These lines highlight Rabelais’s views on Catholicism and Christianity, with Rabelais being born a Roman Catholic, himself. It is interesting to note how he chooses to depict religion within this story, depicting Gargantuan as a, clearly, at least somewhat devout catholic, devoting an entire paragraph to Jesus Christ as a disciple in a letter to Pantagruel. This is interesting as it offers parallelism between the absurd ideas present throughout the entirety of the text, with this section of the story being one of realism, as Rabelais is believed to have been a Human Christianist. This mention of Jesus Christ is also interesting, as this story was written during a time of religious turmoil in Europe, being written during the brewing of the period of “Reformation” in Europe. Therefore, this mention could be in a form of protest, as a way to present ideas that question the establishment, as he has done throughout the text.

“Early Modern Europe: An Introduction.” Open Learning, www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/early-modern-europe-introduction/content-section-6.2#:~:text=In%201500%20the%20Catholic%20Church,a%20particular%20area%20or%20parish. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

These lines, which depict extreme human violence and disfiguration, give rise to intensely grotesque and inhuman scenes in the readers mind, with lines like “poached out their eyes” and, “tore their jaws,” being descriptive of the horrific beating which is taking place. This scene, which is so gross in nature, highlights the already established idea and presentation of the absurdity that has been seen throughout the text. His use of violence and his detailed account of the violence support the idea of Rabelais’s “disgustingly humorous, humorously disgusting” style of writing, as discussed in the introduction to the story page in the module. This idea of violence as a form of absurdity is one that transcends this story, with violence being used in a similar way in the infamously absurd novel, “A Clockwork Orange.”

Beehler, Rodger. “Containing Violence.” Ethics, vol. 92, no. 4, 1982, pp. 647–60. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2380396. Accessed 27 Mar. 2024.

This line from Gawain details how ideas of nobility and equity in valor were an important one within these knights. Despite Gawain’s secret knowledge of his sash, which he knows will protect him, he acts as though him and his life is entirely in the hands of God and his will. This is demonstrative of the earnest and valor that these knights know they must adhere to as knights of King Arthur. Later in the story, this lie is punished, as the Green Knight cuts his neck for his dishonesty in battle. This is also applicable to readers, detailing how “The Gawain Poet” believe we should act in the face of certain death, which is one of nobility and strength.

Goldhurst, William. “The Green and the Gold: The Major Theme of Gawain and the Green Knight.” College English, vol. 20, no. 2, 1958, pp. 61–65. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/372161. Accessed 7 Mar. 2024.

Here is another example of Dante implementing his own ideas of morality and virtuous acts into his comedy, explaining how Dante views those who seek only worldly riches as opposed to knowledge, believing these people to be foolish in the eyes of God. This reflects heavily on Dante, being born into a rich family, and is demonstrative of his ideas of wealth, as he was able to work in politics, literature, and a multitude of other topics that someone of a lower-class background would likely not be able to involve themselves with because of their own wealth insecurity and need to work to provide. In this way, it reflects an irony onto Dante, as he, being born into a family of wealth, has less of an understanding of a need to work, and could, instead, work in many different places and topics, bouncing around each of them.

SANTAGATA, MARCO, and Richard Dixon. Dante: The Story of His Life. Harvard University Press, 2016. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjsf5bx. Accessed 7 Mar. 2024.

These lines are demonstrative of Medea disassociating from her murder of her children. This creates an interesting parallel to her previous murder, where she poisoned Jason’s fiancé with enthusiasm and glee, although, upon understanding what she must do to avoid her children facing consequence for her action. Although she planned the murder of her children after since the initial birth and rise of her devious plot, when the moment truly comes to act, she finds herself internally debating about whether or not she can fully commit to the deed and carry out the plan as she had hoped. These lines describe the mental process she goes through to cope with her actions and to commit her plan, choosing to try and “forget” about her children’s softness and to forget them altogether so that she can follow through, choosing to mourn them later. This idea of dissociation during crime seems to be reoccurring in many violent criminals, as stated by the research article “Dissociation: Defining the Concept in Criminal Forensic Psychiatry”, “ when they say “Research has shown that dissociation is a risk factor for violence and is seen most often in crimes of extreme violence.” SF;, Bourget D;Gagné P;Wood. “Dissociation: Defining the Concept in Criminal Forensic Psychiatry.” The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28619854/.

This is an interesting way of life described by Krishna: a life of no real commitment or of devotion. This idea of a life of no devotion being a divine one is a reoccurring principle throughout the text, with Krishna repeating similar sentiment in chapter 12, when he says “He is equally disposed toward an enemy and a friend, he regards honor and contempt as the same, he has equal regard for heat and cold, and for joy and misery, and he has given up all attachment to the world.” I find this way of life intriguing, as it is often looked down upon to live a life in this manner. Someone with no goals is often considered lazy or ill mannered, and the concept that such a life, that I have come to understand as one I should avoid though media, like the attatched article,, could be one of divinity and mental fortitude is fascinating. Utari, Ken. “Why Being Lazy Is Unhealthy.” Medium, Medium, 3 Oct. 2020, ekenkeluy.medium.com/why-being-lazy-is-unhealthy-e5ead4092ffc.