ABSTRACT
The careful numbering of the foes, and the precise account of the parts of Sophie’s body which they wound, invite an allegorical reading of the narrative as the wounding of the soul in its five senses by the world, the flesh and the devil. The most obvious, indeed the only, expression of Melibeus’s sick state in the story is his lack of ‘mesure’, his want of patience and prudence, and his desire for revenge. The Man of Law and Monk choose from available versions of the text that one of whose truth they are persuaded, and suppress those whose truth they doubt. Chaucer is therefore advancing a literary ideal, in which the true telling of a tale depends on a relation of mutual respect and cooperation between tale, teller and audience. Literary activity can then be seen as a symbol of moral activity; tale-telling becomes the perfect artistic equivalent of a religious pilgrimage.
