By tracing the evolution of farce from Pantagruel and Gargantua through the Tiers and Quart livres, Bruce Hayes makes an important contribution to the understanding of Rabelais' writing, and of farce's literary possibilities. He distinguishes Rabelais's use of farce from the conservative tradition, showing how the French writer used it as a vehicle to attack the status quo and to suggest alternatives to contemporary legal, educational, and theological systems.