Gualtieri, Angelo. “Lady Philosophy in Boethius and Dante.” Comparative Literature 23, no. 2 (1971): 141–50.

Excerpt:

Dante’s admiration for Boethius is unquestionable. The mere flattering reference to him in the Paradiso would be suffi- cient proof of this fact: Per vedere ogni ben dentro vi gode l’anima santa che’l mondo fallace fa manifesto a chi di lei ben ode: lo corpo ond’ella fu cacciata giace giuso in Cieldauro; ed essa da martiro e da essilio venne a questa pace. [Par. X, 124-129] Not less than ten specific references are made to Boethius in the Convivio, while copious allusions to the philosopher’s work can be found in all of Dante’s compositions with the exception of the poetry section of the Vita nova.’ Yet their respective treatment of the allegory of philosophy seems to be so different that any possible resemblance to a definite model of earlier origin must inevitably be reduced to a mere relative similarity of dramatic effects. In essence Dante’s concept of philosophy is different from that of Boethius. The manifestations of such difference are so varied that a proper treatment and evaluation of them is best accomplished after some brief considerations of the generic relationship of the two works in which Lady Philosophy appears.

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