Trust the Tale, Not the Teller
- Author / Editor
- Benson, C. David.
Trust the Tale, Not the Teller
- Published
- Wendy Harding, ed. Drama, Narrative and Poetry in The Canterbury Tales (Toulouse: Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2003), pp. 22-33.
- Description
- Benson argues against interpreting CT in terms of dramatic theory: the pilgrims are not fully developed human characters, nor are their tales expressions of their individual psychologies. The most developed pilgrims-the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath-are far from naturalistic, and the art that underlies them is more interesting than their lives are. Although the Nun's Priest is indistinct as a character, his Tale is one of the richest and most challenging works.
- Alternative Title
- Drama, Narrative and Poetry in The Canterbury Tales.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Canterbury Tales-General.
- Wife of Bath and Her Tale.
- Pardoner and His Tale.
- Nun's Priest and His Tale.