Реферат: Chaucer And The House Of Fame Essay
references, like Virgil, Ovid, Boccacio, Boethius and Dante are ‘auctors` who carry
great weight and authority, yet , as this is Geffrey’s dream he is able to manipulate the
events within The House of Fame. Thus Geffrey has the power of both the oral and
written ‘auctor`, he has heard the stories before, (in Ovid and Virgil) yet can ‘retell`
these events to the reader with perhaps even more ‘auctoritas’ as he can also state to
the reader that ‘I was there so I can tell you the truth`. However, Chaucer’s ‘auctoritas`
is diminished because even though he was an actual witness, it was still a dream, a
hazy and unpredictable area which can neither be totally rejected nor believed and
accepted. These implications show that Chaucer was perhaps rejecting the ‘auctoritas’
of these writers, revealing the possible discrepancies within any text, written or oral,
and how narrative events are able to change depending on the reliability of the ‘auctor`.
The mocking of Geffrey and his scholarly life and ambitions would also indicate
Chaucer’s dislike of the scholarly and academic world of the 14th century. Geffrey is
caricatured as a book-worm, unable to comprehend events outside the world of books.
The Eagle speaks to Geffrey of the futility and emptiness of a scholar ; “Thou goost
hom to thy hous anoon,/And, also domb as any stoon,/Thou sittest at another
book/Tyl fully daswed ys thy look;/And lyvest thus as an heremyte,/Although thyn
abstynence ys lyte.” (655-660) During the Eagle’s impressive monologue the
intelligent Geffrey can only answer in rather dull-witted monosyllables;
“Gladly”,”Noo? why?”, “Yis” and “Wel”. Geffrey is also portrayed as a rather weak
and stupid fellow, despite his scholarly habits. When one compares him to the classical
heroes of classical mythology, he realises that he is a mere mortal and afraid; ‘”Oh
God,” thoughte I, “that madest kynde,/Shal I noon other weyes dye?’. Unlike the
heroes of old, Geffrey is aware that he is no brave hero; “nether am Ennock, ne
Elye,/Ne Romulus, ne Ganymede.” (557-558) Despite these negative representations,
there still remains elements of respect and awe towards classical writings and the
strong belief entrusted in these works as contained in the line, “In certeyn, as the book
us tellis.” (426) The same respect is reflected in a speech made by the Eagle to
Geffrey; “Loo, this sentence ys knowen kouth/ Of every philosophres mouth,/ As