Chaucer's The House of Fame

(II) The House of Fame (1374-1385):
It’s a poem of 2158 lines in three books, an unfinished dream poem in octosyllabics. It’s also Chaucer's last poem in French form but shows his influences by Italian writers like Virgil and Ovid.  First book begins with Chaucer's dream in which he sees himself in a temple of glass that has beautiful art drawn over it. The images of Venus makes Chaucer assume that the temple is hers. Chaucer finds the brass tablet of Aeneid and is reminded of his betrayal to Dido who stabbed herself when he parted with her. Chaucer here lists a number women died out of betrayal by their lovers in Greek mythology. He goes out of the temple to the field and sees a golden eagle alight towards him from the sky.

In the second book, Chaucer is caught and carried by the golden eagle that tells him that it is the servant of Jove(Jupiter) and it has come to reward him for his devotions to Venus by taking him to the house of goddess Fame.  The eagle also explains how fame is spread through sound all over the world.

The third book narrates how Chaucer is landed at the foot of the hill atop of which is the House of Fame that Chaucer enters and sees the goddess Fame with countless tongues, ears, ears and wings at her heel meant for spreading the fame.  She is passing judgement offering fame and infamy to the deserved petitioners.  There are pillars and columns in the House and atop of each pillar stands a famous poet or scholar such as Homer, Virgil and Ovid holding up the fame of his country.  Chaucer leaves the house and is taken by an unnamed man to the spinning house of rumours and hearsay inside which a massive crowd is making noises. Suddenly Chaucer sees the arrival of a man of authority to that house and the poem ends abruptly leaving the identity of the man a mystery.

What a beautiful imagination mixed with reality Chaucer has! The poem can be true inspiration for one who longs for achievements and fame. It also shows his gradual development of narrative skill.
With three books, the poem appears to be a parody of Dante's Divine Comedy and the celebrities in book III in the House of Fame introduce themselves in categories as in Dante's.  The poem is also remembered for the earliest use of terms such as galaxy and milky way. Is Chaucer blowing his own trumpet while taken to the house of Fame or is it his deep understanding of Fame inspired by famous Italian poets? Who is the unidentified man of authority at the end? Is he Richard II whose wedding announced recently then? Voicing for the betrayed women, Chaucer becomes the earliest feminist here. However, as Robert Allan criticizes, “Through the dream of Troy, the contrast between Geffrey and the eagle, and the houses of Fame and Rumour, Chaucer explores the literary artist's indifference to the world of facts”