Alfred and His World

"Alfred and His World: The Dialogic Universe of the Old English 'Boethius'" is a dissertation written by George Kingsley Wright towards the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English and Modern Languages (French) at the University of Oxford in 2022.The piece argues that King Alfred's translation of Boethius' 'De Consolatione Philosophiæ' into Old English does more than merely adapt a Latin classic-it presents a vision of existence itself as fundamentally dialogic. Using Mikhail Bakhtin's theories on dialogue as a model, this dissertation argues that Alfred's literary canon consistently portrays dialogue not simply as conversation, but as integral to the structure of the universe, governing human experience, moral reality, and nature. Through meticulous textual analysis and engagement with existing works in the field of Alfredian studies, this work offers a vision of Alfred's 'Boethius' as a pioneering, proto-novelistic text whose dialogic universe continues to speak powerfully today.