Charles Lock, for example, following ideas formulated by the Russian critic Mikhail Bakhtin, emphasizes the polyphonic or multiple-voiced nature of A Glastonbury Romance: "The characters' voices are not subject to the author's voice, bur all speak on equal terms". The narrator is not Powys, "Even when the narrator voices opinions known th have been held by Powys ... he must not be taken 'literally' or too seriously", his "voice [is] on the same plane as all other voices in the book Powys's narrator, according to Lock, is "unreliable, protean, deceptive, ambiguous, and Zany".
Charles Lock, drawing upon Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas, argues that A Glastonbury Romance features a polyphonic narrative where characters speak with equal weight, not subservient to the author. The narrator, while seemingly representing Powys's opinions, is unreliable and deceptive, mirroring the book's overall complex voice.