English Literature, 20th cent. to the Present

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Further reading

Gargantua

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

Gargantua, originally the name of a beneficent giant of French folklore, connected with the Arthurian cycle. It is probably to this folklore giant that Shakespeare refers in As You Like It (iii. ii. 239). In Rabelais' La Vie très horrificque du Grand Gargantua (1534), a preliminary volume to Pantagruel, which had appeared in 1532, Gargantua is presented as a prince of gigantic stature and appetite, but also as studious, athletic, good-humoured, and peace-loving. (See Pantagruel.)

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Gargantua." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Gargantua." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Gargantua.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Gargantua." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Gargantua.html

Learn more about citation styles

Gargantua

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

Gargantua a voracious giant in Rabelais' book of the same name (1534); gargantuan, meaning enormous, is derived from the name.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gargantua." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gargantua." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Gargantua.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Gargantua." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Gargantua.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Imagining Rabelais in Renaissance England.(Review) Magazine article from: Shakespeare Studies; 1/1/2000
	Collaboration explores the boundaries of theatre; ABERYSTWYTH.(Arts) Newspaper article from: Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales); 11/13/2001
	Enlightened values or light comedy? Cambridge's philosophical body. Magazine article from: Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation; 3/22/1999