Gargantua

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written in the Holy Bible which contradicts it. If this had been the will of God, would you say that he could have not performed it? For goodness’ sake do not obfuscate your brains with such idle thought. For I say to you that to God nothing is impossible. If it had been His will women would have produced their children in that way, by the ear, forever afterwards (Cohen, pp.52-3).

Rabelais argues that the Holy Bible does nothing to discredit the possibility of such a birth. In a sense, Rabelais is arguing that the story of Gargantua’s birth is as valid and authentic as anything in the Holy Bible. He declares:

Would to God that everyone had as certain knowledge of his genealogy, from Noah’s ark to the present Age! I think there are many to-day among the Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Princes and Popes of this world whose ancestors were mere pedlars of pardons and firewood; as on the contrary, there are many alsmhouse beggars – poor, suffering wretches – who are descended from the blood and lineage of great Kings and Emperors; which seems likely enough when we consider the amazing transferences of crowns and empires from the Assyrians to the Medes, from the Medes to the Persians, from the Persians to the Macedonians, from the Macedonians to Romans, from the Romans to the Greeks, from the Greeks to the French (Cohen, p. 41).

Rabelais clearly criticizes the monarchy. He questions the validity of their genealogy, stating that it was very well possible that current kings and emperors were the descendants of mere paupers and beggars. He also explains that it was also possible for current paupers and beggars to be descendants of great kings and emperors. This casts doubt of the validity of a kings rights or powers over his subjects. This alludes to the new ideas of humanism emerging in Renaissance.
During the middle ages, such institutions as guilds and the church influenced individuals. These institutions had great in...