In the story of "The Prince" written by Niccole Machiavelli takes place in the sixteenth century, around the time when Italy was not a unified country. Rather, it was more of a collection of city-states, each with its own court and ruler, all aiming to gain power over one another. On top of the commotion from the toggle war of power between the city states, Italy became a battleground for the French, the Spanish, the Germans, and as well as the Catholic Church under the Popes. At the time the Popes had so much power, that they were practically equal to a secular king during that time period. Prior of when Italy became a battle ground the major Italian city-state, the republic of Florence, had established ties as an alliance with the French.
In The Prince they talked about how a king doesn’t want to be hatred by his people but have them respect him so he can’t be to nice. So a king in this book they should be stingy, cruel, breaking promises, and having a great staff of people. Stingy would be better than being nice to your people shows them that you are the king and they need to respect you and your decision. Cruel is better than being nice also if someone takes sometime from you there has to be something done about it! Morality and ethics are not a big deal to break in The Prince breaking promises so it will benefits the king is okay to do!
Questions: 1. Machiavelli wrote The Prince because he wanted to teach future princes how to rule by giving his opinions and examples through history and previous princes. Not just that, but he also teaches and talks about how to obtain power, invulnerability, and respect. Machiavelli does this by saying what is necessary to do and what is definitely unnecessary to do using examples from the past. It is a rule book for politics to follow in Machiavelli’s own opinions.
As the family returned to power, he was dismissed and wrote what he was best known for, The Prince. The book is examined the imperfect conduct of
Hence, he uses personal pronouns like “you” and “I” as well as phrases like “My reply is.” This makes it seem like The Prince becoming famous was neither Machiavelli’s first priority nor real purpose; he simply wanted to express his knowledge on the western government and gives advice on how to be a strong leader. Also, some of his words sound like he was in grief. For instance, the sentence that says “But as soon as you need help, they turn against you.” It could be that he was disappointed or was betrayed that he decided to put together The Prince.
This statement describes how corrupt and cruel men are, and how these terrible actions are also greatly reflected upon royalty. During the 15th century, royalty believed they were all that mattered which when mixed in with Machiavelli caused a lot of controversy with the people during the Enlightenment. An example of this would be King James I in Document 2 who describes all the good things about the monarchy and how it is the best thing in the world. He calls the monarchy the, “supremest thing on earth,” trying to convince people of how great this form of government
“Although one should not reason about Moses, as he was a mere executor of things that had been ordered for him by God, nonetheless he should be admired if only for that grace which made him so deserving of speaking with God” (22). In the context of The Prince, this statement proves to be duplicitous because Machiavelli claims that he will not reason about Moses, but then uses the following pages to do precisely that. Furthermore, Machiavelli draws extensively from the actions of Moses and the Old Testament God, although Machiavelli is often regarded as an antagonist of the Church. Machiavelli’s handbook for princes consists of concrete advice for rulers that directly reflect the more abstracted stories in Exodus. For instance, Machiavelli’s description of human nature in The Prince mirrors Moses’ experiences as the leader of the Israelites in Exodus.
His underlying point was that a ruler should have a certain amount of liberality and stinginess, it was his idea that it was better for a prince to be thought stingy, he explains, than for him to grow poor through lavishness and then be forced to rob his subjects. As well as, when the use of force deemed necessary, he advised the prince to lead a military force consisting of citizens of the domain who will fight for their country, instead of untrustworthy foreign mercenaries. Another aspect was whether or not it is better to be feared than to be
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind” -Mahatma Gandhi. Machiavelli’s Prince shows that a leader should be aggressive and feared, but Mahatma Gandhi believed it was better to be peaceful and loved. Non-religious, unforgiving and impassive are just a few words that describe the Prince. He also sees no reason to keep his word and values image over substance. Even though Gandhi and Machiavelli’s Prince are both wise leaders, they are extremely different because of their religious beliefs, violent/non-violent tendencies, and value of the truth.
The Prince Machiavelli is the author of the book “The Prince”, which consists of inspiration from the Roman Empire in order to change Italy for the better. Machiavelli is inspired by how unified the Roman Empire was and realized that’s how it became so powerful. As a result Machiavelli wrote a book about what type of leader it would take to build a new and improved unified Italy. When Machiavelli wrote “The Prince” it was almost intended to recollect a hand book for rulers; however, his style of teaching was different than that of an “ethical” man.
According to Machiavelli, ideal prince is a risk-taker who puts a military on action, as the people respect the warrior. An ideal prince thinks for himself rather than relying on others, knows how to read characters, and does not surround himself with flatterers. He lives in reality, not fantasy. He works hard, utilizes his own mind, and makes survival of his guide. The ideal leader is neither loved nor hated, but respected.
Being a prince is not as easy as it may seem. There are good and bad decisions a prince can make. Machiavelli has his own standards on how a prince should behave. According to Machiavelli, a prince could be considered a lion, a fox, or a wolf. The lion is fierce but doesn’t have the smarts, while a fox has the smarts but isn 't fierce.
According to Machiavelli, a prince who keeps his promises is generally praised. But history demonstrates that most success is achieved when princes are crafty, tricky and able to deceive others. A prince can fight or succeed by using law or by using force. The use of law comes naturally to men and the use of force comes naturally to beasts. Hence, to achieve success, the prince must learn to fight with a balance between both law and force.
Have you or a loved one suddenly been thrust into a position of power? Do you need help ruling a civilization and have absolutely no idea where to start? Well look no further as The Prince may be the book for you. All that we ask in return is that you shred any human decency you have and begin to think solely about your own position and well being. In a few simple, yet completely kunning and immoral lessons, you will be the conniving and notorious leader that you’ve always wanted to be!
I. Machiavelli In his famous work the Prince Niccolo Machiavelli exposes what it takes to be a good prince and how only this good price and keep control over his state. There are many different qualities that make a man a good ruler but there are some that are more essential than others. In this work Machiavelli stresses the importance of being a warrior prince, a wise prince, and knowing how to navigate the duality of virtù and vices. Without these attributes there was no way that a prince could hold together their state and their people.
