The House of Fame is one of acclaimed poet Geoffrey Chaucer's earliest works. It's also one of his most widely read and one of his most heavily analyzed. Regarded as the start of the period in which Chaucer was influenced by Italian culture and writers, The House of Fame references a number of equally popular works, including the Divine Comedy by Dante and Virgil's Aeneid. Chaucer's book was also influenced by Boethius' On the Consolation of Philosophy.
Fundamentally, The House of Fame follows an unnamed poet who one day falls asleep and finds himself in a glass temple that had images of famous people and the things they had done. Guided by an eagle through a spiritual journey, this poet meditates on fame, on his profession, and the connection between fame and the writing/poetry profession.
Many critics think that The House of Fame is a parody of Dante's aforementioned Divine Comedy because of its structure and some of the characters involved in the book. Others think that The House of Fame is a commentary on history and religion. Some, for example, think that the man of great authority is one of the Hebrew prophets (likely Elijah).
Incidentally, Chaucer left The House of Fame unfinished - much like many of his other works. Scholars do not know if this was done intentionally, if text was lost, or if Chaucer simply didn't get around to finishing his work. Regardless, The House of Fame is a richly complex book still being analyzed nearly 700 years after its publication.
It is noteworthy that Chaucer used the word "fame" in his title. In Chaucer's time, fame had a number of meanings. As it currently does, fame meant notoriety in Chaucer's time. It also referred to Fama, the Roman goddess of fame. Ultimately, The House of Fame is a meditation on fame, religion, belief, and the role that poets play in society.
