This short excerpt from Tale LXXII helps show some of Marguerite de Navarre's purpose in writing The Heptameron. One of her reasons of writing the frame tale was to mock those with religious authority who abused their power. This tale tells the story of a nun that is impregnated by a monk. This excerpt of the tale calls the monk "wicked," and says that he informed the nun to only speak to him if she is to confess a sin. It is later said that the monk raped this nun. This tale and this excerpt shows the power imbalance between two people, and the abuse of power from a higher ranking member. Marguerite discusses and shames those that abuse their power in other tales of The heptameron, but this is one of the most memorable as it includes serious topics such as rape, and more specifically, power imbalances in a religious context, including sexual abuse.

Sources:

Chesney Zegura, Elizabeth. "What the Monk’s Habit Hides: Excavating the Silent Truths in Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron 31." Renaissance and Reformation, vol. 38, no. 2, 2015, pp. 66. Erudit, doi: 10.33137/rr.v38i2.25620

In this small excerpt of the prologue, Rabelais is explains why/how satirical writing can make one feel, and why crude literature can be important. He says that readers can interpret his writings however they want, but as long as they are interpreting it it will keep him "merry." Rabelais uses the word "billevezees," which essentially is the French translation to something that is equivalent to "nonsense" or "foolish." By using this specific word, Rabelais tells the reader that what they are about to read is exactly that: something ridiculous, but at the same time thought provoking. Rabelais uses satire and vulgar language/situations to discuss the changes he was seeing in the world at the time. He thought that by adding some comedic vulgar moments in his writing, readers would be able to enjoy his ridicules and complaints of the world, all the while having a good laugh and deeper understanding of his criticisms. In this section of the prologue, Rabelais is essentially telling his audience to enjoy the book. He explains that he uses satire and comedy for a specific reason, that being : why would someone want to feel miserable while reading criticisms of the current world, when they could instead have a laugh? He hopes that his readers feel some sense of "merry" while reading his work.

Sources:

Ampersand. The Science of Art. The Art of Science. Florida Gulf Coast University, http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol2/issue2/rabelais.htm#:~:text=In%20his%20book%20Gargantua%20and,Medieval%20and%20the%20Renaissance%20man. . Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.

Renaissance and Reformation Project. Weekly, https://davincirabelais.weebly.com/francois-rabelais.html . Accessed 28 Mar. 2025

Lines 1080-1192 show a conversation between Myrrhine, a woman that has joined Lysistrata in her sex strike plan, and her husband Cinesias. Cinesias begs his wife to come back home to him and their child, yet she refuses as she is dedicated to staying committed to the women's plan to get a peace treaty. She proves how committed she is to their cause by rejecting her husband. He attempts to have her feel pity and embarrassment when he judges her for following the other women in the city. But even when he speaks of how much their child misses her and that they could have been spending all of this time loving each other, Myrrhine sticks to the plan. Cinesias says that they could have been experiencing "Paphian laughter, flung on Aphrodite's Mysteries," meaning that they could have been laughing and falling more in love with each other during this time. Still, Myrrhine remains true to her beliefs and later chooses to tease Cinesias by stripping down, leading him to think that she was about to give herself to him, but she instead walks away, leaving him alone.

This is a pivotal moment in the play, not only to show it's comedic writing, but to also show the dedication of the women. Myrrhine was not seen as a very important character until this moment. Her actions and words to her husband show that her belief in Lysistrata's plan to gain peace between the Spartans and Athenians. Myrrhine's actions are also comedic in nature, as she teases and abandons her husband, showing how desperate the men in the city are.

References:

Aristophanes. "Lysistrata, line 1080-1192." Introduction to World Literature Anthology, edited by Farrah Cato and Christian Beck, UCF Pressbooks, 2022. https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/lit2110fc/chapter/medea/

Gruber-Miller, John. Gender in Greek Comedies. Cornell College https://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/lit/cla364-1-2006/02grouptwo/greek.htm