Books by C. David Benson

Contains thirteen essays dealing with Chaucer's religious tales. Although this book also discusses the prose works, the primary focus of is on his four poems in rhyme royal: "Clerk's Tale", "Man of Law's Tale", "Second Nun's Tale" and "Prioress's Tale".

David Benson's lively new interpretation of Chaucer's great story collection attributes the variety and contrast of the tales to the unique literary style of each narrative. In contrast to the popular "dramatic approach", Benson argues that each tale is a fully formed expression of an individual kind of poetry.