azu_td_7223376_sip1_... - The University of Arizona Campus ...

153
very clearly allied with his benefactors.
For this dissertation
it is not important to demonstrate the true feelings of Ronsard
20
on the issue of war. One may doubt, as does Abraham Keller,
that
such poems reflect his true interests. What they do show significantly
is that war itself is not the subject of the attack, but the place
and reasons for the war.
The other great prose writer who began the sixteenth century,
Rabelais, has often been quoted as opposing war. A careful examination
of his work reveals that, again, it is not so much war that he is
against as the manner in which it is waged or the reasons for which it
is waged. The war with Picrochole is a case in point. Rabelais does
not go into much detail in describing the offenses of Picrochole. It
seems to suffice that Picrochole is identified as the villain, the
aggressor: "...gastant et dissipans tout par ou ilz passoient, sans
21
espargner ny pauvre, ny riche, ny lieu sacre, ny prophane...."
passages that are often quoted, Grandgousier reluctantly takes up arms
as the last necessity: "Ce non obstant, je n'entreprendray guerre que
je n'aye essaye tous les ars et moyens de paix; la je me resouls"
(p. 114). Since Picrochole persists, Grandgousier is now justified,
and Rabelais is able to delight his readers with the miraculous exploits
of Frere Jean. With an eye to humor, Rabelais has one of
In
20. Abraham C. Keller, "Anti-War Writing in France, 1500-
1560," PMLA, March 1952, Number 2, pp. 240-250
21. Francois Rabelais, Oeuvres completes, Paris, Garnier,
1962, Tome I, Livre I, Chapter XXVI, p. 103.