Chaucer's "The House of Fame": The Cultural Nature of Fame
QUESTION 7.
DISCUSS THE CULTURAL NATURE OF FAME AND ITS TEXTUAL EXPRESSION WITH REFERENCE TO
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: ORAL HEROIC POETRY, CHAUCER'S DEPICTION IN THE
HOUSE OF FAME AND THE MODERN CONSTRUCTION OF THE CANON OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.
YOU SHOULD FOCUS YOUR ANALYSIS ON THE INTERPLAY OF ORAL AND LITERARY TRADITIONS
IN THESE CONTEXTS.
Many critics have noted the complexities within Chaucer's The House of Fame, in particular, the complexities between the oral and the literary. The differences between these methods are constantly appearing; Chaucer is well aware of rapidly changing communicative practises and contrasts the preservation of utterance with the longevity of literary texts. He achieves this by discussing the nature of "Fame" and the difficulties that arise from it. "Fame" can both destroy and create. It can result in the eternal preservation of great works and their creators. However, Chaucer is quick to note the precarious nature of "fame" noting the unreliable process of attaining it and its potentially momentary existence. Every creator with their respective work/s naturally crave and desire "fame"; they want their subjects to remain fresh in the minds of their audience. Chaucer, while neither totally praising the written nor the oral, reveals how essentially the written word is far more likely to become eternal as opposed to the oral. The relative "fame" of any work is dependent on many factors. Many traditional and classical ideas result in the formation of the English canon, yet as Chaucer indicates, the "fame" of these works can easily become annihilated. The arrival of new readers with different ideals and thereby changing tradition, can reject classical or "canonical" work and their "fame" will melt into nothingness.
Most stories, histories and legends that emerge from oral heroic poetry are to herald the achievement of the powerful and wealthy so that their histories will not fade from the memories of the population. The stories of Beowolf are a clear example of this, as within these stories, (whether embellished or no),
Beowolf's fame and legend 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 Iceland saga, The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, written in the 1300’s, represents about 1000 years of oral traditions. The remarkable similarities between this saga and Beowulf are just too astounding to dismiss as mere coincidences.
There are so many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, an Iceland saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written, that these similarities cannot be attributed solely to coincidence.
The Parliament of Fowls and the House of Fame are closely related to each other and to the Book of the Duchess, as all three of the poetry share several similar themes. Written between 1368 and 1380 they are some of Chaucer’s earliest works in which aspects of some of the great writers of his time are evident. There are three major themes intertwined within the three works, which Chaucer has added to the Dream Vision genre.
Beowulf was a strong young man who was able to defeat a terrible monster known as Grendel. During this era in human history young men were expected to be far more durable and adequate compared to those of today. Those young men commonly had the dream of becoming king, defeating strong monsters, go on adventures, or even die a hero. All of which Beowulf managed to do making him a perfect role model for the young men at the time. The story of Beowulf truly captured all of the dreams of young men at the time and it was a perfect story for the time. Although times changed the dreams of the people never died, they were just advanced, edited and remade into new stories, better stories for better
Although Beowulf was written thousands of years ago, when compared with Grendel, it acts as an example of propaganda of a certain perspective that was used throughout the history, even today.
“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.
Beowulf is an interesting story in that it has a meaning that is firmly rooted in fantasy creatures based in mythical origins while providing insight into religious ideals and practices of the time. It also speaks of tradition and the struggle of man against things perceived as evil. In this tradition especially, Beowulf is an incredible allegory regarding the struggle of good and evil in the Christian tradition.
Many have heard of the classic tale of Beowulf, the heroic slayer of monsters and dragons. Nevertheless, few have read the story of how he ventured from his own land to help a neighboring tribe battle a “. . . God-cursed brute. . .” (Lawall 1182) and his mother, a “. . . a monstrous hell-bride, . .” (1208). After single-handedly ridding Heorot, the neighboring kingdom, of two such evil creatures, he travels back to his own homeland to retell his deeds to his king (1219). Many years and feuds later, the kingdom was inherited by Beowulf, who grew old ruling his tribe with wisdom (1227). But, after he thinks that he has become invincible in his strength and ability to fight any wrong, a dragon wakens and wrecks havoc on the land (1230). With eleven young warriors at his back, Beowulf kills the fearsome dragon, although he is also slain in the process (1237, 1238).
Many of the characters and episodes and material artifacts mentioned poetically in Beowulf are likewise presented to us from archaeological sources and from various written sources, especially Scandinavian records, thus adding credibility to the historicity of the poem. But it is obvious that Beowulf, Grendel and the Dragon clearly belong to the classification of “myth.”
In Chaucer’s House of Fame, the reader is privy to a momentous dream of Geoffrey’s, a poet protagonist dedicated to love. In this dream, he meets an eagle that promises to bear him to the House of Fame as a reward from Jupiter himself. Once there, Geoffrey is told that he will “here…mo wonder thynges…and of loves folk moo tydynges, both soothe sawes and lesinges, and moo loves new begonne, and longe yserved loves wonne, and moo loves casuelly (Chaucer, Lines 672-679).” This excerpt is meant to outline what is to be expected from Chaucer and his text. However, when Geoffrey finally arrives at the House of Fame in the opening of Book III, he learns less about Love’s tidings and more about one of the sisters of Love, Fame, and her followers. This redirection of intent forces the reader to question Chaucer, and reconsider the real purpose of Geoffrey’s journey to the House of Fame. Aside from learning of Love’s tidings, the eagle states that Jupiter intended “this caas thee [for] thy lore and for thy prow (Chaucer, Lines 578-559).” Considering this, one realizes that Geoffrey obviously learned a great deal from his visit, but has to question exactly how Geoffrey, and in turn the reader, profited from it and what meaning, if any, is meant to be drawn from The House of Fame. Paul G. Ruggiers, author of “The Unity of Chaucer’s House of Fame”, claims that the aim of the text is to illustrate the influence of Fame on all things, including those subject to her sister, Love. Considering this, one can further claim that Jupiter’s true reward for Geoffrey, and also Chaucer’s intent for the reader, is detailed knowledge of Fame and her subjects, which serves as a valuable example of Fame’s very nature.
It has been a day and a half since the Geats and Scyldings saw Beowulf. What if he died? What if he is hurt? Will he ever return?
So fame come to the men who mean to win it, and care about nothing else”. What do you think will go on? Beowulf the epic hero displays qualities of altruism, faith, and bravery. These qualities are what lead him on his heroic journey and to his final monument to greatiousness.
Chaucer's society represents every social class. In doing so, it shows what it takes to actually make a society function. The different people carry different stories to share. These stories carry lessons learned in hopes of sharing them with others so that they may not end up in the same predicaments. After all, that is the main point of sharing stories, isn't it?
The story of Beowulf is one of, if not the most, popular, Norse myths of all time, mainly because most of them were destroyed. A story about bravery and self identity, a favorite among many. It has been translated many many times, thus being the problem, nobody knows the true story, the way it was told the first time or the time after that, was he really a leader, did he really fight Grendel 's mother, was he even a man? Okay, some of those questions may be a little extreme but no one really knows how the story truly went unless they were there when it was being told and if they were there, that is if it actually happened. Either way, no matter what translation the readers read or what movie they watch, it is still a good inspiring story. One
Beowulf is the single greatest story of Old English literature and one of the greatest epics of all time. Ironically, no one can lay claim to being the author of this amazing example of literature. The creator of this poem was said to be alive around 600 A.D. and the story was, since then, been passed down orally from generation to generation. When the first English monks heard the story, they took it upon themselves to write it down and add a bit of their own thoughts. Thus, a great epic and the beginning to English literature was born.