Gargantua and Pantagruel

The roots of the phantasmagoric story of the giant-king Gargantua and his son Pantagruel lie in medieval French folklore. From there, Rabelais borrowed many traits of the style of his novel: demonstrative and humorously implausible exaggerations, fairy-tale plot twists, the exuberance of popular imagination, and distinctly coarse, yet truly folk humor. However, through the carnival, humorous essence of the novel, one can see the features of a harsh social satire, which targets the contemporary church, the judicial system, pedagogy, and much more, as well as a humanistic moral message that praises freedom and independence of the human personality, love for life, and the simple joys of existence.

Rabelais' novel is illustrated by the talented works of Gustave Doré (1832–1883).