Реферат: Chaucer And The House Of Fame Essay

reaches the modern reader hundreds of years later. Clearly, Beowolf is still very much

dependant on the conventions of oral traditions and written to leave a permanent

reminder of Beowolf, to enforce Beowolf’s fame. The use of “Hwaet” to mark the

start of an oration, emphasises the continuation of oral tradition. Most oral cultures

(usually illiterate), pass on stories and legends learnt from the previous generation,

basically using the authority of recalled memory, not as an actual witness; rather ‘I

have heard it said` than ‘I know this to be true`.

The importance of the terms ‘auctor` and ‘auctoritas’ is noted by A.J. Minnis.

Minnis states the importance of the ‘auctoritas’, quoting Aristotle who defines this as

the “judgement of the wise man in his chosen discipline.” The great reverence and

respect shown towards writers of antiquity is clearly evident in Chaucer’s The House

of Fame, yet there remains a definite inconsistency within Chaucer’s work. While

Chaucer is clearly familiar with many classical writers and their works, such as; Virgil’s

Aeneid, several works of Ovid , Boccacio and Dante, Chaucer’s work raises several

questions about the classical writers, the nature of written texts and the complexities

of ” fame”. The term “fame” had a myriad of meanings in Middle English, it could

mean “reputation”, “renown”, or “rumour”. Chaucer plays on all these meanings and

its implications, yet his ideas are clouded and obscured so it is difficult to define

whether his arguments are mocking, condemning or celebrating. J. Stephen agrees

with Shelia Delany’s argument in her book, The House of Fame: The Poetics of

Skeptical Fidelism and believes that The House of Fame is indeed “a sceptical poem”.

However, Russell is rather extreme in his view, believing that Chaucer is “writing to

deconstruct the tyranny of the written word”. It is difficult to agree with this view, and

although there are elements to suggest this may be the case, one would tend to agree

with Delany’s argument, that Chaucer “preferred to transcend the choice between

traditions rather than to commit himself whole heartedly to a single intellectual

position or a consistent point of view”.

Chaucer, in his description of Virgil’s Aeneid decides to alter the events within

Virgil’s narrative. There is always the problem of what can be considered “true”,the