Gargantua And Pantagruel

Panurge, whose name means a clever trickster or villain, is best described as a bundle of contradictions. A young nobleman whose circumstances have plummeted, Panurge meets Pantagruel after fleeing the “Turks” in Book 1. He becomes Pantagruel’s best friend, and over the course of Books 3, 4, and 5, squanders the estate Pantagruel gifts him, considers the question of marriage, and sails to the Oracle of the Divine Bottle for an answer.

In this process, his character undergoes many shifts, some tonally abrupt and irreconcilable. For instance, in Book 1, he is depicted as a lovable silver-tongued rogue, “a felon, a cheat, a tippler, a loafer, a scrounger, but that apart, the nicest young lad in the world” (86). He is fearless in tricks and in battle, making King Anarch a crier of green sauce in Book 1, Chapter 21. By Book 3, his felicity with language has devolved into sophistry and rhetoric, and he uses arguments simply to prove he is right. His devil-may-care attitude has given way to a love of gambling and lots. In Book 4, he is so overcome with fear he effectively abandons his friends to deal with a storm on their own, jettisoning his former bravery.

One way to understand the changes in Panurge’s character is to consider him from the point of view of Pantagruel. Perhaps Panurge is the same, but Pantagruel has evolved, so that Panurge’s antics no longer appear delightful to him. Further, Panurge can be considered a plot device, a foil to Pantagruel. In Book 1, he functions as Pantagruel’s wild double, an embodiment of Pantagruel’s darker, amoral impulses. As Pantagruel becomes a more serious hero, Panurge can no longer play this role, and thus must turn into a different character. The books end with Panurge receiving an answer to his question: He will marry despite the risks, learning to navigate life despite fear and confusion.

The protagonist of Book 2, and one of the important characters of the series, Gargantua is a gentle giant who is born out of his mother Gargamelle’s ear after her 11-month-long pregnancy. He is thus a parody of the gods and heroes of antiquity and Jesus Christ, since all of them were born in unique, improbable ways.

Characterized by his enormous appetite for food, Gargantua has an early education that (it is implied) is more rustic than that of his son. As a consequence, he regresses into earliest childhood. After his father Grandgousier’s intervention, Gargantua turns into an industrious and bright young man. Although Gargantua’s character is similar to that of his son in Book 1, he tellingly has no corresponding Panurge. Thus, he is a gentler version of Pantagruel, without a wilder alter ego.

Gargantua is characterized by his enormity, with pilgrims getting stuck in his teeth as if they were bits of food, as well as his propensity for just rule. Inspired by the teachings of Grandgousier, Gargantua is kind to his enemies even in victory, making Picrochole’s son the ruler of Lerne after the king disappears, and building the Abbey of Theleme for Friar Jean to reward him for his help in battle. Thus, Gargantua embodies the just, humanist ruler, fit to govern not only by inheritance, but also by ability. In Books 1 and 3, Gargantua is presented as a benign but firm father, who provides his son both freedom and direction. Gargantua thus represents a wholesome model of masculinity.