The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the...

The Book of the Duchess, the Parliament of Fowls, and the House of Fame 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. The first work, possibly written from 1368-1372, the Book of the Duchess begins with the love-sick narrator finally falling asleep as he reads the sad love story of Seys and Alcyone (originally written by Ovid). He dreams that he is in†¦show more content†¦He too falls asleep, and the protagonist, Africanus, leads him into a garden. The garden illustrates the themes of the book, and they eventually reach the temple of Venus. Her temple is full of emblems which depict the power and sorrow of love. Further on in another garden, the birds of the world are gathered before Nature, a goddess, to debate a problem. A female eagle is loved by three male eagles, and cannot decide which to marry. Lower class birds offer un-poetic, practical solutions and the debate is postponed a year to allow the female to reflect on the problem. As the birds disperse, the noise wakes the author. The Parliament of Fowls was written in approximately 1380. All three of these works fall into a certain genre of medieval literature, called a â€Å"Dream Vision† as defined by Professor Sarah Stanbury. A medieval dream vision is almost invariably told in the first person and purports to record an actual dream of the narrator/poet. The poem usually includes, either explicitly or implicitly, some narrative frame that describes the narrator falling asleep in the beginning and then waking up after his dream. Within the dream, the Dreamer wanders in another world, often an ideal landscape, and a kind of paradise. In that dream world the Dreamer encounters various figures, some of them allegorical, and at least one authoritative figure who serves as a guide for the Dreamer, eitherShow MoreRelatedEssay on Geoffrey Chaucer778 Words   |  4 Pageshis time. (Bio.True Story) Chaucer pops up in the record books in 1357 he was working for the queen. In the middle ages it was custom for boys to work for a royal family, to gain popularity and fame. (GradeSaver) Chaucers very first poem was â€Å"The Book of the Duchess†. A poem of over 1,300 lines, the poem was originally a funeral song for the Duchess of Lancaster.(GradeSaver) This poem was published in 1370. To write The Book of Duchess Chaucer used a new style of writing, a â€Å"Dream-Vision†. This