In Chaucer's three dream poems, "The Duchess' Book", "Fowles' Parliament", and the unfinished "House of Fame", universal issues such as love are explored by a narrator recounting a dream. Writing incorporating dreams was popular in medieval England as it allowed poets to discuss issues without taking a firm moral stance. Many of Chaucer's contemporaries, such as Langland in “Piers Plowman,” used this approach; Chaucer would also have been familiar with the form through the 13th-century French poem “The Romant of the Rose,” which he translated into English. This article explores Chaucer's dream poetry in their medieval context. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the reasons dream poetry was such a popular medium in the Middle Ages was that it allowed for ambiguity. The dream form allows poets to explore a range of perspectives without committing to one in particular. In fact, in the concluding lines of “The Parliament of Fowles” Chaucer reinforces the fact that what he had said was not a concrete declaration of faith but simply a dream in response to a book he had read: “I wook, and other bokes brought me to/and reread, yet I always resort to it." Emphasizing his enjoyment of books and stating that he intends to continue reading more, the last lines act almost as a disclaimer, emphasizing that his dream did not arise from his original reflections but was stimulated by those of another. One reason medieval poets may have been reluctant to extol their particular political or religious views is that their success depended on the goodwill of their patrons. Before the advent of the printing press in 1476, books had to be written by hand, which was an expensive and time-consuming job. This meant that it was essential for poets to please their wealthy patrons, who could finance them and often commissioned works. Men like John of Gaunt, Chaucer's patron, may have been unwilling to be associated with poets who carried radical ideas or views with which they simply did not agree. Chaucer further distances himself from the issues discussed by placing them in a surreal setting. In “Fowles' Parliament”, for example, he addresses the very topical issue of marriage. Many marriages were arranged and women were often seen as property. Divorce was extremely unusual and only possible for a limited number of reasons, such as because the husband or wife was not Christian. These conventions, however, were not accepted by all and there was debate over in which cases divorce should be permitted and over the sanctity of marriage. If Chaucer had explored this topic in a family context, for example by writing about the relationships between people in the court where he worked, this would have been a sensitive issue, especially since his patron, John of Gaunt, married three times and fathered four children . of marriage. The dreamlike setting makes it possible to address this theme in a way that at first reading seems simply bizarre. In each of his dream poems Chaucer takes a particular book as his starting point. Cicero's “The Dream of Scipio” stimulates the narrator's dream in “Fowles' Parliament” and was inspired by the Aeneid in “The House of Fame”. Ovid's "Metamorphoses" were the centerpiece of the "Book of the Duchess". His audience would be familiar with these books and might appreciate the poem more because of it, as using them makes the poem more accessible. This connects his poetry to great poets distant in history, showing the importance of broad.