberately uses “grotesque realism” in the text to remove the fear around death and prepare the ground for regeneration. How else is “grotesque realism” used in the text? What is its significance?

How are gender dynamics depicted in the text? How are the female characters depicted? Would you consider the novel to be anti-feminist, or does it contain feminist elements?

What role do humanism and humanist ideals play in the text? In what ways does Rabelais uphold or interrogate humanist assumptions and values?

In Books 4 and 5, Pantagruel’s crew visits many different islands, each operating as a world of its own. Choose two or three of these islands for analysis. What do the islands represent? What opportunities do they give for social, political, and/or religious commentary?

Explore the depictions of religion in the novel. What practices of the Catholic clergy and/or Catholic doctrine does Rabelais satirize? Why? Are there any positive representations of faith in the novel? Why or why not?

In Books 4 and 5, the narrator becomes a part of the ship’s crew. How does this influence the plot and narrative? How does it compare to the narrative style of the earlier books?