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The Consolation Of Philosophy By Boethius Analysis

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Throughout “The Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius, he brings up the idea of being able to distinguish one’s true possessions from the gifts of fortune. He presents Lady Philosophy, a woman that looks after Boethius in prison, in Book I. Lady Fortune is also presented and she essentially helps Boethius keep in mind the good and evil due to him losing faith for being imprisoned. Boethius wants to prove that there’s a different outlook in jail using fortune and philosophy along the way. He is told that fortune can be easily taken away and it basically comes and goes. He describes fortune as a “loan”. Lady Philosophy and Boethius also bring up the idea of the wheel of fortune, which can be described as having fortune one day and later …show more content…
Misfortune, however, can be viewed as better than fortune because it teaches an individual a lesson. In Prose 8, it states “Philosophy argues that misfortune is more beneficial than good fortune, for good fortune deceives, but misfortune teaches” (Page 34). This relates to the idea that fortune can be deceiving and misfortune is better. When losing a friend, considering what Boethius states about fortune and misfortune, I can relate and say that both of them apply in this situation. A friend is considered fortune because they can easily stop being your friend and this happens often. However, losing them can also be misfortune because often times they teach you things. Boethius also claims and states that if something can be lost, it means there’s something better out there for you. For starters, the idea that someone or something can be taken away from you means it was not yours, but rather you borrowed …show more content…
At the moment I viewed it as misfortune because it was taken away from me. Boethius states “Misfortune will make an enemy of the man whom good fortune made a friend (Page 46). Although it was a misfortune because they taught me certain lessons, such as who to trust, I was also fortunate to lose them. It got to a point where they were holding me back from reaching my goals. I, however, had the mentality that I needed them in order to succeed. I later realized that there were other people out there willing to push me to my fullest potential and I did not need my old friends. But, as Boethius stated, there was something better for me out there. I eventually made some better friends that pushed me in order to reach my

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