François Rabelais
French Writer
By: Delaney Flanagan
Biography
François Rabelais was born in about 1494 in Chinon, France. He spent the majority of his life in France, in varying areas. Records of François Rabelais' being were scarce.
Lived his childhood in a province that no longer exists, it was called Touraine.
He eventually became a monk and joined the monastery. François did not necessarily agree with some of the rules in the monastery causing him to leave. François wanted to study medicine, and that was not allowed in the monastery, another reason as to why he left.
He had other occupations and jobs along with his doctoring. He started to teach original Greek text such as Galen and Hippocrates at various lessons. François went to Hôtel-Dieu, ans was a physician there, also published some of his works there.
He was also a humanist, a humanist during the Renaissance was considered a "scholar of the language and literature of ancient times, including biblical research" (Biography in Context).
In order to publish books during the Renaissance, a writer had to travel to Rome. François made at least three trips with the help of a friend, by the name of Jean du Bellay.
François worked in many different areas of employment, he seemed to succeed, but never sounded satisfied. He was rebellious almost, he tried to change ways; he even attempted at one time to sign a book with his own name, although it was immediately rejected.
His patrons are not specific as there is little information relating to him. But he is said to have visited Étienne Dolet at his expensive dinner parties, in Rome, so it is assumable that he was going to ask for sponsoring.
Two isms that are most closely linked to François Rabelais are humanism and classicism. Humanism is related to François because in his books and life he focused on humans, human education, and people were really just the center. Classicism also pertains to François because throughout his works he incorporated old ideas of Ancient Greece, he taught and knew the culture and language.
François wrote comic, popular novels that society seemed to love. Three of his works are Gargantua, Pantagruel, and Tiers Livre
Piece of Work
Pantagruel
This piece is a chapter from François' book Pantagruel. Pictures were drawn and made when the book was published, but printed or photographed in 1943.
It is published in books throughout the world. There were sequels and prequels made after the success and popularity of Pantagruel. He wrote all the novels in the series. People study it today as a method of writing. There is even a term referring to the book called "Pantagruelism."
Followed medieval techniques of writing, he used chivalry and romance, but also used parodies. He incorporated humor and intertwined it into this novel. Also, includes education and knowledge (ex: main character, Pantagruel, visits a library with famous writing from that time). Includes Catholicism, character makes a promise to God about war, but conflict with the character. François also included Ancient Greek ideas. There was little structure and details were not consistent.
The piece incorporates religion, comedy, education, war, chivalry, medieval, and many more aspects into one novel. The main character has conflict with himself throughout the story, he is also a giant. “Renaissance” man is also attempted in the prequel, the novels connect, but significantly contrast. This story often includes humor and little snippets of comical sayings.
Humanism is most closely linked to this piece because Pantagruel focuses on the life of a man (giant) and his internal conflict. Also, it focuses on human emotion, education, and life.
I found this piece interesting because it had giants and humor, and later on Gargantua was created; a prequel to Pantagruel. This novel was also deemed very successful. It was very popular, although the novel failed to make sense at times. But Pantagruel included comedy and aspects that readers enjoyed seeing during the Renaissance. It was modern yet brought back old times.
Works Cited
Anonymous. François Rabelais (1483–1559). Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Chinon Castle View. Digital image. Northern Arizona University. N.p., 18 Nov. 2008. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Derain, Andre. Chapter VII, pg. 39, in the book Pantagruel by François Rabelais (Paris:
Albert Skira, 1943). White line technique woodcut (color) on Arches wove paper. Print. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. San Francisco, California, USA. Gift of the Reva and David Logan Foundation. 1998.
"Encyclopédie Larousse En Ligne - François Rabelais, Pantagruel."Encyclopédie Larousse En Ligne. Larousse, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.
"Gargantua and Pantagruel." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2015.
Le Tiers Livre. Digital image. Le Livre De Poche. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
"Gargantua Ve Pantagruel." - Vikipedi. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Pantagruel. Digital image. Morpion Solitaire. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.
Portrait of Francois Rabelais, Francois Chauveau. Digital image. Morpion Solitaire. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.