ABSTRACT
François Rabelais was a French Humanist writer and is best known as the author of the work Gargantua and Pantagruel, which relates the adventures of Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. The prolix original title was The Horrible and Terrifying Deeds and Words of the Very Renowned Pantagruel King of the Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gargantua. Divided into five books, Rabelais sets out the farcical adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel in a satirical commentary on sixteenth-century French society that is frequently crude and obscene. One of the main characters of Rabelais’ work is Panurge (whose name is derived from the Greek word for rogue), a friend Pantagruel. Having defeated and humiliated a vainglorious Englishman in a battle of wits, the lustful and hubristic Panurge seeks to seduce a haughty Parisian lady. Though tempted by his offers of precious gifts, the lady refuses to be seduced by a man she considers her social inferior. The scorned Panurge consequently seeks his revenge by humiliating the woman in public. The sexual harassment and misogyny evident in this passage are confronting for a modern reader but it is a striking example of the use of humour to condemn social and religious hypocrisy.
